Startup Central

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Are you looking to start a chocolate business? Want to talk to others who've been there or done that - or have you been there and done it and want to share with others? This is the place to discuss it.

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Latest Activity: 10 hours ago

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Startup Central - Sponsored by Savage Bros

Since 1855 Savage Bros. has manufactured confectionery machinery. Their chocolate and candy making equipment are recognized worldwide for long lived quality and reliability. From these 19th century roots in the industry, Savage Bros. strives to meet its customers’ equipment needs with well designed and manufactured machinery. They specialize in taking new and growing businesses to the next level by streamlining their production process.

Quality chocolate is one of Savage Bros' passions, thus they offer a wide array of chocolate processing equipment for the artisan chocolatier — from chocolate melters and temperers to single mold filling workstations with depositors and built-in vibrators. And more!

Do you make great chocolates? Know everything there is to know about tempering chocolate and cooking the perfect caramel? Able to turn out thousands of finished chocolates without blinking any eye?

Does the thought of using Quickbooks or writing a business plan sends you screaming into the walk-in begging for mercy?

This group is for you. When you join, please introduce yourself to the group in a comment on this page. Yes, I know you have a profile page, but it would be great to have you add a few words about you and your business in the context of this group. If you have a website, feel free to post a link to it. Please don't post a link to your profile page, people can just click on your profile photo to visit that.

PS. Below is the full picture I used for the Group photo. It's a chocolate store/cafe in Mexico. Those are stone mills (the kind Taza uses) to the right of the guy with his back to you in the blue shirt and notice that they are selling beans. The stone mills suggest that this store is located in Oaxaca.

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Comment by Dale Anderson on June 12, 2013 at 8:27am: Thanks George. This works well for simple drizzles. Some of my elements are more complex pipings that I want to stand higher off the truffles (and sometimes I have an additional dusting or other garnish that I want to adhere only to this element (so the truffle must be "dry"). Any other thoughts on after-the-fact piping of decorative elements, and how to keep them from blooming? Thanks!

Comment by George on June 11, 2013 at 5:39pm: Dale, temper the drizzle chocolate and pipe over the truffles whilst they are still "wet".

Comment by Dale Anderson on June 11, 2013 at 11:47am: Friends,

I've recently had some problems with chocolate drizzle blooming. Typically, I don't use tempered chocolate as a drizzled garnish on truffles, because it is more likely to separate and fall off the piece when it crystallizes (and shrinks). In the past, simple melted chocolate seemed to work fairly well for these thin lines of decoration. I now, from time to time, get some bloom on the dark drizzles. Anyone have any ideas on how to avoid this? Thanks!

Comment by Anjali Gupta on June 11, 2013 at 11:13am: Hi, has anyone used a professional marketing company, food stylist, photographer, printed marketing leaflets for their business, had someone create an e-newsletter etc? I would be interested to get feedback on the cost benefit and experience. Thanks

Comment by Anjali Gupta on June 11, 2013 at 11:03am: Hi, this is Anjali from Singapore. I am a graduate of Ecole Chocolat, Vancouver. I have also attended a French Ganache course at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy in the UK. I relocated to Singapore from Istanbul, Turkey, in August last year. I am now looking for a shop space where I can make and sell hand- made chocolates. Rents in Singapore are very high, so finding a place I like is crucial. I am looking forward to sharing information with all of you in this forum.

Comment by Andal Balu on June 2, 2013 at 10:01pm: Hi all,

This is Andal Balu from CocoaTown. We are presenting a seminar :To Bean or Not To Bean - is Bean to Bar right business for you? at FCIA in June. I am trying to find out what is the concern that normally people have when they decide to start their own bean to bar company. Can you please share your concerns and questions?

Comment by Sherill on May 12, 2013 at 10:20am: Hi, I have started a home-based chocolate business two years ago. Had my biggest event when I first joined a local bazaar and received positive feedbacks. Hopefully I could bring this small endeavour to much greater heights. All inputs here will be greatly appreciated as I am still learning my way into this.Thanks everyone.

Comment by Dale Anderson on April 18, 2013 at 9:29am: Does anyone have a thermometer that they especially like (that seems to maintain accuracy). I have various thermometers, classic bulb style, dial/analog, and digital, and none is reliably accurate. I tested them all by immersing them in boiling water, which should be around 212 F. The various devices measured between 180 F and 230 F. Only two out of 8 thermometers were within 5 degrees of 212 F. When I'm making caramels that need to be cooked to within a couple of degrees of the desired temperature, this inaccuracy and variability is frustrating. Does anyone recommend an accurate, reliable brand and model? Thanks!

Comment by Jackie Jones on April 10, 2013 at 5:01pm: Note: I own a franchise of Safeguard Business Systems...and can offer QuickBooks checks at special pricing for membership. We are owned by a $1.6 billion dollar check printing company. No one can beat our prices.

Comment by Leila Ellis on April 4, 2013 at 9:43pm: Hi. I launched my chocolate confections business Marushka Chocolates in December. I'm based in Portland, Oregon. I sell mostly through my website and work out of a shared commissary kitchen. I've gotten a really good initial response to my chocolates, and now I'm trying to figure out how to channel that into a sustainable year-round business. I'd be interested to hear about people's wholesale experiences and how profitable that is or isn't for them.