Boxes for chocolates

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

I can't wait to hear if they are as beautiful as they appear.  Will they send you samples of other boxes?

Do you get hit with duty in the states when you import things from overseas like we often do in Canada?  The box of molds that arrived the other day that contained about $900 Cdn in contents cost me an extra $210 in duty.  Still worked out to a total of $25 per mold which is a bit less than buying them from montreal allowing for shipping.

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Kerry,

It depends...sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. I don't know the laws in the US for this sort of thing. If there is (and there may be), it likely won't be much. I'll let you know.

Rogier didn't tell me whether he was including any samples of other boxes. I kind of doubt it as the goal was to keep shipping costs down. As a lot of his boxes are from the same material but simply different shapes and colors, I'll be able to get a very good idea of the overall line from this shipment.

Given my frustration with finding anything in North America that comes even close to the uniqueness of this box, I consider the extra cost worth the expense. As long as I can recoup it, it works for me...

[Desiderio]

Thank you for keeping us update on the matter.I am very very interested on new source for boxes.By the way I did browse ( spelling sorry ) their catalog and they ahve a really gourgeus boxes , unique for sure ( I did had a crash on those empire you got they are stunning ).I am thinking of making an order later on the year ,when I will go to visit my family in Italy , I am thinking that might be cheaper for shipping .Right now I am not in a business ( only testing my market that is ) so if in a soon future I will get a real business I want some real different boxes , mean something unique and bold .

Thank you I am looking foward to see those boxes , I hope everything works great

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

The following is a tale of extraordinary customer service and beautiful boxes.

As anyone following this thread knows, I ordered boxes for wedding favors from Kroese Exclusief in the Netherlands three weeks ago. (The wedding is one week from tomorrow.) The boxes shipped exactly three weeks ago today and were sent International Parcel Plus Priority (Dutch post) with 'promised' delivery of 6-9 days from Holland.

I thought they might get here late last week because of the Memorial Day holiday, but wasn't terribly surprised when they did not. But then Monday rolled around and no boxes...Tuesday, and no boxes...Wednesday, no boxes...okay, now I'm getting really worried, so I sent Rogier (the gentleman at Kroese Exclusief) an email asking him to confirm shipping. Thursday comes and I go to the post office first thing, and no boxes, so I send another email to Rogier. About an hour later my phone rings and it's Rogier. He's contacted the Dutch post office trying to see what he can find out. They (of course) are about as non-helpful as the US post office.

Needing a backup plan I call the Revere Group to see if they have my backup option in stock to ship overnight on Tuesday if I need it. They do. Okay, I'm set there, but I really don't want to have to do that...the bride knows what box to expect, and I know what box I want.

I then thought of my friend who works for a company out of Amsterdam and called him to see if perchance he's traveling there next week on business. He is, but as luck would have it, he's not scheduled to fly back to the states until Friday. BUT, he says, he has a colleague who is also traveling and might be willing to bring back a carton with new boxes, but that Rogier would have to bring the carton to his hotel (which happens to be 1 1/5 hours from Rogier's shop). I emailed Rogier and learned that not only would Rogier do this, but as well, he was out of the color I had originally ordered and was willing to make a special run to make new boxes just for me. I told him not to go to that trouble, as the bride had a very close second color preference, and the original shipping carton may just show up in the meantime. My friend's colleague agreed to bring back the carton, so a 'plan B' was firmly in place to replace the boxes.

Not fifteen minutes after all of this was set did my postman's truck pull up and the engine cut off. I KNEW this meant one thing...he had a package. I ran outside and sure enough...the boxes had arrived from the Netherlands. Talk about relief...

They are as beautiful as depicted on the website. I'm extremely pleased I went this route, nail-biting of their delivery notwithstanding.

This is the second time Rogier has had a problem with delivery to the US using the Dutch/US postal system(s) and has vowed not to use this type of delivery again. He is investigating other delivery options. They will likely be a little more expensive, but more reliable.

My order was small and yet Rogier went above and beyond to make sure I was happy and well serviced. I really couldn't have been more pleased.

[Kerry Beal]

The following is a tale of extraordinary customer service and beautiful boxes.

As anyone following this thread knows, I ordered boxes for wedding favors from Kroese Exclusief in the Netherlands three weeks ago.  (The wedding is one week from tomorrow.)  The boxes shipped exactly three weeks ago today and were sent International Parcel Plus Priority (Dutch post) with 'promised' delivery of 6-9 days from Holland. 

I thought they might get here late last week because of the Memorial Day holiday, but wasn't terribly surprised when they did not.  But then Monday rolled around and no boxes...Tuesday, and no boxes...Wednesday, no boxes...okay, now I'm getting really worried, so I sent Rogier (the gentleman at Kroese Exclusief) an email asking him to confirm shipping.  Thursday comes and I go to the post office first thing, and no boxes, so I send another email to Rogier.  About an hour later my phone rings and it's Rogier.  He's contacted the Dutch post office trying to see what he can find out.  They (of course) are about as non-helpful as the US post office.

Needing a backup plan I call the Revere Group to see if they have my backup option in stock to ship overnight on Tuesday if I need it.  They do.  Okay, I'm set there, but I really don't want to have to do that...the bride knows what box to expect, and I know what box I want.

I then thought of my friend who works for a company out of Amsterdam and called him to see if perchance he's traveling there next week on business.  He is, but as luck would have it, he's not scheduled to fly back to the states until Friday.  BUT, he says, he has a colleague who is also traveling and might be willing to bring back a carton with new boxes, but that Rogier would have to bring the carton to his hotel (which happens to be 1 1/5 hours from Rogier's shop).  I emailed Rogier and learned that not only would Rogier do this, but as well, he was out of the color I had originally ordered and was willing to make a special run to make new boxes just for me.  I told him not to go to that trouble, as the bride had a very close second color preference, and the original shipping carton may just show up in the meantime.  My friend's colleague agreed to bring back the carton, so a 'plan B' was firmly in place to replace the boxes.

Not fifteen minutes after all of this was set did my postman's truck pull up and the engine cut off.  I KNEW this meant one thing...he had a package.  I ran outside and sure enough...the boxes had arrived from the Netherlands.  Talk about relief...

They are as beautiful as depicted on the website.  I'm extremely pleased I went this route, nail-biting of their delivery notwithstanding.

This is the second time Rogier has had a problem with delivery to the US using the Dutch/US postal system(s) and has vowed not to use this type of delivery again.  He is investigating other delivery options.  They will likely be a little more expensive, but more reliable.

My order was small and yet Rogier went above and beyond to make sure I was happy and well serviced.  I really couldn't have been more pleased.

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Thanks for letting us know the result. It will certainly make it more tempting to consider their boxes in the future. Especially knowing I can use paypal, which gets around that whole issue of bank transfers.

Glad to hear the boxes are as nice as they appear on the website, that's always a concern.

[alanamoana]

i really like their boxes too! thanks for following up. i can't imagine the stress you must have been feeling in the hours up until the postal truck pulled up...ugh!! i'm sure the favors will be a success!

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

fyi...I paid no duty on these.

[Desiderio]

Yes thank you for keeping us posted on the all adventure.

I am glad everything went ok even with some hearthbeat.

Any chance of a pic before you deliver the boxes to the bride?

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

Yes thank you for keeping us posted on the all adventure.

I am glad everything went ok even with some hearthbeat.

Any chance of a pic before you deliver the boxes to the bride?

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Thanks Vanessa. I've got to admit, my heart was racing until I knew I had a way to replace the boxes. Even though it would have meant me meeting this guy at the airport on Thursday afternoon on his flight from Amsterdam, and then racing to pack it all in order to deliver it Friday morning. I can now breathe easy, because now it's just the fun part...making chocolates!

I take lousy photos, but if one turns out even half way decent, I promise to post.

[Desiderio]

Just thinking of all that , airport racing back ahhh it makes my heart bumpig all over the place , with the clock ticking on me ahhh .I am very very glad everything went as it was supposted to .

[choux]

For future reference, if anyone is interested, when you fold the Nakazawa boxes the 'wrong' way, they are white. At least the brown boxes have plain white on the reverse, and I just folded one up and they don't show any brown around the edges.

[Desiderio]

For future reference, if anyone is interested, when you fold the Nakazawa boxes the 'wrong' way, they are white. At least the brown boxes have plain white on the reverse, and I just folded one up and they don't show any brown around the edges.

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Umm thats intresting , so 2 box for one , not bad . I thought I wanted to order some of their boxes, are the shipping expensive and the order its easy to place by phone?

[choux]

Well shipping to Canada from the US is never cheap, this time around it will be $140 for 2 boxes, so I am going to get them shipped to Blaine, WA and pick them up there.

[Desiderio]

Thank you Choux.

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

As promised, here are pictures are of the favors I did for the wedding this weekend. Per the caveat in my earlier post, I am no photographer, so the pictures are not terribly good. The images are flat, the colors are not representative, etc., but they will give you a general idea of what the boxes look like, and that's the purpose of this thread.

The first photo is of the chocolates in the box. If I see another candy cup for the next couple of days, it will be too soon.

Here's a closeup of one box all by itself. I tied each box with organza ribbon (which I bought from Kroese-Exclusief), and then put in a wire-stemmed paper rose which I purchased from the bridal department at Michael's. You can't really see the shape of the box, which is too bad because it's so unique. (Chalk that up to my bad photography.) You can kind of get an idea if you look at the left corner of the top side.

The last picture gives you an idea of what these boxes will look like all set out tomorrow evening on the guest table. I think they'll make a very elegant display. (The bride wholeheartedly agrees.)

All in all, I'm very happy I went this route and plan on using Kroese-Exclusief boxes a lot in the future.

[alanamoana]

whitetrufflegirl!

those are just beautiful! congratulations on getting it all done, even with the stress of the box situation, it all worked out perfectly it seems.

can you describe the chocolates and techniques you used?

are the middle ones made with a magnetic mold and transfer sheets?

it looks like they are all molded. do you find this easier than hand dipping? it certainly makes for an elegant presentation...

did you charge (in other words, this wasn't for a friend, right?)...and not to be too nosy, but can you give us a ballpark if you're comfortable with that?

i really like the look of the one that is second to last on the right. was that done with an airbrush?

again, great job!

[Kerry Beal]

Those look fabulous and the boxes are absolutely perfect for them!!!

Is the centre chocolate a transfer or did you make the pattern?

What's in them?

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

From left to right, the chocalates are:

Gianduja caramel (they are whipped together to an almost mousse-like texture) molded in bittersweet chocolate. The mold is first decorated with piped milk chocolate (I use a paper cone and just randomly drizzle) and then white chocolate which I use an artist's brush to dab each mold.

Fleur de sel caramel. (The bride's favorite). I use an artist's brush to paint the cocoa butter into the molds.

White chocolate macadamia rum. The transfer sheet is PCB's. I love this particular sheet...it's one of my favorites, and it works particularly well with white. This is a Tomric magnetic mold which is a great size (1" square).

Creme anglaise bittersweet lime. The mold is airbrushed with a fine tip aimed mostly in the corners of the pyramid to help concentrate the color. You can't really see it in the picture very well, but it shows nicely.

Finally, bittersweet raspberry. (The groom's favorite.) Airbrushed with garnet jeweltone from Chef Rubber concentrated mostly in the crown of the mold, then with a little dusting of gold.

As for the question regarding pricing, I did what is advised against and gave "friend" pricing. I must say, I can understand why people advise against this, but would do it again for her, but not for many others. I am not comfortable sharing what that was even in general, but I covered my costs (I'm not stupid), but I certainly do not feel compelled to buy them a wedding gift.

Normally, I would prefer to do a combination of molded and enrobed, however the bride was very involved in the decision regarding flavors, and she just happened to prefer flavors that I prefer in molded. I've done the raspberry as an enrobed before, but I just find that making that particular ganache firmer in order to enrobe it, just isn't to my taste. And I've not tried any of the others as enrobed before, so wasn't about to start on this project.

[alanamoana]

i feel the same way regarding "friend" pricing. now that i know how expensive it is (obviously for me doing it at home was different than when i've done it at work at a restaurant) and relatively time consuming, i have a better idea of what to charge. thanks for all the information. i didn't mean to pry too much! just curious.

do you have a brick-n-mortar retail space or do you just do this out of your home? i'm just curious as to your background.

i'm really just enjoying all the chocolate threads because even though i sometimes feel the market is saturated, it is one aspect of pastry that i've grown to really enjoy...so much so that i'm considering a business...but not sure when, how or what, yet. i'm a "retired" pastry chef and am just trying to figure out my next move.

there are so many great people posting on these threads i just want to get as much information as i can from all of you! so, thanks for being so open and sharing all of your time!

[Trishiad]

Very lovely. Thank you for sharing with us. The boxes are great too. I too, really like that transfer sheet, it's cute!

Will you tell us more about creme anglaise bittersweet lime?

I often (well, not THAT often) do friend pricing and never regret it when it's for a true friend. These things are always repaid somehow.

[Desiderio]

Absolutely stunning!The boxes I know , because I fell in love with those while I was browsing their web site.The chocolate just gourgeus and a great flavor combo.

Thank you for posting even with all the work you had to do.

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

Trish,

The lime is a Norman Love recipe I got as a result of swapping books with a fellow eGulleteer. (I traded him a copy of my World Pastry Forum book for a copy of his book from another event he had attended. A practice that can yield you some pretty awesome recipes, assuming you've got something to trade!)

It's pretty straightforward. You make a creme anglaise base (including butter), then add your lime zest and lime juice before pouring over your chopped chocolate. I really like it as it makes for a very soft (and very rich) ganache, which seems to work nicely with the lime. Flavors like lime can feel pretty cloying and dense, so this method really helps to balance them out. It tames the lime (without subduing it) by giving it a component of rich mouth feel. I've been meaning to try the same approach with other flavors like this, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

alanamoana...I'm not bricks and mortar yet...my business plan is in the works, so will be within the year, or at least I hope within the year. I'm trying to find a location, and that is a huge part of it. I'm not opening until I have exactly the location I want, and so far (I've been looking for over six months), nothing has opened up.

[alanamoana]

WhiteTruffleGirl,

Good Luck! It looks like you've definitely done your recipe research and your chocolates are beautiful. I'm sure you'll do well.

[Desiderio]

Yes Good Luck , even though here there is nothing to do with luck , your products are gourgeus and you deserve to get your own business.Thats what they call the american dream right? ,its still there I can taste it myself .

[sote23]

I'm trying to find the style of chocolate box used by richart, or a similar one used by max brenner. Any idea who makes these boxes?

http://www.richart-chocolates.com/

http://www.maxbrenner.com/special/special.html (number 2 or number 3 on the page )

[Kerry Beal]

I'm trying to find the style of chocolate box used by richart, or a similar one used by max brenner. Any idea who makes these boxes?

http://www.richart-chocolates.com/

http://www.maxbrenner.com/special/special.html  (number 2 or number 3 on the page )

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Those look like they may be from Kroese. There is a thread here somewhere, I think alanamoana and whitetrufflegirl may have ordered from them before. They are overseas, but delivery seems to be pretty quick.

Their website here.