Halifax chocolate company urges shoppers to buy local amid Canada Post strike

How the postal strike impacts small businesses Nathalie Morin of Rousseau Chocolatier speaks about how the Halifax business has pivoted during the postal strike.

Ten days into the Canada Post strike, small businesses are trying to adapt without the country’s largest courier service.

Rousseau Chocolatier, a small chocolate shop in downtown Halifax, is just one of the many small businesses trying to adjust to the strike.

“Throughout the year, Canada Post is our go-to for sending products locally as well as nationwide,” said Nathalie Morin, co-founder of Rousseau Chocolatier, in an interview on CTV Morning Live Atlantic Monday.

The strike started on Nov. 15, when 55,000 Canada Post workers walked off the job across the country.

Since then, Morin says Rousseau Chocolatier has had to turn to other courier services in order to fill online orders. She has been working hard to remind people of the importance of supporting local businesses.

“I think we’re adapting just like everyone else, we are finding alternative courier solutions for this busy time of year, but we’re also putting some messaging out and inviting our customers to support local by selecting local pickup or local delivery as well, just to kind of release the strain on postal services,” she said.

Despite delays in orders and shipping, Morin says customers have been supportive during a challenging time.

“It’s been great, our customers have been really patient with everything going on. It took us a few days to adapt, but now we have everything organized and everything’s pretty much going smoothly,” she said.

She adds that there are two main ways to give support to businesses at this time.

“Using alternative shipping methods and shopping local is really the number one thing that people can do to support their local business economy.”

She said times like this show the strength of business owners, adding that supporting local businesses is more important than ever.

“I think as a business owner, we’ve proven our resilience time and time again, we really need to have these options set up in the background because things happen and courier services are vital, especially Canada Post is vital for our communities and for small businesses to be supported,” said Morin.

Jump in cocoa prices ‘a real challenge’

Morin says dealing with the Canada Post strike isn’t the only thing her business has had to adapt to. Being a part of the chocolate industry, Rousseau Chocolatier has also had to deal with the significant rise in cocoa prices.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s been a real challenge because it’s been the most significant increase that we’ve seen historically since the 50s, and the jump is just incredible,”

Morin says, now with the increased costs, they have to be much more careful with the materials for business.

“We’ve had to adapt by being extra intentional about what we’re making and how we present it and how we price it,” she said.

Despite that, Morin said they’re focused on keeping their customers satisfied.

“We definitely don’t want our customers to be put-off by the prices, but I always find people will always choose quality over quantity in our clientele, so we haven’t seen any major impacts yet.”

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