Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates Blog

Happy New Year!

2012-01-06T10:09:00.000-06:00

When each New Year begins, we have a chance to look back at our accomplishments as well as our mishaps. We have a chance to see what we did great and what can be done differently. The New Year allows us for a new beginning.

At Cocoa Dolce, we also looked at this New Year as a new beginning. We are excited for what 2012 has in store for us. But, before we got ahead of ourselves in planning for the future, we reflected on how the days of 2011 helped us grow into the business we are today.

As we talked about what a great year 2011 was, we decided to find out what our top sellers were. The Top 5 Items are listed below!

Thanks again for making 2011 Chocolate-filled! Here’s to a great 2012!!

1.Caffe Mocha
2. Caffe de Cocoa Coffee
3. Latte
4. Mexican Hot Chocolate
5. Cappucino

1. 57% with Grey Salt
2. Solid Milk
3. Milk with Peanut Butter
4. Milk with Almonds
5. Single Origin Java

1. Vino Cobos Felino Malbec 2009
2. Lioco Sonoma County Cardonnay 2008
3. Small Gully Mr. Black’s Concoction 2006
4. Elio Perrone Sourgal Moscato Biano 2010
5. Lindemans Frambroise

1. Champagne
2. Crème Brulee
3. Salted Caramel
4. Mayan
5. Strawberry Balsamic

'Tis the Season

2011-11-17T15:20:00.000-06:00

It's NEVER too early to start thinking about your holiday orders!

Newest Members of the Cocoa Dolce Family

2011-11-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

We are happy to introduce two new members of our Cocoa Dolce Family! These bundles of joy arrived in October. We are so happy to have them in our "extended family". We'll have more of their stories after their moms and dads can catch up on sleep and get used to being first-time parents. Congrats James and Molly and Leah and Ben on these amazing new little ones!

Adelaide Noel Tully
Born October 12th at 3:28 pm
10 lbs 13 oz
20.5 inches long

Ethan James Jung
Born October 22nd at 1:25 pm
6 lbs 9 oz
19.25 inches long

Guest Writer--Palazzolo's Artisan Gelato and Sorbetto

2011-09-13T11:23:00.000-05:00

We decided we wanted to have select "outsiders" write on our blog. In an effort to get a different perspective on some of our products, chocolates classes, wine/beer tastings, etc...we will have periodic blogs from those outside the official "Cocoa Dolce Family".

Davie Seidel, the Head of Accounts and Business Development with Palazzolo's Artisan Gelato and Sorbetto, is a great example of this. He was the first person we talked to about the possibility of carrying Palazzolo's products in our store. Thank you, Dave, for taking the time to tell us his version of this story...

Roasted Pistachio

White Chocolate Raspberry

I hadn't been working with Pete Palazzolo for very long when Beth Tully rang in. Actually...I think the first call was from her husband. He was doing some checking around for her as they were looking for a good gelato manufacturer and a quality gelato display source. Luckily...we're both!

After he understood that our gelato is from all real and perishable ingredients...(versus the artificial and powder-based ingredients that most of the other manufacturers rely on)...he cleared the way for his wife.

The next contact from Cocoa Dolce was Beth. Gotta love Beth! I simply informed her of our products and our ability to produce whatever our customers want...and she was quickly up and running. I remember thinking...well...this should be a fun job if other customers like the Tully's keep calling. And they have. We're truly not salesman over here...we simply answer the phone and offer up the information.

Join us if you can and we'll have as long a relationship as we're currently enjoying with Cocoa Dolce.

Thanks again Dave!! Until next time....that's the sweet stuff! You can find out more about Palazzolo's by checking our their website www.4gelato.com.

Blast from the Past--Hello/Good-bye Parties

2011-09-08T10:28:00.002-05:00

The Hello/Goodbye Party came up on us quick this year. It’s the party we have right before our college-bound girls leave and after we have hired our new employees. It sounds like a great idea but it always comes around the time when everyone is taking last minute summer vacations and we really don’t have enough hours for new employees. Inevitably, it ends up being more like a Goodbye Party than a Hello/Goodbye but it’s always a good time to get everyone together, regardless.

This is the one party of the year that is Potluck style. Everyone is assigned a dish and Cocoa pays for the main course (this year, it was hotdogs and hamburgers that Mr. Frederick nicely grilled for us). Traditionally, we always try to play a game and have some prizes. The main game this year was a rendition of the Bobby Bones’ Show “Name That Tune” where someone reads the lyrics of a song in a normal tone and everyone guesses the song title and artist. (It’s actually a lot harder than you think but is super entertaining when people realize the song afterwards and beat themselves up about not knowing it beforehand).

Although it’s fun and games and relaxing with co-workers at a non-work event, it’s also sad to realize that several members of our Cocoa Dolce Family are leaving us. It’s hard to grasp the thought of these young, semi-mature girls we hired just a couple years ago are actually grown up enough to go out into the real world on their own. We hope that they will always take a little bit of Cocoa Dolce with them wherever they go.

Until next time...that's just a bit of flavor!

Blast from the Past--Christmas Parties

2011-08-30T13:54:00.000-05:00

December is the month that we prepare for all year long. It’s a love-hate relationship leading up to Christmas with all of the early morning prep, the never-ending line of customers, making (what feels like) 100 hot chocolates a day and trying to stay on top of the chocolate inventory. Nevertheless, there is ironically always a sense of cheer during this month despite all the craziness. It’s sort of a month-long practice run for what Valentine’s Day will be in just a couple months. It’s literally a huge sigh of relief when Christmas Eve rolls around and we can finally relax.

The excitement comes a couple weeks later when we arrive at the Cocoa Dolce Christmas Party. This party is the main event of our year. It’s the first time we actually get to see our fellow workers with their hair down, a time to get both the kitchen and retail staff together, a time for delicious food, great drinks, touching speeches and awesome presents!

Even though I didn’t start working at Cocoa until after the first Christmas Party, I have seen it grow so much in the last 5 years. So much that we now have the entire backroom of Chester’s Chophouse instead of just a few tables lined up in the “normal” seating. It’s kind of like our own VIP party back there. We have expanded the party to fiancés, husbands and wives and have introduced fun trivia and games, along with a raffle of prizes. It’s the perfect way to celebrate a year’s worth of accomplishments with the staff that helped get us to where we are today. I’m looking forward to it already!

Until next time...that's Just a bit of Flavor!

Just trying to take a group picture takes more organizations!! (2010)

One of the first Christmas Parties!

Blast from the Past--Sitting at the Big Kid's Table

2011-08-22T13:30:00.000-05:00

At every holiday gathering, when the entire family was over at the house, we were always at different tables. You know, the “adult table” and the “kid table”. My cousin’s and I were always so jealous of the adult table because it looked like they were always having so much fun. By the time some of us were old enough to sit at the “big kid’s table”, as we nicknamed the “adult table”, it was like our dinner tasted so much different. After all, we had finally made it to the Big Kid’s Table!!

In a similar story, we (Cocoa Dolce) thought we had made it to the Big Kid’s Table (of the candy world) when we exhibited at the Fancy Food Show in January 2011. This is one of the major specialty food shows held in the United States. It has over 17,000 show attendees throughout the weekend with around 1,500 exhibitors. This was a big difference for our exhibiting past experiences here in Wichita.

The preparation for this show is crazy! We wanted to make sure we had enough literature and samples for everyone that may be interested in us. And, we didn’t want to look like we had just pulled our booth display out of the trunk of our car…so, we went through the process of getting a custom display made.

So, we were off to the show in San Francisco.

Luckily, our hotel was just a couple blocks away from where the show was held. I mention this because we had to carry all of our display pieces, samples and literature to the show. And here’s the “kicker”, we literally had to CARRY everything. There was some rule about not using any rolling items. So, here we are, looking like the Clampit’s from Beverly Hillbiliies, carrying boxes and display pieces down this street in San Francisco. Yep…we really looked cool!

Within a few hours, our booth was ready to go. The show lasted 3 days. We got several compliments on our booth, our colors and even our staff clothing. Whether it was the main food buyer at Nordstrom’s or a local coffee shop owner in Massachusetts….we talked to everyone that walked by.

We went into this trip hoping we would make some great connections with different vendors and potential customers. Although we didn’t catch our “big break”, it was a great first time experience of exhibiting at a major candy show…and sitting at the “Big Kids Table”.

Blast from the Past--President Obama

2011-08-10T11:50:00.000-05:00

*#$% Oprah, Let’s Go to the White House!

One of the challenges of promoting a small business is getting your product or service in front of influence-makers, whether they are local or more well-known. Such had been our practice of routinely sending media kits and samples to celebrities, newspapers and magazines. And one celebrity in particular had been on our radar since our opening. You guessed it; we wanted Oprah Winfrey to taste our chocolates. After several failed attempts, one day I said, @#&! Oprah, let’s go to the White House!

Fortunately, I said that to a friend of mine, Judge Richard Green. Judge Green is the Chief Justice for the Kansas Court of Appeals and a good friend of our former governor, Kathleen Sebelius. In fact, then Governor Sebelius appointed Judge Green to the bench. All it took was a little wine and brainstorming and we were on our way! Richard dropped a letter to Secretary Sebelius and asked if she could lend a hand in presenting chocolates to the White House.

Not only was she thrilled to lend a hand, she offered to hand-deliver our goodies to the President of the United States at the first cabinet meeting of the New Year. Needless to say, we were thrilled beyond belief! And so the waiting and planning began—what should we send? How much chocolate? After much thought and research, we decided to send a box of our assorted chocolates along with several boxes of Grey Salt Caramels and a Chocolate Survival Kit for Michele and the kids (why not?).

We formulated a letter of congratulations to President Obama on the anniversary of his inauguration and threw our hat in the ring to be the Official Chocolatier to the White House! Richard Green drove our goodie bag and letter to Topeka and personally delivered the package to Secretary Sebelius the week after Christmas. About two days after her arrival in Washington, Richard got a call from her staffers informing him that the chocolates had been delivered. Not only that, they were so well-received that President Obama requested an official White House photo of the event.

We could not have been happier! And the waiting began in earnest! Finally, in late April Richard dropped off the most amazing envelope we had ever seen. Inside were a lovely handwritten note from Secretary Sebelius and a very official envelope from the White House. The envelope contained a wonderful photo of the president with the inscription, “Beth, thanks for the chocolates! Barack Obama”.

I’m not sure about you, but that was one of the coolest gifts I’ve ever received. How many of us can say that the leader of the Free World took a moment to write a personal thank you to them? I can tell you, not many! We proudly display the photo on our ‘brag wall’ and continue to hold out hope that maybe, just maybe we will be appointed Official Chocolatier to the White House!

Remember, unless you dream it, you can’t realize it! Dream Big!

Blast from the Past--Dean and Deluca

2011-08-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

This “Blast from the Past” series was an idea to catch up on some amazing things that has happened to Cocoa Dolce the past few years. One of these great stories is when we were featured in the Dean and Deluca’s Halloween Catalog. The story follows…

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!

At one point, we had been asked to submit some of our chocolates for review by the Chocolate buyer with Dean and Deluca. We were all elated at this opportunity. The company (Dean and Deluca) had always been a subject of interest with Beth. So, when we were asked to “try-out” we were all so excited!

This excitement helped “fuel the fire” in making an assortment of chocolates for review. Since we had never been asked to do this before, we apparently over-shot this a little. I guess they buyer had wanted just a sampling of our chocolates. Instead, they received a sample of almost everything we made. Little did we know, when they ask for a small assortment that’s what they really wanted. Oops!! The feedback was mixed. The flavors were good but the size of the chocolates were a little too big..among other comments. All in all, it was constructive criticism that helped us get better.

After a little while, we had one of our regular customers send a gift to Leslie Rudd, the owner of Dean and Deluca. After he tried our chocolates, he wanted us! We were a HIT! Our product “Cranky Jack-O-Lanterns” was added to the 2008 Halloween catalog. And, here’s the best part…we were the #1 seller the week before Halloween! All of our hard work had paid off!

Lucky for you, these little “cranky” creations are still a big seller at our retail location in Bradley Fair.

And...that's the Sweet Stuff!!

The front of the Halloween Catalog

The Back: to include our "Cranky Jack-O-Lanterns"

Coming Soon!

2011-07-28T13:42:00.000-05:00

In an effort to be better bloggers, we have taken a little time off to create some exciting topics to write about. We are almost finished compiling our list. Stay on the look-out for some exciting new posts. Some include a "Blast from the Past" series, Cocoa Dolce "in house" traditions, "Get the Know the Staff" series and much more!

Cocktails & Cookies

2011-03-09T10:22:00.000-06:00

For the second year now, we have participated in an event called "Cocktails and Cookies". It benefits the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland. Their event is the culmination of another successful cooking-selling season. Since half of our staff was a Girl Scout at one point or another...it's hard to say no to participating in this event. Plus...who doesn't love Girl Scout cookies!!

The event promotes the Girl Scout cookies for that season. Each chef is asked to create some sort of dessert using cookies. The "hardest" part about this event is having to taste test each possible dessert. Someone's gotta do it...right?!?

This time, we decided to do something a little different than last year. (Last year we made a Trio of Mousses in Chocolate Cordial Cups) We decided to make a cookie with 9 layers. We named our creation "The Kitchen Sink and the Baby Too!"

The night of the event went well. We heard great things about our dessert. We even had people in the crowd trying to help us "woo" the judges. One lady, in particular, wanted to make sure the ABC Cookie Executive ate our dessert right in front of us. The judges eventually did a Top Chef-type judging table and discussed each participants dessert to the crowd. I believe the words "decadence on steroids" was mentioned when describing ours!

Although we didn't win any prizes, we were nothing but positive compliments from the judges!

We were happy to be a part of such a fun evening that benefited a great organization!

Here is the recipe...in case you wanted to give it a whirl!!

Kitchen Sink Cookie Bar

1 sleeve of shortbread cookie crumbs

1 sleeve of shout-out cookie crumbs

½ cup melted butter

Combine crumbs with melted butter and press into bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan.

1 cup chocolate chips (70% the best)

1 box Caramel Delites—cut in 1/8s

1 box Peanut Butter Patties—cut in 1/8s

Layer these in the pan, then top with:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Add: 1 1/3 cups coconut and 1 cup chopped pecans.

Pat the coconut and pecans down into the sweetened condensed milk. Bake at 350 degrees for 32 minutes.

Cut and drizzle with milk and bittersweet chocolate! Makes approximately 90 one-inch servings.

Until next time...that's the Sweet Stuff!!

Introducing the Two Newest Members of the Cocoa Dolce Family!

2011-03-04T12:22:00.000-06:00

Happy 2011! Where did January and February go? In a heartfelt effort to post some interesting content on our blog this year, here is my attempt.

I get regular inquiries about how we develop new products and flavors. It’s really pretty simple…we brainstorm and then we experiment. A great example would be our new artisan bar flavors launching next week. When we started our bar line, the first few were easy—solid milk, white and bittersweet chocolate and the obvious additional almond variations. Then it got a little more interesting…based on staff discussions, we brainstormed additional chocolate amendments—cherries, raisins, peanuts, hazelnuts, etc., etc., etc.

Then the really hard work began. We had to taste test these combinations—tough work, but someone had to do it! After exhausting testing we chose our winners and produced them for sale. Now let’s flash to fall of 2010. At least once a season, we look at our sales trends and assess objectively AND subjectively our winners and losers. One of the pillars of Cocoa Dolce is a commitment to creating great tasting chocolate confections that make our customers happy. Sometimes even when we think we have a winner you, our real voters, tell us differently.

That leads me to our new flavor launch. After our last rigorous analysis of which of our kids failed 5^th grade, we found a couple of drop-outs. After looking at flavor trends and, quite frankly, what our staff palates dictate, we proudly announce our two new bar flavors: grey salt caramel in 57% bittersweet Belgian chocolate and toffee in Belgian milk chocolate.

So here’s the scoop: grey salt caramel bar--we made a fresh soft caramel and added French grey sea salt while it was cooling. Once cooled to room temperature, we piped it into a bittersweet bar shell and then filled the rest of the bar with bittersweet chocolate. When we break this bar into sections, it cracks and this delicious salted soft caramel oozes out…be still my heart! Bar #2--we LOVE toffee and think that we make some of the best English toffee around. So we crushed our buttery toffee base and mixed it with our premium Belgian milk chocolate. It seems to us that we have a real keeper with this flavor combination…crunchy and sweet.

grey salt caramel bar

crushed toffee bar

Who could resist? We hope you can’t! Here’s to you loving our new kids. If you do, drop us a line and let us know. In the meantime, have a great March and here’s to dreaming big!

Beth

Autumn & Art 2010

2010-09-27T12:53:00.000-05:00

Autumn & Art Blog

We had our first concession stand experience this weekend at a new Bradley Fair event, Autumn and Art. The event took place behind the shopping center, along the lake. Artists came from all over the country to show off their work and we were one of several Bradley Fair food vendors represented in the food tent.

8 AM Saturday arrived very early after a fun night at the VIP Preview Party Friday night. Everyone enjoyed great food, music and a chance to get a shot at the art prior to the public opening.

Our decision to sell chocolate, Italian sodas and gelato turned out to be a bit of a challenge in the 90+ degree weather, but with our amazing ice machine and the use of dry ice, we made it work. We had a great turnout on Saturday; our Palazzolo’s gelato and refreshing Italian sodas did a great job refreshing the visitors while they strolled through the show.

Highlights of the weekend included college graduates try to count change (we didn’t even use a calculator) and watching Jay (Beth’s husband and Cocoa Dolce right-hand man ) transport and entertain us with his frequent ice runs in which he filled his large hiking backpack with bags of ice.

Year one down! Next year...less gelato, lower temps and case quantities of club soda! ~ Just a bit of flavor!

Santo Caffeina!

2010-08-04T21:51:00.000-05:00

Holy Caffeine! I'm so excited right now! Last week, we proudly rolled out our own line of artisan coffee! As a small business owner, a challenge over time is to keep things fresh and exciting. It's often easier for me to think of chocolate innovation, but this time the opportunity came to our hip little lounge. Through a serendipitous convergence of business relationships and family connections, Mountain Goat coffee came calling.

A subsidiary company of a local restaurant chain, Mountain Goat Coffee is the real deal. When these guys decided roasting their own coffee would yield better profitability as well as quality for their restaurants, they became coffee experts. They traveled, studied and practiced. And our paths crossed!

After three cuppings (intense coffee tastings) with customers, family and staff--we felt like we were onto something amazing! Tasty, nuanced and smooth, the feedback was fantastic and the buzz began! In addition to joining forces with such creative coffee artisans, we also got a chance to develop and visually brand a new addition to the Cocoa Dolce family of products. Since we are blessed with so many creative and talented staffers, I gave much of the branding decision to my right AND left-hand adviser's, Angie and Amber. In collaboration with our dream designer, Paul Fountain.

So how did we do? Coffee has been roasted, packaged and consumed since almost the beginning of time. It's hard to reinvent any aspect of coffee...but let's see how we did?? How about this for a label design??

The Cocoa Dolce Think Tank came up with the tag line: Shattering Expectations! And look at the cup! Paul came up with this idea to carefully break one of our coffee mugs and then show the coffee bursting out of the cup. Genius!

And the rest is the beginning of history. Sales are great, customers are happy and we have these really cool new products to talk about. So if you see any of us, ask us about our coffee!

Academy Awards

2010-07-05T19:24:00.002-05:00

Well okay, not THE Academy Awards, but certainly as small businesses go, one of the highest honors bestowed! On May 17^th, Jay and I flew to Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Summit. At this event, it was to be revealed which of seven businesses from around the U.S. would be awarded the Small Business of the Year Award.

From the moment we set foot in the Omni Shoreham Hotel, we were treated like royalty. Since 1930, the Shoreham has been host to presidents, world leaders and inaugural balls. We should have known we were in for a great experience when at registration we were recognized and directed us U.S. Chamber literature table where we saw the following…a promotional poster for the Small Business Network!

After that thrill, we went to check into our room which turned out to be a beautiful suite complete with wine, macaroons and chocolate. I think we could easily make a pitch for their in-room chocolate amenity, but otherwise, it was amazing! We had about an hour before the first 'official' event of the week would begin. We were invited to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building for a welcome cocktail party. We had heard there was a great photo op there, but had NO idea what that might be. When we walked in, once again we were immediately recognized by one of the wonderful U.S. Chamber staff who ushered us to the elevator for our rooftop photo. Okay, for those of you who haven't visited D.C., every building in the downtown is a huge, stately limestone structure with columns, tons of dark wood everywhere and marble where it's not wood. So off to the elevator for our photo. So in addition to the beautiful building, the neighborhood doesn't suck either!

We could actually see Secret Service on the back portico and I think if I'd shouted, they would have pointed their guns at us! It was amazing and so cool!

The cocktail party was a total blast...sorry I can't locate my photo standing on the podium acting like a dork. I also got a chance to be interviewed by Free Enterprise.com for their upcoming media campaign. Haven't seen it yet, but we'll keep you posted. So after a glass or ten of wine at the cocktail party, we made our way back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation before the awards ceremony on Tuesday. Of course, I couldn't sleep and weirdly enough found Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on late-night TV. How perfect!!

Tuesday morning began with a private breakfast for the 75 Blue Ribbon Finalists. Delicious food, fascinating attendees and a photo op. This is Jay and I receiving our finalist certificate presented by Tom Donahue, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Of course, I stepped on my dress going up the stairs and made a bit of an entrance not captured in this photo.

After breakfast, Jay and I sort of hung out and visited with several of the other Regional Finalists we had met at breakfast. I found it amazing that regardless of the business each nominee conducted, the passion and commitment to their business was consistent. Bright, interesting individuals from all over the country--awesome!
During the morning, Jay gave me a gift from our Cocoa Dolce family...hilarious, charming and totally heartwarming. It made me cry because I had so wished that the whole gang could be with us that day. And the best part? The message was, "win or lose, we still booze." Highly inappropriate in so many ways, but it made me laugh and broke some of the tension. The gang also included a $20 bill so that I could buy Jay and I a drink when the event was over. Perfect!

Time flew and suddenly we were in the main ballroom for rehearsal of the awards ceremony. This is when it began to really feel like a big deal. All seven finalists met and we were walked through coming onto the stage, hitting our mark (yes, there was actually tape where we were supposed to stop!) and exiting smoothly.

Next thing we knew, we were front and center at our table sharing it with Sam's Club executives, U.S. Chamber executives, Phyllis Robertson from the Wichita Metro Chamber and a couple of American Airlines marketing executives. I got so nervous--sweaty palms, nauseous and fidgety. I probably re-applied my lipstick 50 times in the time leading up to the awards. And then it was our turn. We were in a huge ballroom and there were floor to ceiling screens on either side of the stage for the people in the cheap seats. It was unreal. Our video started to play and people in the room started to cheer (well actually, we had made friends with most of Texas the night before and they became our cheerleaders). It stood up and began the walk to the stage--made it up the stairs, hit my mark, received my Regional Finalist award, shook hands and was able to exit the stage without injury!

Then the drum roll.....the winner of the 2010 U.S. Chamber Dream Big Small Business of the Year...Fintech! You know, I was thrilled for them. Jay and I could not have been happier for the whole Fintech family. Great business, great people!

This whole experience made us feel like Rockstars! You know what the most satisfying part of this summit was? Being able to represent Wichita and Kansas at-large and to receive such validation that our dreams and hard work mean something beyond our personal scope.

Now the fire is lit...I want to come back to Washington, D.C. in 2011 and WIN this thing! Who's with us?

Until next time, Dream Big!!

A Brush with Fame

2010-06-09T16:16:00.000-05:00

I recently received a call from Debbie Kennedy, the Executive Director of the Alumni Association at Wichita State University. She was planning a surprise visit with the famous, local celebrity, WU, to our store to meet and take pictures with Beth. Debbie was representing the Alumni Association in congratulating and recognizing Beth and Cocoa Dolce as a Regional Finalist in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards.

Through several phone conversations and e-mails back and forth, we finally decided on a specific Wednesday evening for the "surprise attack". This was a perfect night because Beth was supposed to be moderating one of our beer nights that we feature each month. And, from the picture perspective, I knew Beth would be a little more "clean cut" and have "chocolate free" clothing rather than a normal evening of working in the kitchen all day and then dropping off chocolates. It was the perfect plan....

Until Beth calls in SICK!!!!

So, Debbie and I went back to square one. We picked another day and had it officially on our calender. I told Beth she would be meeting with a potential new wholesale client named William Unruh. Pretty clever, the initials W.U. It made all of us chuckle as to how inventive we were!

Beth came in that morning and was helping me get together some samples and packaging ideas for our new client because "I just ran out of time" to do it myself. She was quickly grabbing chocolates, packaging items and getting paperwork ready. She was so busy getting these items together when WU came in and tapped her on her shoulder!!

She was completely surprised! There was a short photo session with WU and Beth, which also included a discussion about chocolate. Take a look at this little Brush of Fame!

And that's the Sweet Stuff!!

One Crazy Weekend

2010-05-24T12:25:00.000-05:00

ROCKO, Winefest, No Beth....OH MY!!! It was about a month ago, but it still seems like it was yesterday. We had two events, that we support on a bigger scale, in one weekend. And, we were short Beth!! What were we thinking??

We have donated to ROCKO since its first fundraising event. It's a great organization that provides respite care and enrichment services for those with disabilities or special needs. This year's theme was "Jewels of Tazmania". We provide chocolates that are adorned with jewels. We tied each orange or black box with vibrant pink, purple, yellow and green ribbons. These were used at the event as an "on the spot" donation and a chance for a great prize.

This is usually a great event to attend as well! It's nice to be able to work really hard all week to make and package these beautiful chocolates and then be able to see all the happy people buying and eating them at the event.

This year, we were unable to attend because we were participating in Winefest that same evening. Winefest's Grand Tasting is a popular event in Wichita where the proceeds go to support the Guadalupe Clinic. We have been a vendor the past few years at this event. It's always hectic the week of Winefest trying to make enough samples AND get a booth together. This year was even more hectic because Beth was gone and we had another big event that same night. With lots of planning and extra work, we sent the ROCKO chocolates early and were able to set up in time for the doors to open at Winefest.

It was super hectic event..with LOTS of hungry chocolate eaters. We were almost out of chocolates within the first 30 minutes. When we started to limit 1 per person (just so we could allow everyone to at least have a little taste!) we got some glares. I mean, it's chocolate! Who WOULDN'T be mad to be limited on chocolate?!?

All in all, it was a very crazy and hectic week. However, knowing the end result is benefitting a charitable organization makes it all worth it!

And that's the sweet stuff!

Growing Wholesale Business

2010-04-27T12:33:00.001-05:00

Almost five years ago, I was trying to finish my nursing degree. I had started off my college career at Kansas State University before I found my "love" for nursing and transferred back here to Newman University to pursue it. To make a long story short, that "love" died out a semester away from receiving my RN License. (And no, you don't have to mention "Go Back...it's just one semester....it's worth finishing that degree". You are in a LONG, LONG, LONG line of people that have spoken those same words in one way or another.) A college education was extremely important to me so I finished up and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies.

During all this "mayhem", my good friend, Jacob, who happens to be one of Beth's step-sons, mentioned that Beth was planning on opening a chocolate store. I happily agreed to pick up some hours in the midst of finishing up school. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Ha! Ha! I started out my job at Cocoa Dolce with the construction of the store where I was putting up floor boards, painting walls, unpacking dishes, etc. I gladly put down my paint brush and calking gun to don the "famous" white cotton glove to begin helping customers. I was soon promoted to store manager and trained a lot of the people that still work here today.

As the years have flown by, and our business continues to grow, my role has changed to Business Development. I handle all of our custom projects, manage our corporate customers and run our entire wholesale business. Yes, I am a busy girl! I think the most exciting aspect right now, is the wholesale side of the business. Last year at this time, we had 5 wholesale customers "under our belt". To date, we have 17 wholesale locations, all over the United States, and still a few in the works. I have two lists on the wall behind my computer. The first contains names and locations of our current 17 wholesale customers. The second is my "wish list" of potential new customers that I WANT!! So, who knows, we jumped from 5 to 17 in just one year. Let's see what the next year brings for us!!

And that's the sweet stuff!!

Spring Beer Tasting

2010-04-19T12:49:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was a normal day at work, my night to close so in at 2 and off a little after 9pm. However, when I received Beth’s email, I almost lost my stomach. Due to her being under the weather, she had asked if I could help moderate the Spring Beer Tasting. Being the girl that almost took her college Speech class online, I tried coming up with any excuse not to take on this task. After a couple hours of freaking out, I decided to stop complaining about it and step up to the plate, I mean, I did get an ‘A’ in my Speech class!

Matt Coleman from Glazer’s Distributers helped guide me along the way through the six spring beers and six chocolates. My favorite beer was Abita Strawberry (New Orleans), which was paired with our famous Classic truffle, a 57% bittersweet ganache dusted in artisan cocoa powder. The crowd favorite seemed to be the Rogue-Double Mocha Porter (New Port, OR), which was obviously paired with our delicious Mocha. However, many of our guests tried the Strawberry Balsamic chocolate with it and liked that combination even better.

Three beers down, the guests started to seem a little easier to talk to and I felt a little happier to talk to them. It was a smaller crowd than the last St. Patty’s tasting (probably because everyone heard Beth was going to be M.I.A.) but it was a very talkative, knowledgeable crew who never made me feel like I had no idea what I was talking about. When 9 o’clock rolled around I felt like a celebrity; I was signing menus and taking pictures with our guests- ok, it was only one couple and they had said it was going with tradition (they had taken a picture with Beth and got her signature last time) but it made me feel very important! ~ Just a bit of flavor.

Easter 2010

2010-04-08T19:28:00.000-05:00

Bunnies. That's all I have to say about Easter 2010. It seemed like our flop-eared bunnies were on everyone's Easter list this year. It doesn't help that Easter snuck up on us so close after Valentine's Day but even if we had an entire year to plan for this holiday there still wouldn't be enough flop-eared bunnies. We joked that they were part of the black market- we had to start packaging them in back to people wouldn't grab them off our preparation table before they even made it into their boxes! Too bad our flop-eared bunnies don't have the same reproduction tendencies as real rabbits, then we would have been golden! ~ Just a bit of flavor.

Death by Chocolate

2010-04-05T21:14:00.000-05:00

On a recent Saturday, the Cocoa Dolce team saddled up and took our show on the road. As a primary sponsor of Exploration Place's fundraiser, Death by Chocolate, our goal was to help create a tasty and memorable evening for the museum's guests.

Each year we take a themed approach to the event. This year we chose the theme, "Peace, Love & Chocolate." Taking a page from the 70's book, we themed our chocolates, booths and staff dress to match the decade. We had custom chocolate transfers made of peace signs and took the approach of a protest rally table. As you can see, Amber and Angie were ready for the evening!

We decided to bite off a big piece of this event and in addition to our table filled with chocolates, we also gave our apprentice chocolatiers, Lisa and James, an opportunity to do a demo to introduce themselves to the Wichita community. Despite a super soft ganache and the pressure of performing, they represented us so well. The reports were stellar and I think the chocolates were delicious as well!

I spent my evening holed up in a private room hosting a wonderful group of guests in a wine and chocolate tasting. We paired three wines with three chocolates with brief explanations of each. I discovered the later in the evening it became, the louder and more enthusiastic the groups became! It was a blast and I think will become a popular event for the fundraiser.

The museum tells us it was their most successful event to date. We agree! Not only do we get a chance to strut our stuff, our time and chocolate donations contribute to our fantastic children's science museum. That is a win-win! So if you are in the area, mark your calendars for March 26, 2011 for your own Death by Chocolate experience!

It's a sweet life!

A Sweet and Jazzy Night Out

2010-03-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

As if enjoying chocolate and wine isn’t good enough – throw in a little jazz and you have the perfect night out. That is what the after dinner scene is like at Cocoa Dolce on Thursdays. Roberto Bernardinello plays every Thursday night from 7 to 9 p.m. He always brings a fellow musician to entertain the crowd. If you haven’t been – it’s definitely worth making plans. Jazz at Cocoa Dolce makes a great date night, relaxing night out with the girls, or a fun place to unwind with co-workers. We do take reservations – so if you have a big crowd, call us ahead to make sure we have seats!

2010-03-23T12:53:00.001-05:00

We recently had a special visitor in from Washington, D.C. Ian Wagreich, the Chief Photographer with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, came to interview Beth. Let's back track a couple days. Beth comes running in the door one day and says "You gotta listen to this e-mail I just got". It was from our contact at the U.S. Chamber who had helped us submit our application. The e-mail basically said that they had chosen a few businesses to feature during the summit in May. No word was spoken regarding being a finalist. We didn't want to "jump the gun" and assume anything, so we took this as a great honor and gladly accepted an interview. *** Ian comes in and gets everything set up. During a busy afternoon, with lots of customers coming and going, Beth proceeds with an interview and photo session.

We all tried to listen for subtle "finalist" hints...but, nothing came! Beth, Amber and I planned a dinner at Chester's Chophouse as a thank you to Ian for coming out. We were hoping he would spill the beans while we were there. We all shared stories of trips, family, embarrassing moments, etc. It was a great dinner. Amber brought up the subject of Ian needing to travel a lot for his job. She asked if he was visiting all 75 Blue Ribbon finalists or "perhaps just 7?" With a smile on his face, Ian said: You know you're a Regional Finalist, right? After our celebratory cocktail and the knowledge that we were a finalist, we were all "happy campers" for the rest of the evening!!

...And that's the Sweet Stuff!!

St. Patty's Beer Tasting

2010-03-19T11:41:00.000-05:00

We just had a beer tasting this past Wednesday on St. Patty's Day. Ryan Cochrin (Jacob's Liquor) and Beth did a great job "wining and dining" our 24 guests decked in green. The beer list included a range of 6 Irish beers, my favorite being the Harp Lager which happened to be paired with one of my favorite chocolates- the Irish Cream. With such great feedback from this crowd and previous beer tastings, Beth has decided to have a regular Beer Tasting Night at Cocoa Dolce every second Wednesday of every month- changing up the theme every time so if you're not on our email list, make sure you sign up so you can get the insider information about our fun events.

Amazing!

2010-03-17T11:17:00.001-05:00

Okay...sorry for the sporadic blogging...collectively, the Cocoa Dolce team agrees to improve by inviting guest bloggers to assist me in my task. Today, I want to let all of our six followers know that we have been named as one of 7 Regional Finalists for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year! Check out this link for more details:

http://www.uschambersummit.com/award

In addition to making a trip to Washington, D.C. in May, where the winner will be announced at a luncheon May 8th, we get to display this cool sticker you see above! And if we are really lucky (and today we do have the luck of the Irish with us!), we will be chosen winner and receive a $10,000 check from Sam's Club, one of the sponsors of the competition.

Not only is this thrilling for my husband, Jay and I, it's a fantastic honor for our business, staff and for the City of Wichita. We are thrilled to represent the mid-west in D.C.

So that's what happened this week. I do have another little surprise up my sleeve, so stay tuned. Until next time...live your passions!

Another Dance with a Star

2009-05-23T12:37:00.000-05:00

Wichita is the aviation capitol of the world. That means that we have a fairly steady stream of VIP's coming to town to pick up airplanes or continue their pilot education. So it's not unusual, but still exciting to have famous visitors. Imagine my surprise when during a recent celebration at our company's favorite restaurant, Chester's Chophouse, we saw a famous diner. Angie, our Retail Operations Manager, saw Harrison Ford come in for dinner. With permission, we had been sharing chocolates with all of the bar patrons as part of our celebration. So it seemed natural to me that we should also share our chocolates with Mr. Ford.

After several moments of 'was that really him' or not, we asked permission from our friends, Bobby and Susie Lane, to send a plate of chocolates to Mr. Ford's table. Over the next excruciating 20 minutes, I watched the plate of chocolates sit behind the bar. They were still sitting there long after it seemed possible that he would still be in the restaurant. Just as I had given up hope of making our big Hollywood break, I looked over my shoulder and right into the face of Harrison Ford. I think I squeaked out a 'hello.'

As you know, I'm a bit starstruck by chefs and movie stars, so this was exciting. In fact, the entire bar was speechless as Mr. Ford joined the bar scene for a nightcap. Okay, I'm starstruck, but not very shy. I got the plate of chocolates and went down to introduce myself. I first apologized for the intrusion, but then I was off to the races! I told him about our celebration and offered he and his companion the chocolates. He was very gracious, in fact thanking by name! Okay, I had it embroidered on my jacket, but he was way cool about it.

So two of the most amazing things happened in the next 30 minutes. First, we received drinks compliments of our famous guest. We thought that was the nicest gesture, but there was more. Before we had even had time to thank our new friend, there was a tap on my shoulder. Leaning on the backs of our bar stools was ..... Harrison Ford! He wanted to thank us for the chocolates, but stayed for a visit. He was so lovely, introducing himself and shaking hands with Angie and her sister Amber (who never stopped smiling for the rest of the night!).

The purpose for his visit was to compliment me on the chocolates. He said, "I'm not much of a sweets guy, but that lemon chocolate was incredible!" Again, I think I probably squeaked out a 'thanks.' The conversation that ensued revealed that Mr. Ford did have a sweet favorite, salted caramels. Angie informed him that "we make the best grey salt caramel in the world!" To which I suggested that we send him some. Now this was a reality check for us because it took us much longer than it should of to realize that someone with a high degree of visibility won't give out any contact information. Maybe if we hadn't had the drinks he sent over, we would have gotten it a little more quickly. But again, our very patient and lovely new friend, was firm but nice.

But he did give us a way to put our world-famous caramels in his hands. He was to be in town for the whole week and would be having dinner again at Chester's later in the week. And he invited us to send over chocolates for dessert. Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What happens next? Tune in next time for the end of the story. Until then...Happy Memorial Day!

The Cure for What you Crave

2009-03-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

So the Cocoa Dolce gang put on a great show at the Chamber of Commerce mixer. Our table was beautiful and very well received. We were able to show off our award-winning chocolates and use the event to launch our new tongue-in-cheek 31 Day Cure for What you Crave. It's our way to offer our customers a healthy chocolate alternative. The AMA Journal has substantiated that 6.3 grams of bittersweet chocolate a day can reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure when taken before bedtime.

It's difficult as a chocolatier to be innovative and take advantage of trends without making health claims or being blatant. I really try to be thoughtful about not only what we produce but also how we package and communicate an item. I've been trying to develop an product touting the health benefits of chocolate since we opened, but couldn't figure out the right positioning. That's one of the real challenges of successfully relating products in an intelligent but not too serious way.

I think that's one of the qualities that make us distinctive in the industry...the ability to create delicious chocolates with a sense of humor. So when we decided to move forward with the 31 days of chocolate, our designer Paul Fountain, took my initial instructions and ran with a design that was a very fun 'medicinal' look including a doctor's prescription and packaging that looked like a pill bottle. I really liked the idea, but I found over time of letting the idea ferment, it just didn't settle

So I began thinking about how else we could market the health benefits of chocolate and I came across this photo:
About the same time, Paul came back with another design concept for our new product. Here is the label he brought in...

Perfect! It's perfection when an idea gets its manifestation! And I love the edgy, fun approach. So now we just have to sell them!!

Until next time...stay warm and dry! I'll tell you about our most recent brush with Hollywood in my next posting.

Dancing with the Stars

2009-03-27T19:37:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago, Cocoa Dolce was named a finalist in the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce 2009 Small Business of the Year awards. This honor is awarded to small businesses in the metro area that have accomplished success in a variety of business measures including profit & growth, community involvement and employee relations. We were thrilled to be one of 72 businesses nominated and surprised to be announced as a finalist!

We were invited to display our business at an expo where the finalists were announced. We really like to go to these events, allows the over achievers in us to put on a show. So we brought the flowers, the packaging and the chocolate. We have found that regardless of the event, if we bring chocolate we are the most popular company there!

South Beach Buddies

2009-03-06T16:04:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my blog! As a blogging virgin, I'm going to attempt to share some stories and experiences that shape my world. I'm following my passion (finally), and it's taking me on some crazy adventures! So welcome and here's a little story about my recent trip to South Beach.

My best friend, Karen, is a traveler. And I get invited to see some incredible places. And sometimes we go to Florida. Not that I have anything against Florida, I really like it, but this trip was designed for rest and relaxation. Have just had our butts handed to us over Valentine's Day, she thought it would be great to hang out for a few days, soak up some Florida sun and eat some great meals. I was in!

The night before we left, Karen discovered that the South Beach Food and Wine Festival (www.sobefest.com) would be taking place while we were there. It is considered by many in the food and wine world to be the biggest and most well-attended event in the country. Lasting four day, celebrity chefs, vintners and foodies like me wallow in amazing food and incredible drinks on the beaches of Miami. Usually a total sell-out, we were surprised to find tickets available for the Saturday night BubbleQ event. Sponsored by Perrier Jouet champagne, it featured celebrity chefs showing off their upscale barbecue styles.

Sponsored also by The Food Network and Food & Wine Magazine, it appeared to be the event of the weekend. So off we went. My first mistake was wearing shoes...it was on the beach. There was sand on that beach and I spent most of the night trying to empty the huge amount of sand out of my shoes. Two words: flip flops! We arrived and were give our Reidel wine glass and a sparkly wrist band. When the gates opened, we were treated to rare roast lamb, lobster tacos, carne asada to make you cry, ribs, veal, crab, and celebrities!

I'll admit to being a chef junkie. I deeply respect a top chef's skills and passion. They are my rock stars, so it was heaven. Not only were many of The Food Network personalities there, so were the Food & Wine staff and many of the Top Chef contestants from Bravo's television show. So after about 5 glasses of delicious champagne, I decided to start using my camera phone to grab a few celebrity pictures.

Rocco DiSpirito...such a nice guy...totally tolerant of my goofy excitement!

Guy Fieri...Food Network star. Probably treated like the biggest rock star there based on the number of people crushing around him.

Rick Bayless...chef/owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo restaurants in Chicago. My first real chef crush.
Ilan Hall, winner of the second season of Top Chef...my favorite TV show. One of my 'candid' shots.

Hung Huynh, season 3 Top Chef winner! Best plate of the evening...rare grilled lamb. Super nice guy, we had to take 3 pictures to get this one.

You know when you want to take a picture of someone, but they aren't allowing photos. Our solution? Have Karen stand next to them and pretend to be shooting her...that's how we captured this rare sighting...
Jared from Subway!!!!!!!! He was appearing somewhere else during the weekend and was hanging out with the rest of the celebs. Karen and I agreed it was the best $400 bucks we had spent and we laughed the rest of the weekend about it. As we were leaving that night, we got a chance to have a really nice visit with Tom Collichio...another amazing chef and head judge for Top Chef. Made my night! So here is my final photo...two really happy women. Until next time, enjoy!