The cost of love
Candy, flower businesses prepare for Valentine\'s Day
With Valentine无毛视频檚 Day just a few days off, local flower and candy shops are gearing up for the onslaught of last-minute business that typically accompanies the holiday.
And shoppers should be prepared to pay a little more to treat their sweetie this year.
Increased tariffs on some imports including flowers and candy, along with a skyrocketing cocoa bean market, may mean higher prices for consumers.
Since taking office, President Trump has implemented substantial increases in tariffs on imports from various countries. By the end of 2025, the average tariff rate went from 2.4% to 16.8%, marking the highest level in nearly a century. The increase has generated record revenue for the government but also led to higher prices on some essential goods.
Tariffs on candy and chocolate products imported into the United States can range from 5% to more than 25%. For example, Swedish gummy candy may incur a 5.6% duty, while chocolate from Belgium or Germany can face tariffs of 10% to 18.6%.
Candy businesses that import sweets are feeling the pinch, and in some cases have been forced to raise prices.
Debbie Sargent owns Pink House Chocolates in Finleyville. She无毛视频檚 been gearing up for a busy week preparing their 无毛视频渉uge Valentine无毛视频檚 Day sellers无毛视频� 无毛视频� strawberry cordials.
无毛视频淲e want to keep those as fresh as possible,无毛视频� she said in an interview last week. 无毛视频淚t will get crazy 无毛视频� We无毛视频檒l be making hundreds; every day we无毛视频檒l be making them.无毛视频�
Sargent said prices will be a little bit higher this year, 无毛视频渂ut we无毛视频檙e not anticipating that it无毛视频檚 going to affect anything badly. People expect to pay a little bit more for a better product.无毛视频�
Barb Cyprowski, owner of Cyprowski Candy Company and Blossom and Blooms in North Strabane Township, said Valentine无毛视频檚 Day is the company无毛视频檚 second most popular holiday, trailing only Christmas.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 just a constant adjustment of our numbers because it无毛视频檚 a very short window,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 not something that people order a month in advance. They无毛视频檙e ordering it days in advance. We look at our year prior, and we adjust for our current year, and we just keep counting. We count every single day to make sure we have enough strawberries coming in and we have enough of all of our raw materials.无毛视频�
Bill Sarris, president and CEO of Sarris Candies in Canonsburg, said the cocoa bean market has skyrocketed, noting the price of chocolate is about three times more than it was during the pandemic. But his candy company has not increased its prices.
无毛视频淲e bit the bullet. We didn无毛视频檛 raise prices, not yet. Not this year anyway,无毛视频� Sarris said. 无毛视频淭hrough Easter of 2026, there无毛视频檚 no price changes.无毛视频�
Like Cyprowski, Steve Neubauer, president and general manager of Neubauer无毛视频檚 Flowers in Uniontown, starts to get ready for February holiday in December.
无毛视频淲e started placing our orders right around Christmas,无毛视频� he said.
Neubauer said the company absorbed the costs affected by tariffs at first.
无毛视频淲e absorbed them 无毛视频檛il we saw they were going to be permanent, then we adjusted prices a little bit,无毛视频� he said.
DuMuth Florists in Connellsville is also prepared for the holiday rush, ensuring they have enough vases, ribbons and boxes available as well as flowers and candy.
无毛视频淵ou have to make sure you have the right containers available,无毛视频� said Deb LoNigro, who owns the business with her husband, Michael. 无毛视频淵ou have to get extra vases in for the bulk orders. We make sure we have heart boxes in for chocolate and we have a lot of stuffed animals and balloons. That covers all of our bases.无毛视频�
LoNigro said her business hasn无毛视频檛 been impacted much by tariffs.
无毛视频淚 haven无毛视频檛 quite noticed anything with tariffs with our flower deliveries,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淭hey didn无毛视频檛 tack on anything for me at this point.无毛视频�
Harold Smith, owner of L&M Flower Shop in Canonsburg, is accepting of the increased cost of doing business.
无毛视频淪ome of the products that come in, come in from other countries and the tariffs have affected us, so the prices have to go up,无毛视频� Smith said. 无毛视频淣o matter what industry you无毛视频檙e in, the prices have gone up since the tariffs have been there.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 not complaining. I still have business and I无毛视频檓 happy for it,无毛视频� he said.