With the price of cocoa beans setting unprecedented records on the commodities market, it will certainly turn the gift of love into a bigger financial commitment than it once was. Turns out that if love is reputed to be eternal, a low price for cocoa, the essential ingredient in chocolate, is not.

Cocoa prices rose to record highs last year amid a global supply shortage. Chocolate makers have raised their retail prices to compensate.

Mary Leonard’s busy season that started pre-Halloween wraps up post-Valentine’s Day on Monday. But the chocolatier and owner of Chocolat Céleste in St. Paul said it’s already felt like an “off” season.