I actually have no answers about selling online, but I do have a thought that has worked for me in my state. Check your cottage business laws. I am selling through farmer's markets and at vendor fairs, and I've established a solid reputation in just 18 mos. I've also had a few people ask me if they can invest in setting me up with a storefront.
Tet - this is a fairly standard business practice. It's called contract or white label manufacturing. In some instances the company puts your name on their products. In others you contract with them to make your products on their equipment. There is no employee/employer relationship required for this. In fact you would not want that, and neither would they.
Of course the devil is in the details. The company you contract with might not have the equipment to make every different confection you wish to offer. Or the amount of products you wish produced might not meet their minimum production requirements.
And of course you can't patent a confection, so if you have a really great confection that you invented, and it catches on, they'll probably steal the idea from you. Your attorney may be able to put together a non-disclosure/non-compete agreement that holds water. The value of those varies from State to State.
But it's a fairly typical arrangement, and worth looking into if you don't want to personally make the confections and you are pushing adequate volume. If your projected volume is low however, this is probably not the way to go.
You'd be an employee but would receive most of the profits of product sold. It's kind of a startup thing!
Tet - the licenses and permits you need will depend on exactly what you want to do, and where you want to do it. Each States has its own requirements. Here's my 2:
1) I'm happy to offer you my opinions, but these types of questions really need to be addressed to your lawyer. If you don't have one get one.You'll want one with experience in new business startups, preferably in the food sector.
2) In most states there are licensing/permit requirements for each stage and/or segment of what you're doing. For example you would need to create a corporate entity with your Sec of State. Then you would get a business license from your county and/or city. Additional permits would depend on whether you are a production facility only, or a retail facility, etc. It can be very difficult to navigate your city's bureaucracy. See #1.
3) If you rent space in a commercial kitchen, you'll save yourself most of the headaches involved in getting health dept approvals, etc because the commercial kitchen will have already done that. But there are other regulations regarding ingredients, preparation, storage, etc. that you'll need to familiarize yourself with.
4) A commercial kitchen will almost certainly insist that you carry $1MM-$2MM worth of insurance. And in my State it's also necessary to get a food handler's permit. Your State may have something like that too, in which case the commercial kitchen will also probably want to see proof of that.
5) If you are MAKING chocolate you may have a problem, because a commercial kitchen is highly unlikely to have the specialty equipment you'll need, and probably will not allow you to bring in your own. You'll want to run that down in advance.
6) If you are not making chocolate, then things will be easier. But if by "chocolates" you are referring to truffles, pralines, etc. then as you know these require specific storage environments. Most commercial kitchens have only walk-in refrigerators and freezers.
7) For off-site storage you will need a facility that is both temperature and humidity controlled. Storage facilities that cater to wine can sometimes be ideal. But again, you'll have to check the laws in your State, because moving the confections to a non-approved facility before sale might not be allowed.
8) There are issues that come into play when you sell food to the public that you may not have considered. For example, it's very typical to include liquors and other alcohol-based flavorings in confections. This is usually allowed, but many States strictly regulate the percentage of alcohol permitted in each confection. That amount may be by volume or by weight. For example in New York it's by volume, and if you have more than 0.5% alcohol you cannot legal sell the confection to anyone under 21 years old, and any packaging you produce must contain a alcoholic beverage warning label!
9) Also, you may very well run into labeling requirements. The FDA has strict rules about how this needs to be done. It's not overly difficult, but you have do to it properly.
Again, and above all, see #1.
if you are interested in importing any amount of cocoa bean, reply to us soonest , for negotiation
I await your reply
yeah we are producing chocolates sweetened with coconut sugar 60% & 70% Chocolate bars plain & spicy.
Ernesto
Here's a good place to start: http://chocolatetalk.proboards.com/thread/391
Remember, as far as the human body metabolism goes, sugar is sugar. if you're marketing directly for a diabetic market, please be sure you understand the impact of glycemic index and sugars (pretty much any of the pentoses and hexoses - such as sucrose) will impact insulin levels regardless of if it comes from cane, beet, coconuts, or maple trees. The body will see no difference between sugar in the raw, granulated white sugar, cane sugar, beet sugar, etc. High potency sweeteners such as stevia, are an entirely different class of compounds, and as such, the body metabolizes them differently. Lots of info here on these topics already, i'd encourage you to sift through the forums.
Yes, coconut sugar, or granulated coconut nectar. Pure Cacao + Granulated Coco Nectar. Our (fair trade) producer has been making them since 2009. They are wonderful!
http://www.fair-and-healthy.com/blog/2009/03/11/healthy-chocolate/
Fanny-Min BECKER
Hi Sandy! We haven't tried fruit sugar, but we've tried the difference between Stevia, cane sugar, and raw sugar. Check out our post on Rootchocolate.com here: http://rootchocolate.com/2014/08/08/sugar-sugar/
Hi everyone,
We have been asked many times to make a chocolate that diabetics can have, and I understand beet sugar works well for that purpose. Has anyone here tried using beet sugar in their chocolate? Or have you tried coconut sugar as well?
Thanks!
I didn't mean to say a tempering machine is better than a melter. Many people like the melters because they can hold more chocolate and allow you to empty a mold much more easily. And I think it is fairly easy to adjust the temperature up and down so as to deal with over-crystallization. I myself like a tempering machine because I don't use huge amounts of chocolate at a time, and it takes less chocolate to get a tempering machine bowl to a usable level than it does for a melter. I also like that a tempering machine requires less attention and so I can do something else while the process is going on.
got it! Thanks. I will go ahead with a temper machine. They are absolutely there for a reason.
My impression from reading (and experience) is that with time too many Type V crystals form, and the chocolate will thicken too much to be usable--even if the temperature reading has not varied at all. At that point there are options (heating up the chocolate a bit or adding some warmer untempered chocolate), but you can't just let the chocolate sit there forever. Tempering machines continually adjust the heat to slow down this process, and with melters, the user can adjust the temp manually, but the over-crystallization is likely to happen eventually--and you can only turn up the temp so far before the chocolate is out of temper.
Thanks Jim.
I tried on milk chocolate and it worked too.
But if I have a 90.5F holding tank with a dispenser, never let it cool down or empty. Would it be fine?
If you can keep (dark) chocolate at that 90-91F. temperature, you are fine, but sometimes reality intervenes: If, for example, you are using chocolate left over from a previous session, it is very unlikely still to be in temper and must therefore be raised to high enough a temp to melt out all the crystals. I use your method (of very careful melting-though I do it over a water bath and not in a microwave) if I am doing a small amount (e.g., for a ganache or for decorating finished pieces), but it is very difficult to melt a large amount (e.g., for dipping pieces or filling molds) and keep the temp within the final working range.
I have this question bothering me for a long time and am happy to find this forum. I hope my question can be answered.
I saw the microwave tempering process-starting with pre-tempered wafer, heat at different interval in microwave. Make sure it is melted but less than 91F. Than the chocolate is tempered. I tried it and it works! So in this logic, I can just have a warmer at constant 90.5Fto melt the chocolate and have tempered chocolate all the time?
If this makes sense, why do I need temper machine, as long as it starts with tempered chocolate? ( I know it can not make sense but what makes it nonsense?)
Thanks!
Susie
Hello everyone! I'm working on a specialty cordial recipe and have a couple questions. Has anyone used from scratch brandied cherries in their cordials vs jarred maraschinos? Have you had any trouble with additional water content? Also, is there any need to worry about refrigeration when using "fresh" cherries or is the sugar/alcohol content still high enough not to be a worry? l appreciate any thoughts!
I think I do.. but I am worried about making a bad decision..
but more and more I think that to stop selling truffles by unit is the way to go.. I will only offer them in mixed boxes, and I am looking at doing some wine pairings with a local wine shop and create custom truffles that will be sold in pre packaged boxes of 2 and 4.
basically I wanted to see if anyone else went this route.. and do not offer truffles traditionally in a case..
I think you should concentrate on what is selling. Sounds like you know what you should do:)
I was looking for comments and opinions and comments.. not cocoa beans LOL
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
Hi, About 6 weeks ago I opened up a chocolate kiosk within a very popular candy store, now what I taught would be smooth sailing has proven to be a real challenge.. I am restricted to 160sq/ft production and retail space.
I am offering a bit of everything.. molded products, truffles, dipped products and a whole lot of chocolate bars
Now I am debating what to do with my truffles.. I think my price point is a bit too high but I am also debating how I will continue to sell them.. right now I have a selection of 21 truffles in a non refrigerated display case that sits on my counter.. I don't sell that many, people coming in are not looking to buy chocolates in the first place so i sell only a few here and there, they are more attracted to my fancy and off the wall chocolate bar flavors.. I am wondering if I would not just be better off to eliminate the case and pack the truffles in mixed chocolate boxes and stop selling by unit.. and gain back some counter space for faster selling items.
Anyone else has dropped selling truffles by the unit and just went pre packaged ? If I had a ton of space i would continue but right now the amount I am selling anyways doesn't feel like it is making good use of that counter.. comments ? ideas ?
Hi Clay, probably too busy, but if you could give me the contact of serious peru awesome. many thanks
Hi Clay,
Hi Clay, thanks for your help and expertise, could you tell me what cost has this machine Peru?
Mariano:
I would not buy directly from China unless you are prepared, immediately upon arrival, to examine all of the electrics and electronics and completely re-wire the machine. I would also make sure to ask what material the blades and the inner surfaces of the machine are made of. They have to be made from extremely hard (expensive) steel. Otherwise they will wear down quickly and you will get a lot of metal in the chocolate. Ask what kind of steel and then let me know, I can tell you if it's the right kind.
These are the sorts of details that the Peruvian company I work with takes care of for you. We also work hard to ensure the quality and finish of the welding is good. They are little things - but unless you are prepared to do the work yourself, it makes sense to spend the extra money and have them done for you.
Mariano:
This type machine is called a Universal and it can be used to grind, refine, and conche chocolate.
If you are interested in a machine of this type I work with a supplier down in Peru who can provide them in either 40L or 100L capacities and ship directly to you in Honduras. I have worked with the supplier to make minor modifications on the smaller machine to improve air flow (and therefore conching ability).
:: Clay
Hi all,
anyone know if this machine is good for conching chocolate?
thnks...
For a hobby? not at all.
For commercial purposes - depends on where you live, as the laws are different by country.
Herein lies the importance of effective winnowing - ensuring as much shell as possible is out of the testing stream is helpful in ensuring as much beans as possible pass.
Speaking from the South American perspective, no individual grower I've ever heard of has the capacity or resources to do this testing. and its not necessary as they sell mostly to middlemen who in turn sell to aggregators who turn bulk beans into cheap liquor for cheap nestle and winter products. No individual small producer could be held to account under the current value chain.
I assume the big co-ops in San Martin must cooperate with their US and EU clients, either here on site or there at the destination end, testing finished origin products or they couldn't comply with US / EU regs. The Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture has been concerned about this and actively opposed the latest, stricter EU cadmium regs.
As for Maraon chocolate, we have had our Pure Nacional beans and Fortunato #4 couverture tested in the US and EU and we meet all regs for cadmium content. We are fortunate that our location in the Maraon Canyon has naturally compliant soils!
Saludos, Brian
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.coma bean
no sir - rules are rules. the question was do any plantation owners do heavy metals testing, and while there may be one out there, i've yet to meet him. They normally don't have the technical capacity or competency to do so, and frankly it may not be in their best interest to do so even if they could. The responsibility to ensure compliance with the finished product rests with the person offering the finished product, or the person importing the raw material. larger exporters will conduct raw materials testing (pesticides, heavy metals, etc) for customers who are large enough to justify it - but again they're not going to do it for everyone as to be frank it creates a headache for them (a certain amount will fail - and then what? now they've got a pile of rejected beans that they have to find a home for - the more they test the larger the pile is going to be..and frankly they're not selling chocolate, they're selling a component of it, and have no idea at which usage level (i.e. dilution rate) you're going to use it, so they have no idea what level is appropriate for your usage rate..)
The limit is not just a guide.
Australian New Zealand Food Standard in Part 1.4.1 sets Maximum Level for heavy metal contaminants in food product and the maximum level for Cadmium in chocolate is 0.5mg/kg (not 0.5ppm as I have written above).
This is a legaly enforeable limit and applies to all chocolates sold in Australia and New Zealand.
As Sebastian correctly written above cocoa beans from some American countries have very high cadmium content which means that they can be used as a very limited percentage of your recipe.
Many exporters and brand owners will do heavy metals testing, but i've never met a grower who does. S. and C. American soils are heavily volcanic, which in turn translates into the flesh of the bean. Lead - which often is on the shell - is relatively easy to remove and mitigate. Cadmium - which gets incorporated into the flesh to a higher degree than does lead - becomes more difficult to 'wash off', and blending strategies are employed if there are country specific regulations (Japan's another country with high hurdle regulations, for example)
Haigh's have to play by the rules.
In Australia (unlike in many other countries) there is maximum limit of 0.5ppm for Cadmium content in chocolate.
This means that beans from places like Ecuador or Venezuela (which have high Cadmium content) can be used only as a small part of total cocoa liquor in recipes.
