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Andy Ciordia Male Charlotte, NC United States: Share

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Kitchen Confectionery

39 members
Startup Central

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Andy Ciordia's Discussions

Cool Tool: Chocoflex Spherical Truffle Mold

Replied May 29

Cool Tool: Chocoflex Spherical Truffle Mold

Replied Dec. 29, 2008

The Secret Chocolatier's Diary

One thing we’ve found a lot of pleasure in is making things off the beaten path. I’m not saying picking out some chocolate treat from our menu is bad, we love all we have built but in the end we’re artists and the menu is just the beginning of a discussion. As a way for [...]

Is That In Chocolate Years?

This entire journey began last Spring, over a year ago. It was just an idea, a dabble, a trial. Let’s see where it goes, if there was a consumer audience desiring something more. You were, and we’ve been supplying it ever since. From one market to three we see cycles in life that we never knew [...]

Celebrating Mother’s Day

Mother’s day is right around the corner and there are many things I reflect upon fondly but, because food is one of the ways we communicate, celebrate and nurture relationships, I usually end up thinking about family gatherings and things surrounding food. My Mother Helped Me Start the Day Right One of the many things I remember [...]

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Andy Ciordia's Page

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Andy Ciordia replied to Jeff's discussion 'kitchen space when starting' in the group Startup CentralJune 22

We're just evolving out of this stage. Renting kitchens gets tiresome. The equipment is usually NSF above your home stuff but it's just fancy home equipment. You can usually manage and depending on what scale you are a tempering machine may or ma...

erika jensen replied to Andy Ciordia's discussion 'Custom Boxes?' in the group Startup CentralJune 1

hi karen- your labels and jars are also very lovely (for the sauce on the homepage) does glerup help you with that too? your web site is amazing! congrats-

Karen Neugebauer replied to Andy Ciordia's discussion 'Custom Boxes?' in the group Startup CentralMay 31

I use the Glerup Revere group (866) 747-6871. They can do the small production and the quality is great and quite affordable. I am also a small start-up. The lead time is about 3 weeks for re-orders and about 5 weeks for the first order (includes ...

Andy Ciordia commented on cheebs's photo 'ingredients1'May 31

Very nice.

Andy Ciordia added a discussion to the group Startup CentralMay 31

Custom Boxes?

I've seen some members here have some custom boxes either with name or design etched into their box. Right now my family uses custom ribbons on our boxes but the time consumption is pretty long, I think to create 100 boxes it takes us at least 1.5...

Andy Ciordia replied to Clay Gordon's discussion 'Cool Tool: Chocoflex Spherical Truffle Mold'May 29

We recently picked this up, the only dissapointment I have is the weight. I thought this might supplement our 1/2oz line but the weight of a filled sphere is coming in at 3/8, which while it may not seem like much, a side by side comparison is rea...

Laurie Douglass left a comment for Andy CiordiaApril 28

Andy Ciordia left a comment for Laurie DouglassApril 28

Profile Information

Dark, Milk, White?: Dark

Most memorable chocolate experience:: I love room temperature chocolate truffles. If the coating is hardy enough it will hold runny inside together long enough for a flavor explosion upon devouring. Favorite of the summer was our own orange infused truffles.

My favorite chocolate is:: Dark 70%ish, TCHO has me hooked currently on their quality.

The Secret Chocolatier

It's great being a part of a family you cherish, it's even better if you can start a good business too. Almost a year ago we formed The Secret Chocolatier. My father inlaw has been a pastry chef for decades and when his current employ was untimely closed we decided to do something different, something creative, something we could all enjoy.

Well if you're here you know we all love chocolate.

We're working on finding more retail outlets in our area and beyond and trying to grow as organically as we can. We also support the local farming community and the principles behind "Slow Food" so we work towards seasonal ingredients.

We also started a blog not too long ago and are filling it with information, family memories, and some of our adventures in homemade chocolate.

Andy Ciordia's Photos

Andy Ciordia's Blog

The Beginning of Our Chocolate Travels

To enrich this community I've been asked to bring over some of the content we've published on our chocolatier "diary". To give a bit more about who we are what a better place to begin than the beginning. We're having a lot of fun in the Charlotte, NC area and we hope this inspires you to either participate more locally, or try your own thing. :)

Where do we begin on this epic tale of homemade chocolate insanity. Do we start at the very begin… Continue

Posted on December 17, 2008 at 10:27am —

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At 11:26am on April 28, 2009, Laurie Douglass said…: Thanks Andy - I appreciate the tips!

At 10:08pm on January 20, 2009, Amber S. said…: Hi Andy,
I guess I looked at your website after posting and realized you are hosting lots of local events. I always leap before I look. I am trying not to do that with my own start-up so thats why Im spewing unsolicited advice. I live in a small 'mill town' in Canada where the mill is in danger of closing. I only moved here a year ago, to get away from the 'big city' so one of the (many) challenges Im facing is marketing to a cash poor population. I stumbled upon this book by accident and spent the day reading about local history. I guess I just wanted to share...

At 9:49pm on January 20, 2009, Amber S. said…: Hi Andy. Ive just joined (formally) and was interested in your posts in Start-Up Central. I was at the library today trying to further my own endeavours and read the first chapter of a book called (I think) Small Town Survival Guide or something similar. It is a book about how the economy of small towns operates and is challenged by today's economical system. The first chapter had some really interesting thoughts about marketing to local communities and shaping your goals to meet a community 'vision'.

I think this is timely in light of the north american 'local' movement. I wish I had actually checked this book out to be able to give you more details, but maybe you are past this dilemma you had previously mentioned. As well I don't know how big a town you live in, but no matter I think community minded angle to your purchasing and marketing is a must for start ups... Is that a no brainer?

At 12:53pm on January 16, 2009, katiebobus said…: I LOVE the spherical one, but I had mixed results with the flat squares one - the first ganache I tried in it was too soft, and even freezing it didn't stop it from adhering to the sides. I had to scoop all the ganache out of the holes, which was not cool. A pate de fruit worked great, though, so I think it was just the consistency of the ganache that was the problem. I haven't tried caramel as originally planned, but I will! Thanks for asking.

At 12:45pm on December 16, 2008, Clay Gordon said…: Andy:

One of the reasons I founded TheChocolateLife was to create a place where people who are passionate about chocolate can share their passion - and learn from - others. Not sure that all life's lessons need to be painful, but I do know that chocolate can take the sting out of many of them.

I see the link to your site (which I encourage) and the link to your personal blog. I don't do link shares, so I encourage you to share some of those stories as blog posts here on TheChocolateLife for members who may not visit your profile page.

At 12:27pm on December 16, 2008, Clay Gordon said…: Andy:

Welcome to TheChocolateLife. From LinkedIn I know that you operate a chocolate business, and I want to point out that there are a number of groups here that may be of assistance to you in growing your business. I am looking forward to learning more about you and your business.

:: Clay