Hello Amber,
I was wondering if you are still selling your chocolate business and how much you are asking. You can email me directly at jperl83294@aol.com
Best Regards,
John
Hello Chocolate Life Members!
I am a chocolate maker in California and have been in business for three years. I am beginning to put together plans to sell my business this spring, once we make it through the valentines rush (we just had baby #4 and I'm sure you can guess that now things are starting to get a little busy around here!)
We have a nationwide wholesale program and corporate gifting program, as well as solid website sales with a good FB and IG crowd following us, and a great portfolio of major media hits.
Our product list is solid as is but I've always thought it needs a good truffle line from someone creative.
We are hoping to start looking at any interest or offers come March or April, but I am more than happy to chat about any interest or questions before then. We are somewhat flexible with the details of selling, we just want to make it work out!
Also, if anyone has sold a business in the past and has any words of advice, I would absolutely love any!
Thank you!!
Amber
I use a bunch of high quality poly molds. Some of them are carried by Tomric, you can see many in my photos and on my website. If you work them right they are well worth it, some require a great deal of finesse and a bit of a learning curve.
Thank you Clay! The room was low 60s, the pans were stainless steel, and the nuts were about room temperature. I warmed the nuts very slightly, used glass bowls that we also warmed, and the difference was NIGHT and DAY! Thank you! I knew it would be something silly that we just overlooked.
Maggie -
I think that Jim and Pam may both be partly right.
The questions I have are:
1) How cold is the room you're working in?
2) What are the pans made of?
3) How big are the pans?
4) Are the nuts at room temperature (or colder)?
It's easy to over-temper in a Chocovision machine, just as it's easy to under-temper. A machine like that is no replacement for actually knowing how to hand-temper and how to tell if your chocolate is in temper. The default temperatures may not be the best ones for your chocolate.
If the room is cold and you're using stainless steel bowls and they are big bowls and you're dumping cold nuts into the chocolate -- well that would cause it to set up very quickly - especially if you are setting the bowls down on a stainless steel or marble table. Just suck the heat right out of it!
The bowls should be at the same temperature as the chocolate in the temperer, or as close to it as you can manage. You can use a heating pad under a marble slab (or between two sheet pans - this is best!) to create a warm surface to work on.
The nuts should also be as close to the temperature of the chocolate as possible. If you have a small bread proofer that would work, as would an incubator or an oven with just the light on. I would be careful about microwaving as the heating could be uneven and you don't want fat to migrate to the surface of the nuts.
warm nuts in microwave a little
Hi All!
I know this is probably going to be the easiest fix..and most likely something silly we are doing wrong. But, when we try to make Milk or Dark Chocolate Coconut Clusters or Peanut Clusters...the chocolate is hardening SO fast after we ladle in our bowl that we are basically ruining the majority. I told the girls to now use as much, and do much smaller batches (annoying, but zero waste). Is that the secret? Please help!
**I am using all Peter's Chocolate...toasted coconut...and VA EXLARGE roasted peanuts .
Just wanted to let everyone know that I have some Easter Bunny molds I'm trying to move on eBay at a discounted price:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331121031749?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
I found the molds are bigger than I'd prefer (they end up about 130 grams per bunny).
Anybody have a lead on a source for smaller bunny molds? I'm looking for something that would make a 50g or so bunny.
I have the smaller model.
Regarding the Premier Grinder, are you referring to the 1.5 or 2 liter (tilting) model? I just did a 5 lb. test batch on the 2 liter model and it worked like a champ. It certainly could handle more and I'll find out how much in the next few days.
Journey -
There is a US distributor for the Santhas (in the San Francisco area). They offer the same price as on the Santha web site but their prices include shipping. Also, parts are available through them - not from India - and they offer technical support on the phone.
The belt upgrade that Ben mentions is a good idea and not that expensive to implement. LMK and I can put you in touch.
Hi Journey. The only thing that I know of between the 10lb models (CocoaTown or Santha) and the 40+ lb models is the Santha 20. If you're just looking at another smaller machine, there's also the Premiere Wonder Grinder, but it's smaller. I use it for small test batches. Others somehow use it for 8 lbs or more, but the chocolate has spilled through the center shaft every time I've gone over 4 or 5 lbs.
Regarding the belts, I'm surprised yours last 5 months! When I used the provided belts in either a CocoaTown or a Santha, they always broke within a month. The last one (on my Santha 40) broke after 3 batches. Basically, the provided belts are terrible. I believe it was Brad Churchill who first made the suggestion on this and the Chocolate Alchemy forum to replace the original belts with a PowerTwist fiberglass link belt. I've done that on all of my machines and have never had a belt break or need adjusting. I believe the smaller machines use 3/8" belts, while the larger machines use 5/8".
Madre Chocolate's cacao boot campis now happening on O'ahu Hawai'i Feb 25-Mar 1, 2014 during the same week as theHawaii Chocolate Festival,Hawaii Chocolate & Cacao Association, and Kailua Cacao Festival soyou can easily come for all three and have a wonderful time with a full week ofchocolate! Evenexperiencedchocolate makers will get a lot out of this by participating hands on and learning to tune the cacaofermentation process so you and the cacao growersyou work with can tune the entire process to get the tastesyou're looking for from fruity, nutty, chocolatey, floral to spicy.
http://www.thechocolatelife.com/events/cacao-chocolate-boot-camp-seed-to-tree-bean-to-bar
http://madrechocolate.com/Classes.html#widget13
Experience Hawaiian Cacao & Chocolate Bootcamp on Oahu
seed to tree/bean to bar
February 25th-March 1st, 2014
Oahu cacao farms, research stations, & chocolate shops
Do you love chocolate and thirst to learn more about how cacao is grown and made into chocolate? Never tasted the delicious lychee or mangosteen-flavored pulp of the cacao fruit? Want to see how the days-long process of fermenting cacao affects the micro-terroir of the chocolate flavor? This is the perfect tour for you! Were having a cacao boot camp with everyone from Hawaii, mainland, European, and beyond chocolate makers and chocophiles coming out here to experience and learn cacao planting, cultivation, harvest, and fermentation and chocolate making for 5-7 days.
Well introduce you to the cacao growers and fermenters throughout Oahu, an area we call the Napa Valley of cacao due to the amazing diversity of cacao flavors and microclimates in each valley up and down Windward Oahu and the North Shore. Each day well visit, learn, and participate in a different aspect of cacao growing and processing with expert farmers, fermenters, agroforesters, university researchers, and chocolate makers in Hawaiis burgeoning chocolate industry. In the only place in the US where cacao grows, youll have beautiful accommodations near the beaches of Lani Kai and Kailua or famous Waikiki, and youll be driven between each of the spots each day, with time off in the evenings to enjoy all the amazing local food that Kailua and Honolulu has to offer.
Walk into the cacao orchards of Oahu the moment you step off the plane and begin your journey into chocolate making, Hawaiian style.
Itinerary (details may change):
Day 1: Cultivation : Visit a small hillside organic cacao farm on Oahus windward east coast to help plant cacao trees grown along with vanilla, taro, guava, and many other tropical fruits. Well test for ripeness, harvest & crack cacao pods.
Day 2: Fermentation : Oahucacao researchers from academia & industry will show you howfermentation can be tuned to bring out the natural fruity, acidic, aromatic, floral, and spicy flavors of cacao fromdifferent regions of Hawai'i and the world. Optional evening beach trip and group dinner.
Day 3: Value added cacao, roasting, & conching
AM: Morning Farm Trip: We'll visit a long-standing cacao & fruit farm on O'ahu's northeast tip, where cacao grows among bananas, papaya, taro,Passion Fruit, and vanilla in full sun within feet of the beach, and we'll see how this farm is using cacao and all their farm produce to make amazing jams, spreads, drinks, and lunches for their visitors.
PM: Cacao Roasting & Starting a Grind: Chocolate Making Workshop 1. We will begin the process of chocolate making by Roasting cacao together and analyzing the steps and stages of a proper cacao bean roast. Then we will crack and winnow the beans to prepare them for the grinder.
Day 4: Cacao agroforestry, conche completion, & inclusions
AM: Morning Field Trip: We'll visit the experts at the Hawaii Agricultural Research Centerto see how they raise hundreds of cacao seedlings in a shaded nursery, work cacao in with an agroforestry program interspersed with native Koa trees, and how cacao is selected and bred for Hawaii's unique climate.
PM: Chocolate with Inclusions: Chocolate Making Workshop 2. We will check on the progress of our grind begun the afternoon prior and taste farm-specific Hawaiian cacao as fine chocolate. Well practice adding inclusions to tempered chocolate, preparing chocolate molds and pouring bars.
Day 5: tree-to-bar, tempering, wrapping
AM: Morning Farm Trip: Visit and learn about makingchocolatetree-to-bar at the pioneeringLonohana farm on the North Shore within site of the famous Banzai Pipeline surf spot. We'll talk to Lonohana's founder Seneca about how he started a cacao farm on Pupukea's gentle slopes and how he's turning this unique cacao into Hawai'i's newest esteemedchocolate in his Honolulu shop.
PM: Finished Fine Chocolate: Chocolate Making Workshop 3. We will remove our chocolate batch from the grinder, check the micron levels for smoothness, practice with the tempering machine and pour our freshly made chocolate into bars. Once they are set we can wrap them to take home, or eat them!
Catch your plane via our private shuttle van or stay and enjoy the whiskey and chocolate pairing evening.
Your expert guides Dave & Nat have traveled and tasted and researched cacao all across the Hawaiian Islands, Bali, Vietnam, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil over the past 16 years, working with cacao growers,chocolate makers, and chefs. Through thisexperience they will giveyou direct insights andconnections with thepeople who makechocolate part of their lives everyday. Comeexperience the history and creation ofchocolate as you never thought possible.
Price: $1498 for tours, material, food, & transportation, excluding airfare & hotel
Includes :
All Ground Transportation Field Trip, Farm Trips, Sunset Beach Trip, Airport Pick-Up and Departure Drop-Off, Scheduled Program Activities. For best transportation we request that participants stay with our lodging partners.
Breakfast Daily at lodging partner and Lunch Daily with group. Options for vegetarian, vegan and special dietary needs are available upon request.
Raw Materials for Chocolate Making in Program, Field Note Book for Farm Trips, Chocolate for Tasting Sessions and Cacao Pods for fermentation practice.
Workshops, Farm Tours, Facilitators and Instructors, Private Group Transportation and a real fun time.
Does Not Include : Dinner meal, extracurricular tours or side trips, lodging.
Accommodations: We have arranged group rates of $100-200/night for Waikiki (Honolulu) and Windward Oahu hotels that we will send you on receipt of deposit.
Deposit: A deposit of $716 is required to reserve your space. To pay by credit card via paypal, click here:
or call 808-377-6440.
Payment may be made by check mailed to Madre Chocolate at
PO Box 12172
Honolulu HI 96828
with program registration form.
We cant wait to have you join us on this journey from seed to tree to bean to bar!
Hi - just hoping that someone on here might know where I can purchase this style of packaging (photos attached). Basically it's like a plastic pouch with a paper lining in between two layers of plastic. The chocolate bar goes in the pouch side and the top folds over it. It reminds me of a tobacco pouch. Has anyone come across a manufacturer or a retailer who sell this type of packaging?
Thanks
Lisa
One option is to create a Morello Cherry Pate De Fruit on top of a white chocolate ganache. This would work well for a square bon bon.
Truffles , chocolate bars second, but now will try to go to distribute just bars, as I have detected a niche market. What are your expected sales?
Hi Krista,
It depends on where you sell your product. I have just been participating in holiday fairs. Most of my chocolates are bought as gifts - I have done a few large corporate orders. So, my sales come mainly from truffles and chocolate bonbons.
Anjali
Hopefully I'm not being too forward asking this but I guess if it is, you guys just won't answer. Anyway, I'm curious how many pieces (truffles, Bon bons, etc) you sell per day and what items people are buying the most of, is it bars, truffles, covered fruits, etc you get the picture. Thanks for any info
Does anyone have experience with enrobing dried fruit on a selmi enrober or similar enrober, I am in the process of buying a selmi machine with enrober, and would like to enrobe dried fruit, I have no experience of doing this. I see that a lot of dried fruit has an outside hard achieved by panning I suppose, what is the advantage or disadvantage of panning or enrobing on a belt system? All help will be greatly appreciated.
Louise
Pet stores sell heater/ceramic bulbs in a wide range of power (used to keep dinosaurs warm).
Perfect for chocolate applications.
Grainger carries the replacement bulbs for the Little Dipper, part ID is 5UCW0. I contacted Hilliards and they recommended this bulb. I bought 4 for under $15 total. They say they provide 20,000 hours each. Hope this helps!
The Edison bulbs are $11 at restoration hardware
I wonder if "edison screw base heaters" would work. These are porcelain resistance heaters that have the same sort of screw base as a lightbulb.
http://www.tempco.com/Catalog/Section%207-pdf/Edison%20Bulb.pdf
Rather more expensive that a lightbulb (perhaps $20 to $30), but then you don't have to worry about them burning out.
-Jon
The big box stores should continue to carry rough service bulbs.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-100-Watt-A19-Rough-Service-Incandescent-Light-Bulb-4-Pack-100A-RS-4-RP/202245660
Hi Calum,
You might want to verify that your packaging complies with EU and UK legislation concerning food safety. Any (packaging) material in contact with food is subject to these regulations.
Regards, Bart
Okay this is different. I didn't realize that you were talking about decorative and stationary paper. In that case I would simply call the manufacturer and ask them. They'll probably be fine with it. In fact they may really like the idea that you're using their paper for this purpose.
In addition there's a good chance you'll be able to buy wholesale quantities direct from them at a substantial discount. They may even be willing, as long as you buy sufficient quantities, to produce paper for you in a custom format. With the right manufacturer, you could develop a very beneficial relationship that you could even use with your new designs!
