Psssst! Got good taste? Wanna start a chocolate business?

[Bruce McAuley]

We've been doing it now for about 5 years, and I can make money hand over fist working large crowds in the fall, winter, and spring. Summers nobody seems to want chocolate, it's too hot.
It is definitely a temperature dependent business, you might as well forget about selling them in July, August, and September until the first frost of the year, when magically everyone wants chocolate again. The temperature also is very much a factor in MAKING chocolates, as the dipping and molding temperatures of the chocolate has to be just right, and you need a cool spot to put them into right away to harden them up. Our back porch usually works good during the fall and later toward Thanksgiving and Christmas. We make most of our money at the local Barter Faire, a crowd of around 10,000 that happens once a year in October where we can sell about 2000 pieces of chocolate in around 3 or 4 days. I never stop working the crowd the entire time, wandering around with a small supply I replenish every hour or so. It takes us around 3 weeks to produce that amount, though.
We never have had a retail location, so we've skipped that expense, preferring to market our wares through bazaars, craft fairs and farmer's markets where we set up a small table with our chocolates. That usually works OK for our rural area. If we were close to a city we'd think about wholesaling them to a retail outlet with the space to sell them, but we love living here in the middle of nowhere so we'll never get rich making chocolates here, unfortunately.
We've developed lots of great recipes, though, since my wife's an expert baker and has great taste, the kind where she can tell the ingredients in things and reproduce the taste of almost anything.
Chocolate is tricky to work with at first, but one gets better with time, and everyone always wants to eat the failures. It is pretty easy to sell as most people love chocolate, but you can over-chocolate people pretty quickly. One swing through a small crowd and nobody wants any more for 4 or 5 hours.
Anybody else out there ever thought of becoming a chocolatier? Depending on your location it might be a viable business.

Bruce

[displacedtexan]

1. I make the world's best caramel. Not kidding.

I read the recipe without my bifocals and invented caramel that has half the sugar and won't stick to your teeth.

I sold 1/4 LB sticks at a craft fair this spring and made a ton of money. In fact, I sold out in 3 hours.

One sample taste, and people were hooked.

I wish I knew more about refrigeration and selling at farmer's markets or those Renaissance Fairs.

[FloridaPat]

2. Can you two fill the rest of us in on how to start, what to sell, and wher

Packaging etc. Sounds like a great idea. I do candy bar wrappers. Nice to make money from chocolate. Sounds like you're making more. Plus I need a computer and printer so shows are a bit of a mess.

[Bruce McAuley]

3. How to start...

Figure out what each "unit" costs to make and wrap, ready for sale. Charge about 2 to 3 times the cost. Sell at large crowds, or where there's a steady stream of people moving past your booth/stand. It always means giving out the first sample for free, so be prepared for that cost also. Have a state food handler's card. Anything with a large amount of sugar in it doesn't spoil very fast, but wrapping it in a foil keeps the air off the surface of the product, and keeps it longer.
Make your table attractive, and smile a lot.
If you're walking around the crowd, figure on about an hour's stock to carry with and sell, and lots of pockets to hold the dollar bills that accumulate. Keep the product covered, and have an ice chest back at your car/camp for a big supply to recharge from.

Bruce

[bliss_eternal]

4. I would need to find a commercial kitchen in my area--

any ideas on how to find one?

In my state, it is illegal to make anything that is for public consumption from a home kitchen, unless it is a commercially approved kitchen. This isn't possible for me, as I currently live in an apt.

Any thoughts on how to find a place where I can prepare chocolate (or other items)?

Thanks! :hi:

[Bruce McAuley]

5. Yup, I understand that one...

Washington just passed a law to that effect in the last year, so we're effectively out of business until we start using a licensed kitchen also. One way around that is to wholesale your goods, sometimes the laws are different for wholesalers. In our state, the dept of agriculture handles the permitting for that, and their rules are different. Check it out in your state.
As to finding a licensed kitchen, check out the churches or clubs around your area, a lot of times they maintain a licensed kitchen for church or club functions, and are amenable to making a little money on the side. Also, check out a restaurant in your area, maybe they would let you use their kitchen at odd hours they aren't too busy. Ask friends and family if they know of licensed kitchens.
Hope this helps.

Bruce

[bliss_eternal]

6. Thanks, Bruce. I am sorry to hear that you are temporarily

out of business. Have you found a licensed kitchen in your area? Or do you plan to continue in a different way?

Best wishes to you and your business!

[Bruce McAuley]

7. Actually, we're going into the DVD business...

Chocolates are a seasonal, and highly select business, and you need a spot in a populated area for a year round business, which we don't have and never will by reason of where we live.
Even better will be to take our knowledge and produce a DVD "how-to" on chocolate making for the masses. I could sell lots of them on eBay.

Bruce

[FloridaPat]

8. Let us know when you get your dvd going. Thanks for all the advice.

I think I have the same problem with the kitchen as everyone else.

[rucky]

9. I started my business by baking in a church kitchen.

worked out pretty well until we outgrew it :)