Truffle size/shape

[merlicky]

The majority of my truffles are round and typically turn out around .45 ounces once enrobed. Since I am getting close to making this a business I’m curious about the “standard” size and shape of truffles. I know a lot of people do molded truffles, but for those that don’t use molds what sells the best?

Also, if you are doing square truffles, how do you avoid the excess chocolate on the top? Instead of a flat coating of chocolate I always end up with a convex coating. I’ve seen enrobers that blow the excess chocolate off, but is there a way to do this when hand-dipping?

Thanks.

[RichardJones]

Merlicky, I cannot offer any specfic details of weights &c. but just a more general observation: there is a large variation in chocolate size in the commercial/artisan market.

I must preface these comments as coming from my experience as a consumer of artisan chocolate all over Europe rather than being a chocolatier myself (I'm not).

In my experience which is not as vast as some people's here, I've found that Belgian truffles tend to be a bit bigger than French truffles. At least, many truffles seem to warrant two bites for any normal bouche while others can easily be popped in whole.

With this in mind, I suppose the filling may well have a bearing on the size: do you want the customer to bite into the truffle for textural/other reasons?

While it's important to be consistent within a product line (especially if you are selling sight unseen) it's not unusual to find one seller with different sized truffles for different fillings. After all you can change the ratio of chocolate to filling quite a lot with just small adjustments of size.

I find it interesting that a lot of quality enrobed French chocolates (Genin, Fauchon) are large squares with little depth (these, for example, are only 6-7mm thick) while others go the opposite way like William Curley, in London, who has a lot of cuboid enrobed chocolates (eg these).

You might say that the bottom line is chocolates are sold by weight (at least in Europe) so you can make them any size you fancy without losing out...

But as for what sells the best I think there are other better informed than me on here.

R

[Sebastian]

I'd focus on how they look (packaging and individual pieces), and how they taste primarily, with a secondary focus on the individual size. there is no standard (j schmidt pieces were HUGE, while other very popular pieces are small). If very concerned, offer a range, and let your customers tell you what they prefer.

[xxchef]

Another consideration is your labor.

We hand-roll all our truffle bases and hand-dip them individually and it takes twice as long to roll, dip and garnish the base into finished truffles if they are half the size (duh). Labor is probably you highest variable cost with your ingredient costs (food cost) probably in the 15-25% range. You have to ask yourself if you can change enough for the additional labor to produce twice the number of finished truffles per pound.

For example (simplified for clarity)... Say you sell 1 oz truffles for $1 each, your food cost is 25 cents your labor cost is 50 cents and your gross profit 25 cents (yes, I know I'm ignoring overhead, packaging etc. but bare with me). A pound of finished truffles costs you $4 in ingredients, $8 in labor. That means you're making a $4 (25%) profit on a pound of these candies selling at $16/lb.

Now you decide to make your truffles 1/2 oz. Your food cost stays the same (half as much ingredients for half as much product) but your labor doubles (same amount of time, half as much product) and as a smart business person, you're not going to double your labor cost and willingly reduce your profit margin. SO, with your food cost still at $4 per pound, your labor now at $16/lb to maintain your 25% profit the new cost would be calculated at $6.66 for a new selling price of $26.66 per pound. That’s a 66% increase in price per pound. Can your market support this new price level?

The obvious corollary to this is that as you INCREASE the truffles size, your price per pound can come down (or your profit margin can increase).

Alternatively, if you price by the “each” not the pound you will have a great deal more flexibility to adapt for fluctuating ingredient and labor prices without having to change your prices all the time. Just adjust the size of your truffles a little.

One more thought on pricing… All of your bases will not cost out the same. Some will be a lot more costly than others. To avoid having too many tiers of pricing which is confusing to customers and a pain for you to deal with you should either: 1. Price for your most expensive base or 2. Base your sales price on your average (not mean) base cost. This will require some pretty accurate sales forecasting but is well worth the time if you are in a situation where competitive pricing is important.

[ejw50]

Also, if you are doing square truffles, how do you avoid the excess chocolate on the top? Instead of a flat coating of chocolate I always end up with a convex coating. I’ve seen enrobers that blow the excess chocolate off, but is there a way to do this when hand-dipping?

I've seen food network chocolate competitions scrape off excess chocolate off the top with a knife.

[RichardJones]

I've seen food network chocolate competitions scrape off excess chocolate off the top with a knife.

...which you might like to think about warming slightly.

[mrose]

You have to decide how you plan to sell your truffles: the size boxes you will offer. You must also establish the price range you want to sell. Decide on the packaging you plan to use, are you going to use candy cups or tray inserts? Their dimensions will be a determining factor in the size truffles you can offer. What is the approx diameter of you .45 oz truffle (that seems to be a bit small). A one ounce truffle will be approx 1" in diameter. Having lived in that area (very blue collar), price is a very important issue. People want everything cheap. Have you identified your target market?