Chocolate making in North Carolina

[lironp]

My husband and I will be moving from faraway Israel to Durham, North Carolina in about a month, and of course I have quite a few concerns on how to keep on making chocolates...

First of all regarding ingredients- I use Callebaut, Cacao Barry and some Valrhona, how can I get them from Durham? In what prices? I usually pay around $8 per kilo, when buying about 50 kilos (hmmm... how do I convert that to pounds?)

In Israel there aren't many regulations regarding selling food- as long as you don't have a storefront there's no problem selling in farmers markets and etc. I suppose things are a bit stricter in the US? Do I need a special license in order to be able to sell chocolates in farmers markets? If so, what does that include?

[RobertM]

Callebaut and Cacao Berry are readily available throughout the U.S., you can contact them for a list of suppliers in your area. 50 Kg is only about 110 pounds. Pricing will be specific to Raleigh/Durham due to distribution costs. As for health dept regs, you should contact the local Health Dep't and inquire about home use and then selling. Those rules differ from state to state and locale to locale. Good luck to you, hoping you are succesful

[pastrygirl]

Robert is correct, check locally for health department guidelines and specialty foods suppliers.

1 kg = 2.2 lbs. 28.35 grams in an ounce, 16 ounces or 454 grams in a pound. I lived in Asia for 2 years and made and kept handy a chart of conversions for metric weights and baking temperatures, which really helped. 7oz = 200g, 350F = 175C, etc.

I'm not buying chocolate in quite as large quantities as you, but I get Valrhona packed in 3kg/6.6# bags, and cacao barry in 5kg/11# boxes - manufacturers still use metric, so that shouldn't be too confusing, unless the wholesaler only goes by the pound weight. Some Callebaut formulations come in 10kg/22# bags. As for price, I'm assuming the Callebaut is $8/kg and not the Valrhona? I'm in Seattle (not sure how much wholesale prices vary regionally), and I pay between $68 and $85 for 5kg Cacao Barry depending on the formulation, about $11.50/# for valrhona jivara lactee and $10.30/# for valrhona ivoire ($22 to $25/kg) .

Good luck!

Edited May 26, 2011 by pastrygirl (log)

[catdaddy]

There is an excellent year round farmer's market in downtown Durham that would welcome you with open arms. Also a vibrant slow/local food movement in the area producing some great artisanal food. The local economy is also in better than average shape.

You'll love Durham.

[lironp]

Thanks everyone for your replies' I'll contact Barry Callebaut to get the list of suppliers.

catdaddy- I hope I'll like living there, it's a huge change! In the meantime I've heard a lot of positive things about the area, have you lived there?

[catdaddy]

Yes I grew up there.