Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Dan Hirschfeld
00:31 Martin Eschweiler | Lambertz Chocolate Factory
00:41 Jana Umlauft | Co-Worker
01:32 Hermann Bühlbecker | Owner of Lambertz Chocolate Factory
02:06 Martin Eschweiler | Lambertz Chocolate Factory

Script:

Gingerbread, cookies and other sweet Christmas treats.. covered in white and dark chocolate.. hundreds of thousands of seasonal treats are being created every day at the Lambertz factories near the German town of Aachen. Finished goods worth some 100 million Euros is ready to be shipped. Despite the fact that we're in the midst of summer... including recent heat waves covering much of Europe.

+++OT Martin Eschweiler, Lambertz Chocolate Factory+++
"After all these years, it's become normal for me that others are going to the pool, while we're making all these wonderful Christmas cookies here."

+++OT Jana Umlauft, Co-Werker+++
"I know it's crazy, having this Christmas arome around all day.. but it's a nice smell, even when the tempreature outside is over 30 degrees."

Inside, the Head of Production has to make sure the temperature is lower.. and that the conveyer belts run smoothly. 25 percent of what's being made here, is exported.

Generally, half of all sweets produced in Germany is sold abroad.

For Herrmann Bühlbecker that poses a problem this year: He has sold a large amount of German-made cookies into the US.. much of it is currently on some freight ship crossing the Atlantic. Then came US President Trump's tariffs of 15 percent on all products from the EU.

+++OT Hermann Bühlbecker, Owner of Lambertz Chocolate Factory+++
"We've discussed certain prices with our clients in the US.. and now, all goods arricing in the US will be tariffed at 15 percent. That's an added cost, and it is indeed unclear who has to pay for that? That's not answered in any of our contracts with our American partners. Now, we have to discuss how to proceed... what to do?"

One thing is clear: there's not much room to cut cost for Lambertz... quite the opposite: butter, cocoa and nuts have all become more expensive.

Energy costs are up, too.

+++OT Martin Eschweiler, Lambertz Chocolate Factory+++
"We need natural gas for our ovens, we need energy to refrigerate our product.. and then there's the raw materials, the ingredients. The cost for chocolate has exploded.. so, we're suffering under constantly rising costs."

The group uses 25,000 tons of chocolate per year.. and they hope that the new US tariffs will not become a long-term factor, ruining the export business.