Forum Activity for @Jeffrey

I am currently buying Callebaut 835 dark chocolate in 11 pound blocks and I am getting it for $3.63 per pound.

Brad - I get Guittard and E. Guittard from a local bakery supply company for about $4.50/lb, buying in 10 - 50 lb orders. Some of it they stock normally, but the E. Guittard they stock for me specifically at that price.

Thanks Clay. That was very helpful.

Brad:

Directly from Valrhona, price for "pistoles" of couverture darks and milks average around US$8/lb for their minimum wholesale order.

Guittard runs considerably less, with their most expensive product being under US$6/lb for their minimum wholesale order but most running in the $3-5 range depending on format and pack.

Callebaut products are generally price-competitive with Guittard, though some of the origins and the Cacao Barry rare origine line are at the high end of the range. Belcolade is at the lower end of the range, generally.

Prices are negotiable to some extent as you go closer to the manufacturer/importer and can quote larger volumes.

In general, it's best to be just slightly less expensive than your target price competition.

Thanks Edward and Sebastian!

Very helpful and certainly a reality check for me. These prices are definitely a far cry from the prices I charge retail for wrapped bars!

know that between 8-20/lb - callebaut's making an absolute killing on margin...

Like others have said, it all depends on volume. Chocolate is a commodity.

If it means anything to you, I buy aprox 1000 kgs per year. I'm paying around $12./kg for a good single origin 70%, and around $10.00 for a good 38% milk chocolate.

These prices were negotiated with the CDN branch of the mnfctr and based on a minimum of 1000 kg/year. One very nice thing I like about the mnfctr. is that their prices are very stable--usually it will only change about every two years-barring any unforseen circumstances. They will give you a 2 mth "heads up" before prices do change.

What you should be doing is estimating your minimum amount and taking this to the various suppliers and asking them what kind of a price they can give you. You know that old saying about asking the price of a Rolls Royce? If you ask suppliers for pricing on a high volume product, you'll get all kinds of answers. Dangle your yearly consumption infront of them, and they'll sit up and sharpen their pencils before giving you a decent price.

In my town (Vancouver Canada) prices are all over the place. For the same Callebaut 70/30 prices can range from $8.00 to $20.00 depending on the supplier and their "story of the day".

If you are using large amounts, it helps to deal directly with the mnfctr or regional sales rep for the mnfctr and NOT local distributers.

Anybody else care to share? I've provided a lot of guidance to peopleon this forum in the last couple of years. It's not often I ask for anything, but this time pricing feedback would be very helpful.

Quid Pro Quo Everyone!

Thanks in advance.

Brad

Depending on your size (volume), you're looking as low as $2.00/lb, and as high as you can convince someone to pay. average mid size fella (< 100,000 lbs), i'd day is ~$4.00/lb.

Thanks Thomas.

I'm hoping some chocolatiers here in North America can weigh in and give me some idea as to price ranges they are paying for what I've listed above.

Again, the quantity doesn't really matter, assuming you aren't buying 7 metric tons per order, but rather a few lbs, or few hundred lbs at a time.

Thanks in advance.

Brad

I have been buying 10 pounds of liquor per order. I pay $8lb at one place and $6lb at the other. I am including shipping costs. It comes out about a $1 pound cheaper if you subtract them. When I can make bigger purchases (60 lbs. at one place and 100 lbs. at the other) it will lower the price by about $2 a pound. I know the price for a pound of liquor in the DR at CONACADO last summer was a little less than $2.70 a pound. If you want more information, let me know.

Hi Everyone!

In January I will be opening my third location, after which I will need to plan for and build a commissary to make chocolate for all of my future stores.

For the first few years, the commissary will far over produce what my stores can consume, so I am exploring the option of selling some of the chocolate and chocolate related products (70% dark, nibs liquor, etc) on a wholesale basis to various local restaurants.

The question I have, is for all of you who buy bulk chocolate for your business, what would you typically pay per kg for

1. a premium quality couverture
2. milk chocolate
3. nibs
4. liquor

I'm not asking for trade secrets here - just prices you are typically quoted by your suppliers.

Thanks in advance

Brad

Moisture and heat are bad news... both shorten shelf life and can affect taste and texture (as can too much cold + moisture... which is why you don't keep chocolate refrigerated). Cool and dry are the best conditions.

ther is no dought that chocolate get spoiled wen exposed to humidity, avoid contact with air by foiling, or by keeping in air tight containers, or keep in closed room to avoid as much as humidity, nobody canot say how soon a chocolate will get spoiled it depends on humidity , presecnce of microbs and other parameters.

lt depends on even the brand, try changing your brand, In india most of the companys are making only compound chocolates it some times give a soapy of flaver when exposed to air.

In my native place Kodaikanal peoples are keeping chocolates in open for months with out geting spoiled, here temprature is usualy below 16 degree celcius ,

Hi

I am trying to work with chocolate in a high humidity country. ( between 60 and 80 %) I was wondering what is the normal shelf life of chocolate once you open it from the manufacturers packet. I normally keep it well sealed in an air tight container and the room temp. is normally between 20-27 maximum. I know I may need to invest in cold storage for the chocolate. But, it has really been bothering me that once opened from the manufacturers pack , some of the chocolate has been tasting - a bit off- stale , gritty or old a bit like a closed attic - what is the reason for this ? This is also happening extremely fast - within 1-2 months of opening the package. The prodn. dates are around april or march this year with best before in 2013 for milk and dark 2014. How soon can chocolate taste off once opened. And any ideas why this ishappeningand ways to avoid it. Any help will be appreciated

I'm having somewhat the same issue. I temper my chocolate by hand in the marble. But I'm having trouble lowering its temp because of the amount of chocolate plus the weather won't help me, it's so frustrating

2kg is pretty much the smallest amount I use in mine.

Can anyone tell me what the minnimum amount of chocolate I should use in a 6kg melter?

Thanks, Carol....

You probably don't need to provide nutrition info if you meet the small business exemption criteria (although, most consumers and stores prefer that all products provide it). See here:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/FoodLabelingGuidanceRegulatoryInformation/SmallBusinessNutritionLabelingExemption/default.htm

"One exemption, for low-volume products, applies if the person claiming the exemption employs fewer than an average of 100 full-time equivalent employees and fewer than 100,000 units of that product are sold in the United States in a 12-month period. To qualify for this exemption the person must file a notice annually with FDA. Note that low volume products that bear nutrition claims do not qualify for an exemption of this type. "

You can file for the exemption online.

Also, if you ever plan to package the individual chocolates not mixed, then it is good to have the nutrition info done for each separate variety (which you would need to do if you package them mixed anyway... to get the composite value you'll need the individual values).

Many thanks... just wanted to be sure I was interpreting it correctly.

Happy Thanksgiving, Jeff!

Gobble Gobble...

Your are permitted to have a label that reflects a composite value of the products inside for a mixed box. You can check out the guidelines here

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/FoodLabelingGuide/default.htm

Remember, these are not law but regulations, but it's best to try and follow as closely as possible.

Here's the key paragraph

Products with Separately Packaged Ingredients/Assortments of Foods/Gift Packages ( 21 CFR 101.9(h) )

P1. Can the Nutrition Facts label on a box containing dry noodles and a seasoning packet list the nutrients in the noodles separately from the seasoning packet? If so, must a column be included that gives the total nutrients for the noodles and the seasoning packet?

Answer: Section 101.9(h)(1) provides the option of listing nutrition information per serving for each component or as a composite value. The decision is up to the manufacturer. A column of total values is not required.

P2. What are the labeling options for products packed in an assortment that are intended to be eaten at the same time? Can the nutrient analysis for a product containing a mixture of nuts or different types of dried fruit be based on a composite of the mixture blended together?

Answer: Section 101.9(h)(1) allows the nutrition information for assortments of the same type of food (e.g., mixed nuts or mixed fruits) that are intended to be consumed at the same time to be specified for each component or as a composite value. Therefore, if it is reasonable to assume that a consumer would eat an assortment of the nuts or fruits offered, a single composite analysis may be used to determine the nutrient composition.

Anybody have any ideas as to how to create a label for assorted chocolates or truffles?

Makes sense to me - that way they'll all have the same tension. Do it do it - no.

I know, I must have too much time on my hands, but I was wondering if anyone "tunes" their guitar. It makes sense that the wires are the same size, and the same length. Shouldn't they play the same note? I figure that it must let you know that the tension is the same, correct? I haven't tightened the wires on my most used frame for a long time, so I tightened it up today. I tried to get about the same note. Am I crazy?

hi,

we need to grind something between 20 and 80kg at time.

Is Hammer mill a manufacturer?

Thanks a lot!!!

Nino

what amount of sugar are you looking to grind? hammer mills are fast and grind sugar well.

Hi Everyone,

we buy organic sugar for our bean to bar chocolate.

I would like to reduce the time of grinding by pre-grinding the sugar before it goes into our conching machine.

anyone has any idea? is there a mid size machine out there i could look into it or anything i could build by my self? (meaning locally...i am not mac gyver!)

Thank a lot!

Nino

I've had (and made) ganache both with tempered and untempered chocolate. Personally, I prefer untempered chocolate in myganache plus since I temper by hand it saves me a good bit of time when making ganache. Have you considered not tempering your chocolate for your ganaches?

Personally I find the easiest way to temper ganache is to let your cream cool down to approximately 30-35C and pour it all at once onto the molten tempered chocolate. Then thoroughly mix it until you have a smooth emulsion. Since the temperature never gets high enough to take the cacao butter crystals out of temper you will end with tempered ganache.

Having read numerous books and threads on the topic it seems that the consensus when making a ganache is to temper it on a marble slab as a final stage before moulding/dipping. In an effort to speed up the process (and because the slab I use is just too small to be useful) I thought I'd just add 1% Mycryo cocoa butter to the ganache as you might do when tempering just chocolate. It firmed up nice enough but I don't know if it has the same effect as slabbing the ganache in terms of improving texture and shelf life. Has anyone else tried this? Does it do the same job?

Thanks.

Nick.

Hey Edward,

You can avoid "Bleeding" by thickening the chocolate you are brushing especially over the edges and at the borders between two different colours. (it happens with small moulds as well) I would also thicken the layer of white chocolate just to make sure santa's beard is fully white.

Cool stache by the way Movembering are we?

Good Job!

In getting ready for christmas, I've got plenty of smaller figures "in storage" for the time being, but now I need a few "super Santas" for display. Here's the mold, a two piecer, from Belgium. The marks on the rule are in inches, 20 inches is around 42 cm.

First, all of the white coloured features are done--beard, fur trim, pupils. Using an artist's brush for this is ridiculous, waaay too much real estate to cover, I use a cornet.

Next come the dark coloured features--toy sack, eyes, and boots. This means of course that the body will be milk chocolate.

The one and only coloured feature, red mittens. This is almost a must in the city I live in, Vancouver. Red mittens were the trademark of the 2010 winter olympics held here.... This was brushed on in several layers. I always buy my colours--primary colours only--in the powder form and mix my own with cocoa butter. Far cheaper this way....

It does look kind of ugly right now, doesn't it? I've brushed on a layer of milk chocolate over most of the mold. For this I use a silicone brush, found with the BBQ gadgets in the kitchen stores. Best brush for this purpose-- I never loose any hair/bristles and it is easy to clean--just let the chocolate harden and pull it off!

Here we are ready for filling. The mold never came with any clips, and the mold has a heavy rim/frame around it so clips wouldn't work anyway. Last year I used woodworker's "C" clamps (or cramps if you're British...) to hold the mold closed. It was awkward and I was always afraid I'd crack the mold if I applied too much pressure on the clamp.

What I found works best is packing tape. You can get some decent tension on it and really clamp the mold tight.

Now I have to work quick, chocolate shrinks as it dries. What happens with large molds is that I get "bleeding" with two colours. Say for example the the toy sack which is dark, if I'm not careful I'll get milk chocolate creeping in between the mold surface and the dark chocolate feature when I ladle the milk in.

Ladleing in. I usually do two coats, with the final weight around 3.5 kgs. This is sufficient enough for a figure to withstand heavy shaking and transport, and light enough to make the figure affordable.

Here's the final Santa. If you look at the boots, you'll see what I mean about the two colours "bleeding" under the mold.

This figure has a very large stomach and toy-sack, but with small feet, making it very top-heavy and tippy. After casting and cooling, I usually sit the mold on a thick puddle of couverture to give it a heavy "sole" for it's boots and to add a little weight to the bottom. In any case the figure will be packed in a sturdy box and cellophaned up. It can't tip over in the box.

Thanks for looking, and don't work too hard this christmas

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Thank you guys!

To Beth and Omar,

I've finally solved this problem simply by not using tempered chocolate for capping the molds.

Isn't it great when a solution is SIMPLE?

my pleasure. let me know how it goes

Thank you for your suggestions, Omar! I will try tinkering with the proportions a bit. I don't think the shell thickness is the issue because I don't have the leakage problem with other kinds of ganache. Possibly my cream here in Thailand has more water and less butterfat than the cream used in other countries, which would account for the difference in ganache behavior.

Thank you for your suggestions, Beth! I always allow my ganache-filled molds to crystallize overnight, so perhaps changing the proportion of cream/lime juice to the other ingredients will do the trick

I would either reduce the percentage of cream or increase chocolate in my ganache. Sounds like you need a firmer filling. Also I would make a thiker chocolate shell to prevent the cream from escaping.