BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Ukraine’s musicians can’t escape

They range from simple vanilla bean, made with vanilla bean paste imported from Mexico, to dark chocolate raspberry with a whipped hazelnut ganache that’s dependent on chocolates and powders from Belgium.Not all of Christianson’s cost woes are tariff-driven. The chocolate industry was already struggling because of a cocoa bean shortage.

“I’m a small business with just myself as my employee. I’ve seen at minimum a 20% increase in just the chocolate I use. It’s a type of chocolate that I’ve built into my recipes. Changing brands isn’t acceptable,” Christianson said.The imported white chocolate in her white chocolate mud cake, a popular flavor, shot up from $75 or $100 per cake to $150. She used nearly 10 pounds of it in a recent order,Christianson may have to come up with new recipes based on less expensive ingredients. In the meantime, she said, she’s eating the cost of tariffs for clients already on her books.

“I don’t have it in my contract where I can raise prices for unexpected events like this,” she said. “Unfortunately, that’s something I have to add to new contracts for my future couples.”Almost all bridal gowns are made in China or other parts of Asia — and so are many of the fabrics, buttons, zippers and other materials used, according to the National Bridal Retailers Association. Manufacturing in those countries, where labor generally costs less, has put the price of high-quality bridal gowns within reach for many American families.

Retailers and manufacturers say the U.S. lacks enough skilled labor and production of specialized materials to fully serve the market. Skilled seamstresses are hard to find and often come from older generations.

“The materials that we sell in a bridal shop include lace, beadwork, boning for the corsetry. We don’t really make stuff like that in this country. There just aren’t very many designers who create and put their whole looks together in this nation,” said Christine Greenberg, founder and co-owner of the Urban Set Bride boutique in Richmond, Virginia.A table sits ready for customers at the Quintonil restaurant in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

“In Mexico City, we have ‘escamoles’ season,” Vallejo said, referring to an edible larvae the Aztec people ate. “But in Oaxaca, we can find the ‘chicatana’ ants. In Tlaxcala, ‘cocopaches’ (a leaf-footed bug) and in Guerrero, they have insects of their own.”Alexandra Bretón, a food enthusiast who has visited Quintonil several times and reviews restaurants in her blog

feels that Vallejo’s contribution to Mexican gastronomy is invaluable.“He has elevated Mexican ingredients,” Bretón said. “My memories of Quintonil are of dishes where herbs, insects and vegetables are taken seriously in dishes with great technique.”