New to the group and Outdoor display question

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Permalink Reply by deborah on July 25, 2011 at 11:36am

I just started at a farmer's market a few weeks ago.  My display chocolates are made with compound chocolate (Wilton Candy Melts) and soy wax so that they withstand greater heat than my couverture.  I put them in the freezer the night before, so that they are starting off the morning really cold.  So far, it has been fine, except for the one that was getting direct sun yesterday for awhile before I noticed.  I also keep a can of Freeze Spray with me to cool them off as necessary.  For the real chocolates, I keep them in a Rubbermaid Pro-Serve carrier.  You can fit several half size sheet pans in it and since it's front loading, it is really easy to slide them out and pull out product.  Between travel, set up and break down, I have them in there for about 7 hours and they keep extremely well with an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel.

Permalink Reply by Amy DeFiore on July 25, 2011 at 4:52pm

Thanks for the tip! For some reason I had it in my head that I needed to display majority of my product, but that sounds a lot easier.

Permalink Reply by Debby on July 25, 2011 at 8:31pm

When I'm selling truffles at the farmer's market, which I don't every time as I sell other candy as well, I have a sign with photos and prices. The truffles themselves are in an ice chest under the table. I layer things, bottom layer is frozen gel packs. This is covered with a doubled over bath towel, both to absorb any moisture and to keep the candy from actually freezing. Then I place trays of truffles in the ice chest organized by flavor. I have pre-labeled boxes with me and box up the customer's order on the spot along with the warning to get the chocolates to a cool environment as soon as possible because they will melt.

Permalink Reply by Steve Whitman on July 25, 2011 at 10:17pm

I just started my chocolate business this spring and I've been selling at a Growers Market here in Albuquerque, NM since late May. The market is on Saturday mornings from 7:00 to noon, and heat is a big issue by the middle of the morning. I use a Cambro carrier that fits half sheet pans and I got some Cambro freeze-paks that fit 2 to a shelf (so they're small enough to fit in my home freezer). I put the freeze paks in the top slot and load up about 300 truffles on 4 trays, wrap them with plastic wrap and use a plastic sheet pan cover. This keeps the product in great shape for the whole day. For my display I use clear acrylic/plastic trays with flat covers. I freeze blocks of ice in 1 gallon ziplock bags, put 2 blocks in each tray, put on the cover and drape this with pieces of table cloth cut to size. I then put small plates on the ice trays and put out about 3 pieces of each flavor for display.

I also got one clear dome cover for a tray, and on that one I lay out tuffles in rows - I usually bring about six flavors so six rows cover the tray and the clear dome keeps it cool enough to protect the chocolates.

All of this is under a 10x10 Easy-Up type tent - direct sun is deadly even if its not to hot. I've only had one day that was "to hot for chocolate" (projected high of 103F) It gets about 95 this time of year, and its about the limit, but I haven't lost any product to melt down yet.

Permalink Reply by Tom on January 6, 2013 at 8:43pm

I saw this guy selling truffles at the Noosa markets in QLD recently, it was a pretty hot and humid day which is usual for this part of the world. I remembered this thread so here is the photo, not sure what the brand of air conditioner.

Permalink Reply by Andy Ciordia on January 9, 2013 at 4:00pm

Wow Tom, that's both awesome and horrible.. haha.

Permalink Reply by Patty Pieper on January 18, 2013 at 7:09pm

My thoughts EXACTLY!!!

Permalink Reply by Colin Green on January 14, 2013 at 10:07pm

I sell at farmers markets in Sydney Australia. The temperatures can be up to 40 degrees C (104 F) and above and it is challenging. You need to look after your stock but even more is the problem that many people won't buy when it gets hot as they rightfully fear that their chocolate will melt.  The problem with the guy in the picture is that he WILL get high relative humidity which will damage the chocolate as the rH increases as the dew point is reached. It will be in the range of 85% rH.  Also it is a clear signal to buyers that there is a problem.

I chill my chocolate to around 18C (64F) and pretty much hold it there all week. When I go to the markets I take it in polystyrene boxes and only display a few bags at a time, swapping them back to the boxes as they begin to warm. Chocolate holds its coolness quite well and this gets me through the day. I also watch VERY carefully where the sun is coming from and ensure that it never touches the bags.

I also picked up on Clay's thoughts in shipping in foil-lined bubble wrap and I make bags up with this material to give to Customers so they feel protected. Also picking up on Clay's idea, I seal the bubble wrap with a heat sealer so that no warm air can get in. So far no-one has returned with a problem - although this could indeed only last a short time in a hot vehicle.

Keep everything as low as possible too - heat rises.

The above has worked for me at farmers markets and also expos where at times the heat can be intense (in Melbourne last year we had three days above 38C (100F) and I lost very little stock. That WAS before I worked on the bags and sadly few people bought.)

Colin

Permalink Reply by Tom on January 15, 2013 at 5:01am

I could be wrong but this piece of kit may control humidity too.

Permalink Reply by Colin Green on January 15, 2013 at 5:57am

I used to think so too Tom. However I use two of these to cool the product in my pans and one day I accidently left one on for a while and when I returned I was surprised to find that my product was wet! So I inserted my rH meter down the tube and whereas the room was at 43% rH the air coming from the A/C was a staggering 85%!  I called the manufacturer and they explained to me that it was simple physics where the dew point was reached and the rH shot up. I don't really pretend to understand exactly how that happens - seems like black magic to me where more water is released than seems to be there in the first place - but the engineer assured me that it was fact.  I suppose it lies in the term "relative" humidty. I just know that it's very bad for chocolate as it makes it wet and yucky!

Doubtless some more technical person out there" can clear it up!

Colin :-)