understandingcocoa

Luckily I've just had my packaging properly done for the first time, it's what convinced me to go ahead with the shop. I was really lucky and got a grant so all the design/ structural work was completely free - is there anything like that you can take advantage of? Although a lot of shops i've seen seem to still do very well with basic packaging, i.e plastic bar bags and printed stickers. Mine will be a slow process of improvement I think, I absolutely love the new branding but there are still a million little additional things I need to do 🤪 Re your Q on price, I upped my prices with the new packaging, but with the right packaging it looks so much more expensive so it's more than justified, my packaging for bars is approx... 7/8% of retail price, it's slightly more for boxes etc.

Thanks for all the tips @gfron1 really appreciated, so many little things you don't think of yourself. Have you found you sell less boxes now that you got rid of the 5's? I like the idea of sticking to limited options, people usually don't debate if there isn't a different choice to make I suppose. Newspaper editor is definitely a good shout, the local paper here is quite fond of getting involved so that's a plus. What are peoples thoughts on opening weekend deals? It would be great to get a buzz going....hopefully with enough social media marketing it would be enough to lure people in. Can't quite decide what format to do this in, free X to the first 50 people, 2 for 1 on something etc.... @ChocoMom I've never considered retirement homes, this sounds like such a good idea! I have no idea what the retirement community round here is like, it's quite Yummy Mummy, I will research. Something I am getting involved with is WI groups, do you have these over there? Doing some tasting events and hoping to build a good relationship with them as I imagine they're very involved in the community too. When you say packages for hotels etc. do you mean like gift baskets? Or like event packages? I've been reluctant to approach hotels as I'm not sure what they expect, similarly with approaching corporate clients. My shop is going to be pale pink too! (Although sad to hear about the fire!) The landlord laughs at me every time I tell him my plans which is mildly discouraging, as he doesn't understand why I wouldn't do it all as cheaply as possible, but I've always had such a clear idea of what I want it to look like, pale pink with a black & white chequered floor (instagram bait). There's only really one other independent chocolate shop in the area, they sell a lot of other brands wholesale and have a limited selection of their own products. It's hard to tell how they're doing but they've been there a loonng time and in a much higher rent area, so I see that as a good sign.

Haha I also enjoy hiding from the villagers, i like to think of myself as the mysterious chocolate lady. It's definitely hard selling yourself, I think I need to be more confident in pricing for this reason.

I'd love you to follow along! Nice to have other chocolatey people on the journey. I've found it quite intimidating too, especially negotiating with landlords etc - I have no idea what is expected or reasonable! I'm in the North of England, i've been working with chocolate for about 3 and a half years with no real plan/ structure until more recently. I left my job in October to go full time chocolating and love it! (My bank balance not quite so much). I have retail experience of running shops from my younger years, and sell in local shops but no experience of owning and being solely responsible for a shop. So, main points/ challenges - The location is a little high street near home, not the main shopping area of the city by any means but the local community really gets behind the small businesses here - Rents here are fairly low because it is "out of town" so it's a bit less of a risk - Shop is teeny tiny - in terms of build out, the landlord is removing a wall & putting in plumbing, apart from that I will be paying for flooring/painting and furniture, oven etc - As much as I plan, footfall is really hard to estimate so getting enough sales is a bit of a concern - Hoping to entice people in for easy sales with hot fresh cookies, hopefully these will help tide us over if sales are slow - Again, if sales are slow, fresh truffles in the counter would obviously create a lot of wastage - although perhaps I just do tiny batches to make sure they sell out - Big initial out lay which is scary Sorry for the babbling, my brains going a million miles an hour!

So I've just signed the contract for my first ever shop, I'm excited but mostly terrified!! It's going to be a tiny little chocolate shop, with a few shelves for bars etc, a counter for fresh truffles, and a counter for fresh cookies. Bars & shards etc will be fine with shelf life, with truffles I plan on keeping the range quite simple to start with (8 flavours) and make limited quantities. I was wondering if anyone had any tips, or any success stories to ease my mind! Eeeeekkkkk

You're all good advertising I think, I've been looking for online courses for quite a while and hadn't seen Andrey's at all, it's just taken a few attempts to even find it on Google searching directly!

Casa Luker was a big no on taste for me, I taste tasted it on a group of friends (after getting free samples of at least 10 varieties) and it was negative feedback all round. It all seemed to have a very smokey/whisky like taste too. Interested to see what you think of them!

Out of interest, what does he regard as perfect temps? Is fridge temp included in that?

Ah I see, experimenting is always the funnest part! Yes, 20g per 100g of cream

I pour the hot cream over unmelted chocolate, leave for about 1 minute and then stir - emulsifies beautifully every time! If I use glucose, about 8-10 weeks (although I've cut open at 16 weeks with no mould), without glucose about 2 weeks - how does this compare with yours?

Interestingly I've never used this ratio for dark ganaches, if I do mine would certainly turn out as yours have! I typically follow the below but adjust depending on other ingredients/ varieties etc. White choc ganaches cream:choc 1:2 Milk choc ganaches cream:choc 1:1 Dark choc ganache cream:choc 2:1 Out of interest, when people are using 1:1 for dark ganaches, how does it set up? Is it very firm? Do you need to pipe it at a higher temp?

I'm so relieved it's not just me! I find the smell really unappealing & thought I must really be going wrong somewhere. Although @pastrygirl you're right, my partner always say's i'm too hard on myself because the things I think are huge issues customers are oblivious to.

@pastryani I'm in the same boat! I'm slowly transferring into containers from bottles because it just seems so much easier to work with. Do you leave them near sunlight out of interest? Just being in a light room hugely fades my matcha bars! @Jim D. Now you mention the issue with the white, i've realised the only time I really have an issue is when I've used white in the combo, so may just have to limit it's use. I always wonder how chocolate lab etc get such vibrant colours with full coverage without having the same issue. There's a particular bonbon I really want to create with blue specks and a full white spray, I will keep experimenting with different brands & post any updates. Thanks all

I know this is an old thread but I've got some similar queries! Has anyone else had issues with being able to taste coloured cocoa butters on moulded chocolates? The look is brilliant and they come out of the mould well, but if I try and get full coverage (E.g. backing with white etc.) there is a definite smell and taste of the paint. Currently using Decorelief colours, could it be the brand?

Sounds like a huge time saver!

Yes I think you're right @Kerry Beal & @Daniel D, it was a quite successful chocolatier who I went on a course with who advised the cold room, so I'm not sure how they make it work. Heating the moulds up with a heat gun is making a big difference! As is using wire shelves (thanks all) However I'm still left with the issue of release moulds and it's driving me crazy. All I can think is that the moulds are just slightly too thick. Can anyone recommend me a 100g bar/slab mould that you use successfully with no release marks?

I've read 8 pages but skipped the rest so apologies if these have already been answered! 1.Is the idea to use silk instead of a tempering machine? 2.Can it be added to a machine so that I can work at higher temps? I'm finding chocolate is getting thicker than desired, even with temp raised to 34.5. 3.Would using the EZ temper/silk mean that chocolates can be released far more easily and faster from moulds, more so than using tempered choc from a machine? I'm so intrigued!

Are you making the bark yourself or are you starting with finished set chocolate? If making, simply leave until touch dry but still warm & then score with a sharp knife into whatever shapes you want, breaks up perfectly once cool!

Hi Daniel, The bars are quite thick, approx 11mm. That's a good point, the old fridge had wire shelves and this one has solid glass! I haven't got a fan either so that's worth a try thank you. My confusion is why there's so much variation... perhaps fluctuating fridge temp throughout the day

Thanks for replying @Kerry Beal & @pastrygirl, i've been waiting to take some photos as frustratingly (or not) the bars over the past few days have been better than usual - today the white marks of doom reappeared.Moulds are clean and polished, it looks like cocoa butter but the same mould prepped in the same way keeps giving entirely different results. The photo of the dark bar is about the best it ever gets. I can change the room temp by making it warmer (central heating) but have been told the lower the better, and unsure of old fridge temp vs new, but I have the new one set on the lowest (warmest) setting.

Hello all, I'm hoping someone can give me some guidance as I've exhausted every resource I can find. I have been making bars with the same polycarbonate moulds for a couple of years without issue, however I've just moved house and I'm having huge issues with marks on the bars.The room I now make in is much colder (about 18 Celsius compared to previous 22 Celsius) and I am using a new fridge - these are the only changes. At its worst it leaves large white marks over a large section of the mould side of the bar - the chocolate is definitely well tempered . I have tried warming the moulds prior to use which showed some success but seems to be hit and miss. Could it be the cocoa butter crystallising too quickly? Or too slowly? Underneath the bar still has a good shine and the taste is the same! I've just left my job to go full time with the business (as of last week!) and this is really slowing me down and making me panic as I can't seem to find a solution. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you