Although chocolate fudge can be quite simple to make, it may surprise many to discover that high-quality fudge costs can be quite substantial. Read on to find out why fudge is so expensive.
Fudge makers that specialize in making premium fudge recipes will almost always use the finest sourced ingredients, such as pure chocolate. Ordering fudge online, or as an import, can also affect fudge cost, as fudge makers need to factor in marketing, packaging and postage into the overall price.
If you are currently asking yourself why is fudge so expensive to buy, then you have come to right place?
In this guide, we will explore what can make this delicious dessert pricey, based on a variety of different factors.
Is fudge worth making or buying?
When it comes to making or buying delicious fudge, it often comes down to time and cost.
If you enjoy making fudge yourself, but want to save a few bucks, then you can easily make a simple fudge recipe.
Unless you opt for special flavors that require premium ingredients, when you buy fudge online from popular fudge companies, most of these will be made using easy fudge recipes.
It can also be said that if you do want to make fudge with special ingredients, shopping for other ingredients outside of an easy recipe may also be more cost-effective, than buying expensive flavors of fudge.
One store may offer ingredients that allow you to save money in lieu of another pricier store.
In our personal opinion, not only is making fudge the less pricey option, but allows you to immerse yourself in the process of making a batch of fudge that is wholly your creation.
For example, you can always substitute milk, butter, and sugar variations for cheaper ingredients if you want to cut costs even further.
But if you want to splurge on specialty fudge from popular bakeries, this also makes sense.
If you live in touristy areas, then fudge may well be a tourist attraction. Buying pricey fudge from tourist towns or coastal retreats is almost a requirement for anyone seeking an intensely sweet dessert apart from candy.
To sum it up, if you have time, making fudge is a more cost-effective option than buying fudge. But do not deprive yourself of a pricier fudge purchase every now and again as a treat.
Reasons why the cost of fudge is high
A lot of big cities, tourist towns, and beachside resorts have made this inconspicuous sweet treat famous, which is why fudge has become so expensive in and around these touristy regions.
Furthermore, online retailers have also specialized in preparing fudge using prestige ingredients, flavors and packaging, such as chocolate vanilla fudge, that requires the finest quality of pure chocolate often imported from around the world.
But for the most part, expensive fudge sold by the pound is pricey due to its popularity across the globe.
In any touristy area, such as Niagara Falls, you may see special sections of bakeries that have everything from wall-mounted fans, marble slab prep tables, and other fancy tools and aesthetic designs that prop up this delicious and sweet delicacy to an air of prestige and opulence.
Fudge is truly one type of confection that receives the red carpet treatment for consumers. This is true even if the taste is tantamount to an easy fudge recipe you taste or make all the time.
So there is also an element of star quality for fudge that helps to drive demand and interest in this delicious candy.
But the process is almost always the same: molten liquid is poured onto the wax paper after being prepared, and is then sealed into an airtight container for both preservation and preparation.
Since it can be a bit tricky to exactly pinpoint what makes the cost of fudge pricey, it is worth taking a look at some individual details that all coalesce into understanding why fudge can be so expensive.
Cost of ingredients
First and foremost it comes down to fudge cost and the price of the ingredients.
Everything from basic ingredients such as milk, sugar, butter, and chocolate to the special toppings and mix-ins such as vanilla slabs and peanut butter, all collide to make some fudge expensive.
For example, a special fudge, such as salted caramel, has a heftier price tag by the pound thanks to the caramel flavors that are typically high-end, as well as the finest types of sugar, salt, and wet ingredients.
This type of candy is typically sold at carnivals and theme parks, and this demand is another reason why this candy has a price tag greater than simple chocolate fudge.
Time of labor
The higher the demand for a specific type of fudge, the greater the labor and investment by the preparer become.
Peanut butter fudge is usually pricier than chocolate by the pound since this flavor takes more time to prepare thanks to the stickier consistency (and harder prep work) on the part of the fudge maker.
If a flavor has ingredients that are more sensitive to prepare, due to either easier scorching potential when cooking, or because of hard-to-source ingredients, this also increases the time and labor it takes to prepare even one pound of premium fudge.
Skill to make fudge
Skill is another detail that can drive up the price of this dessert. A special flavor of fudge is almost always prepared in bulk by a skilled, fudge-making artisan.
As we have pointed out before, preparing fudge does take a level of skill since the temperature fluctuations during the cooking process can be complex to master perfectly.
Needless to say, it is easy to scorch a batch of this dessert. But skilled makers will never have this issue, and their knowledge and technique is another price point that will drive up the overall cost of the dessert.
Regionality
And finally, the region where fudge is produced is also going to play a major part when it comes to the overall cost.
If you live in a town or region where this dessert has a well-known reputation amongst bakers and candy makers, this is a direct correlation to supply and demand economics that will make this dessert costly in these specific regions.
But geography is not the only region-specific factor; buying the best fudge online can also be quite pricey.
Some online sellers of this dessert command as much as $15 to $20 per pound of fudge, and these are not always top-tier varieties that go for such high prices!
In fact, almost any candy maker or dessert shop that is in a touristy section of any city will feature fudge prices that are well above average.
But buying local is a wonderful thing.
Conclusion
So let us conclude as to ‘why is fudge so expensive?’. Predominantly fudge is not a dessert that is always cheap and cost-effective, unless you buy a well-known manufacturer’s brand.
There is a lot of popularity that surrounds this dessert, and how it is prepared is a direct barometer of what makes the price increase overall.
Special flavors, location and the skill of the fudge maker all have a knock effect to the price that you pay.
Want to save a few bucks? Make your own fudge with our recipes:
