When Cocoa Costs Climb, Santa Barbara Chocolate Makers Don’t Melt Down

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Chocolate lovers, brace yourselves — your favorite treat is feeling the heat.

Inside Menchaca Chocolates, a hidden factory in Santa Barbara, the sweetest season collides with a global cocoa crisis.

Inside, liquid chocolate swirls like molten gold, but behind the glossy ganache lies a story of resilience.

Cocoa prices have exploded –soaring more than 400 percent– driven by climate change, droughts, and supply disruptions.

Still, chocolate makers Pete Menchaca and Leanne Iverson refuse to let their dream melt away.

"We’re bean-to-bar," Pete says, as he guided rich Ecuadorian and Guatemalan beans through the grinder. "Every bag demands math, and every batch is a small victory."

Rather than cut corners, Leanne turned turmoil into innovation –launching art chocolate workshops– where families become chocolatiers for a day, molding, tempering, and tasting their own creations.

"We’re not just selling chocolate," she smiles. "We’re handing over the magic wand."

At the workshop, laughter blends with the scent of melted cacao. Kids drizzle dark chocolate over mango slices; parents shine their hand-wrapped bars like tiny treasures.

As prices surge, one truth remains: chocolate still melts hearts — especially when it’s made with care.

Because in Santa Barbara, even as costs climb, some treasures are too sweet to let go.