Like Antonio and Andy have mentioned, it is very important to understand your costs. I actually have a catering company and before I prepare a quote, I always ask myself " How much money do I want to make on this project?." Then I go about analyzing my costs to come up with a price for the client. Good luck. This is a tricky thing to figure out, but you will.
Pricing is always derived from your COGS or COGS+L(abor) numbers. It's hard to arbitrarily price something as you're requirements and overhead are different from my own. You also want to be above your margin threshold, for some it's 300% for some foodservice they are lucky to get 80% so YMMV.
Just noticed Antonino's post and he's right on.
H,
pricing is a big science, so many things to calculate: food cost, overheads, profit but also market related prices, high potential profit for once-off or lower price to create a long lasting client/business relationship!
So start to have your food cost (ingredients per portion) right: $2-3 is a very wide range!
THEN do this calculation: food cost (FD) X 65% = minimum selling price. (eg: $2X1.65=$3.30-min.selling price)
or: final price is equivalent to: FD +15% (oveheads)+55% (minimum profit) (considering your food cost being 35%)
Also remember to add to your costing any extra tool/trais, foil, petrol etc necessary to get the job done. ( let say 5-10% )
As well: do you need to hire extra people for the job? Add it on. Do you need to work extra hours for the job? if you will do it on your extra time, add it on: you could have been doing something else but you stuck at work till late night!
Then you will see, if this price isbelow your competitors or market related you can add as much as you feel :a) right; b) fair c) worth the effort d) try to cash up heavily to buy a new tool/ great dinner/a day at the SPA....
my suggestion? it should be worth the effort and the extra time without being to heavy on mark up..
Remember that unless you are happy at the end of hard work, you will feel very very bitter about it and you will not appreciate what you did.
My few rand (south african money..) worth of knowledge...
Hope it helps
There is a cheaper and easier route...
Go to a drugstore and get the cheapest heating pad (electric blanket). The more expensive ones have auto-shut off and terry clothe covers which you don't need.
I just flip over a 1/2 sheet pan on the counter, put the heating pad on top, the bowl or hotel pan of cold couverture on top, and walk away overnight. The "medium" setting is usually pretty darn close.
Stirring is a different matter. Chocolate is thixotropic, which means it is best mixed with a shearing action, any other action for longer periods of time usually incorporates bubbles. Most melters and temperers usually use a wheel/disc with a scraper, or a rotating bowl with a scraper.
Another problem: What temperature does the hotplate get to? Chances are it gets much hotter than the contents are intended to get, and as a result could burn your chocolate - especially if it's not being moved off of the bottom. Case in point: Even a baine marie will burn your chocolate if you let the water boil and not remove the chocolate from the sides and bottom of the bowl.
My recommendation: If you're going to waste time "rigging up devices" to try and do what's already been invented and proven to work, put in a few more hours at your paying job, save your $$ and buy the right tool for the job - a proper tempering machine. They aren't that expensive.
Brad
I also think this stirrer would not work as well as you would need it to and I don't think the other stirrer you linked in your reply would do the job either. In my opinion, you'd be better off saving that money for the future and buying a tempering machine rather then spending money of somethingthat probably won't work and/or would be a big hassle.Also, it doesn't seem like you'd be able to temper that much chocolate at once using this equipment. For the amount you could temper using this magnetic stirrer, you'd be just as well off tempering by hand. You can temper a couple pounds of chocolate in maybe 15-20 minutes. To answer your question about tempering, no - tempering is not just about achieving the correct temperature for crystal formation. It most definitely has to do with agitation as well. I highly recommend you know how to temper correctly by hand prior to becoming reliant on equipment. It is a really helpful skill to have. Also, there is a lot of info in JP Wybauw's books about crystal formation, tempering, etc that is good reading. Good luck.
Hi Nat,
Thanks for your reply. I have a few follow-up ideas I'd like to see if you have any thoughts on.
1) The company that makes this hotplate also sells magnetic stirrers up to 5 cm long. That still won't scrape the sides but at least it's bigger than the standard magnetic stirrer that comes with it.
2) I could conceivably rig up some sort of scraping device which would fit the pan and have the stirrer embedded in it. I'm not sure if the magnetic stirrer would be powerful enough to move such a large attachment though.
3) Maybe something like this http://www.ardentegourmetstirrer.com/ would do the trick?
4) This one is a bit more technical but you seem like the kind of person who would know the answer. Here's my understanding of the tempering process:
Type V cocoa butter crystals will form in the 29-34 C range.If you just let chocolate sit at this temperature all of the crystals will eventually be type V but the time required for this to happen is prohibitive for any commercial confectioner.Agitation will reduce this time, as will various temperature fluctuation or seeding techniques.
So if I'm willing to let the chocolate sit on the hotplate overnight will it still be tempered? Or does agitation play some other role in the tempering process? If I just used a small stirrer and it agitated the chocolate for a long time would the gradual movement and convection near the sides of the container be sufficient to temper the entire mass if I let it sit for long enough?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
a magnetic stirrer as I know from labs I've worked in will not stir thechocolate very well. You need to make sureyou get all thechocolate off the walls on each stir as most tempering machines do, whereas a magnetic stirrer is a short ~1" bar that will only stir a small area in the bottom center of viscouschocolate.
-Nat
____________________________
Nat Bletter, PhD
Chocolate Flavormeister
Madre Chocolate
I was thinking of getting one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-2-Magnetic-Stirrer-Hot-Plate-Digital-Thermostat-300w-Heating-2000-rpm-/350527518368#ht_1652wt_1165
as a makeshift tempering machine.
I plan to put a water bath on the hotplate and put a pot in the water bath.
I would be using it at home to make small batches of chocolate for holidays and such.
Can anyone think of a reason that this wouldn't work? It's a good deal cheaper than a tempering machine and more versatile too. I could just dial in a new temperature and use it for sous-vide or custard or some recipe that would make use of the magnetic stirrer.
i am a cocoa farmer from east africa, and i am able to supply any quantity of cocoa bean requested
Contact me soonest if interested lopezmariam3@gmail.com
Chris, i do have our fermented and sundried criollo cacao beans statesside, my sister has a supply in washington state. please email me at companeroscacao@gmail.com to discuss price and quantity.
-pura vida
Hello Mr. C,
I, too am looking for additional varieties of beans for our Bean2Bar production. Might you have any beans stateside and a steady stream coming into the US that you would be able to supply us with?
Thanks,
Chris
Dan, i graciously invite you to our farm, if you are in costa rica please feel free to contact us about availability in our guest house or just stop by for some samples of our chocolate or a shot of our chocolate rum! i will be in touch.
pura vida
Hi Mr. C, Yes I am interested in getting some of your beans. I may be going to costa rica in january but would prefer to get some beans before then. I will check your web site and contact you for pricing and availability.
Ciao, Dan
Hi Dan,
I own an organic fruit farm on the caribbean coast of costa rica. we are also a volunteer/enviromental project and sell a variety of chocolate products, but we proudly produce a 80% criollo cacao. all our beans are grown on our farm and are fermented and sun dried. i also have cacao beans in washington state, to get them to the usa i usaully have myf amily just check an extra bag on the airlines as air freight and cargo freight requires much more weight to make it economically beneficial, feel free to contact us on our webpage at www.companeroscacao.org
pura vida.
C.Shaw
Thank you Peter and also Steve.
Steve, I will get in touch with you.
Akbar Kaliwala.
Hi Dan -Cocoa Samoa Limited (CSL) hasgot 4-day and 7-day fermented sun-dried Trinitario cocoa beans for sale in 10kg and 20kg bags, direct from our growers, all beautifully sorted. Price is $USD12/kg FOB - you pay the postage and insurance on top of this price (allow $USD7-17/kg airfreight around the world - by ship can take 4 weeks plus, but is cheaper). We are currently sending 400kg to 5 new roasters, we now have 2 batches of 70% dark chocolate made in Adelaide and Melbourne (Australia) - this is just our first sample packaging
We also have 2-3 tonne available now should anyone be interested............our cocoa growers can prepare more if it is needed.....we have so many mature pods needing a good home. If interested, contact Tupa'e Steve on stevebrownsamoa@gmail.com and we can try and assist you. We can even send our testimonials from our roasters' initial batches prepared. Samoan Trinitario has always had a fine reputation since the early German cocoa plantation days in the late 1800s. Samoans today still consume a lot (50 tonnes annually) of locally prepared cocoa (Koko Samoa) and it is excellent.
Hi Dan
You might contact Juan Pablo Buchert in costa Rica juan@chocolate-nahua.com
There is also a cooperative that ships cacao from the Southern Caribbean of CR called APPTA
You can research commodity prices on-line. Prices in-country could fall in the $3.50 to $5 per kg range for pretty good cacao.
Peter
I am new to chocolate life and am looking for information on how to buy/import cacao beans from other countries. I am thinking about getting 100 kilos each, from a variety of countries to make some bean to bar.
Is it easiest/cheapest to buy from an importer, and who would people recommend?
If I went to costa rica, found a great farmer, bought some beans, how would I get them home?
Where can I find a listing of fair prices for cacao so I have something to compare to?
Thanks, Dan
Anyone know of any brands that produce good quality Fair Trade dutched chocolate?
It's pretty easy these days to find Fair Trade chocolate. But in my experience, many of the companies that focus on Fair Trade also focus on natural chocolate. Maybe I'm a chocolate wimp, but that's just not my thing. Too acidic for me, especially dark chocolate.
Even among brands that aren't Fair Trade and that do use the Dutch process, they're fairly inconsistent about listing it in their ingredients (e.g. cocoa processed with alkali) or elsewhere on the packaging.
Heck, I'd settle for Rainforest Alliance Certified. I just want good, rich, non-acidic, ethical chocolate.
Any ideas?
I would definitely be interested in doing a test batch. Just added you as a friend lets talk 
Howard, have you received the feedback that you wanted. If not then I'd be more than willing to put your cocoa to the test. I am only starting in the chocolate making, but a single origin hand crafted Samoa chocolate bar would be a great thing to produce. Finding out what percentage worked best would be a fascinating challenge.
Hi Howard, I'd be very interested in evaluating some of your beans if you still have them available. I'm a small artisan maker in California and would very much like to add learn more about your FF beans.
Yep, there's no doubt Koko Samoa is an acquired taste (I am a fan) - possibly a bit "smokey" for most people.
However we have been making hot chocolate by melting our finished chocolate (made from Samoan Trinitario cocoa) with milk (roughly 250ml of milk to 50g of 70% cocoa chocolate) and it is pretty fantastic.
Have also tried brewed cocoa with the finings from winnowing - works quite well in an espresso machine (even has a little crema on top) but again a bit of an acquired taste for most people.
A potential customer in Tasmania asked whether Samoan cocoa is good in hot chocolate. What, is the pope Catholic? Samoas national beverage is called Koko Samoa and the average Samoan drinks 5 cups a week. That would be 200g or 10kg a year. That puts it in the leagues of Switzerland in terms of per capita consumption. You can see a good recipe at http://www.samoafood.com/2010/10/koko-samoa-samoan-cocoa-recipe.html Now, in my shop I have been focus-grouping it to a variety of customers. Mostly they go yuck that looks like cocoa water. Australians expect a think gooey syrupy milky substance with lots of cream and sugar, maybe some added corn starch to make it even thicker. Or they prefer the ubiquitous powder (even Starbucks uses it) with West African beans and probably Fonterra dried milk. No, mate, this is the really McCoy. It is a bit like when you were a teenager and someone said try this for the first time . . . coffee, and you said how can anyone drink this. Or maybe when you first tasted wine. The way they make it in Samoa is the farmer goes into the plantation and picks some ripe pods of cocoa, takes out the beans, dries them in the sun, and roasts them slightly on a BBQ. Sometimes they ferment it before they dry it, but often not, and I cant taste the difference. Then they pound it by hand with a wooden mortar and pestle. The result is a think cocoa paste still containing morsels. You can buy this paste in the markets everywhere in Samoa and also in the Samoan Food stores e.g. in Auckland and Brisbane. You just shave off a couple tablespoons with a serrated knife, two T to 1 cup water, and you gently boil it for five minutes. My wife the Choc Diva loves it straight, but I usually put a T of raw Queensland sugar. Some people add a bit of coconut milk. Ive experimented with adding Chai Spice.
But Australians turn their noses up at it. Id say about only one quarter like it, and no one prefers it given the choice of gooey.It just goes to show you that chocolate consumption is a very cultural phenomenon.
Hi everyone: Just an update. I brought ~30kg of Samoa Gold Pacific BioKoko to Melbourne with my proper phyto-sanitary certificates and had to pay only Australian GST. You have to make a declaration of how much it was worth, so I gave my price.
We have had inquiries from Brooklyn to Perth of master and craft chocolatiers who are interested in testing this product.
At this point, I need people who can roast, give me a flavour profile (e.g. is there a note of coconut?, how much cocoa butter is there?) , and "tame" a single-origin bar. If you have an idea where I can have a craft chocolatie, I'd appreciate it.
PS This is the logo we used on the first export bags from Samoa. We designed to be a collector's item. BioKoko refers to the fact that our factory will use a biowaste generator which sequesters carbon. I have a stock of empty bags for $50 each. The Polynesian Vaka will cruise the Pacific on a publicity tour, if anyone is interesting in hosting an event? I know it's an arcane hobby, collecting cacao sacks, but I once had one with "Cocoa from Revolutionary Nicaragua" that I then onsold when I became an entrepreneur.
Hi Howard, i'd also be interested in adding a Samoan to our other Pacific range. Prefer un-roasted beans or nibs.
Happy to look at roasted or liquor but would need to know the roasting profile used so we can benchmark. Also may have a market for the frozen pulp of the cocoa, which is usually a by-product.
We also use the winnowed shell for cacao tea so please advise pricing on this if available.
will also message you, cheers
Hi Howard, I just sent you a message on The Chocolate Life.
Thank you
Hi! Im Howard Frederick, chocolatier in Australia and Samoa. Im writing to see if any master craft chocolatiers would like to have a free shipment of Samoan Gold Cocoa beans? We'd love you to evaluate them. We now have a renewed supply of Samoan cocoa beans. Our BioKoko Single-Origin Samoan Cocoa is organic, fairtrade and . . . carbon-neutral because we use only biogas energy in our production.
I 
am not sure you know but the Samoan cocoa industry was started by German settlers before World War I. See the photo of 120 year old cocoa trees still producing.
Samoa was devastated by cyclones and a tsunami and is just now getting back on its feet. Before the cyclone, Samoan cocoa was designated as Fine and Flavourful (the top category) by the International Cocoa Organisation. There are 5000 acres under production and about 1200 farmers. Right now were re-starting the industry with beans export, and the moving up the value chain. You can see below an artists concept of our factory under construction. Our energy source is a biogasifier using agricultural waste, so we make a positive contribution to the planet by sequestering carbon. We believe the LOHAS markets will find them an attractive marketing angle.
Cocoa 
orchards are concentrated in the two 'rain shadows' (see map) along the northwest coasts of both islands. Ninety percent of Samoan cocoa is Trinitario. Samoa's fine chocolate quality may be due to the unique soil composition of Samoa's cocoa growing areas. The northwest rain-shadowed coast of both islands experiences marked dry seasons; trees seemingly grow out of rocks. Almost no mechanization is possible, even walking is difficult. Land is difficult to clear, but once established, cocoa trees on the lava flow thrive on the weed-free environment, where their own leaves cover the earth so their feet stay cool.
So my question to you is, can you use some Samoan FF beans or likor? May I send you some product? Im happy to air freight you 2 or 10 kg for you to bench test. I know youll be very happy about the re-entry of Samoan Gold Standard Cocoa into the world market.
Kind regards, Howard
Prof Ahorangi Howard Frederick
Mmor Chocolates & High Tea Szaln
153 Johnston Street, Collingwood (Melbourne), VIC 3066 Australia
T: 03-9419-3869, M: 0435-622-446
On behalf of
Cocoa Samoa Ltd
P.O. BOX 488, Apia, Samoa, South Pacific
Saleufi Street (opposite Chan Mow Complex)
Apia, 'Upolu Island, Samoa
Telephone: +(685)27122 Fax: +(685)27122
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Clay,
Thanks for the info, we will check Frank's site out. The next question is the printer outerwrappers. Is that something we do locally or is there an on-line source.
Pierre
