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Post by Randy on Aug 28, 2017 11:23:21 GMT -5
I am starting a small artisanal chocolate business out of my home to start; going the cottage industry route to start. I would like to know what books you might recommend, technical, non-technical, related to chocolate making bean to bar and business related. Any other advice you might have for me is also certainly appreciated?
FYI, I've also have appointments set this week to meet with our local SBDC (Small Business Development Center) and Chamber of Commerce, to help with be business end of things. Thanks in advance, Randy
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Post by mark on Aug 30, 2017 7:10:06 GMT -5
Randy, I found pretty much all the information I needed on John's site and in this forum. The Chocolate Life forum is also a good source of additional info.
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gap
Apprentice
Posts: 390
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Post by gap on Aug 31, 2017 1:45:30 GMT -5
I'd second that. There is a ton of info on this site - I've read all the historical posts and it's amazing what comes up about chocolate making that is unrelated to the initial post but still incredibly interesting.
Are you only interested in bean to bar? Or are you also looking for books about what you can do with the chocolate once it has been made (eg., confections, ice cream, pastries etc)
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Post by Brad on Sept 1, 2017 12:59:59 GMT -5
The best advice I can think to give you is to learn your way around an income statement and a casflow statement. They are similar but different in one key aspect: A cashflow statement shows you when cash is actually going and coming, whereas an income statement just shows you what you need to pay and what items cost.
For example: You have big customer who wants to order 1,000 chocolate bars from you. You are going to spend a bunch of money up front, buying supplies and paying labour for a payoff that could come 30/60/90 days down the road. You empty your bank account to procure the order, but your landlord doesn't care that you aren't getting paid for another 60 days. He wants his rent tomorrow or he shuts you down. THAT is cashflow.
An income statement on the other hand just shows that you bought $1000 in supplies (COGS) and $1000 in labour to make $5,000 worth of product for the order. WooHoo!
Both types of reports go hand in hand. To dismiss one could be fatal for your budding business.
One other thing: There is a big difference between creating a job for yourself and creating an income. At first, your job is building your business and it's fun experimenting with new ideas and recipes. However, it's important to remember that the chocolate industry is very repetitive. You are going to be selling thousands of items at small prices, and this means a very repetitive work cycle. The more creative you get, the more you are restricting yourself to being the one to do the grunt work for your business. This can get VERY exhausting. It is important to find some balance between doing the repetetive tasks that unskilled labour can do, and doing "special offer" creative stuff to keep you engaged. Unless of course, you want to make thousands and thousands of chocolates for the rest of your days in the business.
I hope that helps. Brad
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Post by jacob on Sept 15, 2017 9:27:01 GMT -5
Randy, I'm pretty much following the same route as you. Started making chocolate a few months ago out of my home and will be selling for the local farmers market this winter. Here is a list of books that I've been compiling as I scour through this forum and the chocolate life. They are referenced in many places, however, Alan McClure's (of Patric chocolate) posts are where I've gotten most of these recommendations from. He highly recommended "Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use by Steve T. Beckett". Hope this helps: Chocolate Production and the Use by Russell Cook Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use by Steve T. Beckett the Science of Chocolate by Stephen Beckett The Genetic Diversity of Cacao and its Utilization" by Bartley Chocolate Connoisseur by Chloe Doutre-Roussell Cocoa, 4th ed. by Wood and Lass The New Taste of Chocolate, by Maricel Presilla The True History of Chocolate, by Sophie & Michael Coe "How to taste" by Jancis Robinson - about wine, but good for learning how to taste Arthur Knapp's treatise on cacao fermenation Cocoa and Chocolate: Their Chemistry and Manufacture by R. Whymper - archive.org/details/b28089947The Chocolate Tree, by Alan Young
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Post by Ben on Sept 15, 2017 11:34:18 GMT -5
Jacob's list is great. I'd add a couple others: Raising the Bar, by Pam Williams and Jim Eber: www.amazon.com/Raising-Bar-Future-Fine-Chocolate/dp/0969192126Arthur Knapp's 'Cocoa and Chocolate: Their History from Plantation to Consumer' (available on project gutenberg: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19073 ) Also, while Beckett's 'The Science of Chocolate' is great, all of it's info is taken from his much larger and more comprehensive 'Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use', so if you get that, don't bother with 'The Science of Chocolate'.
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Post by jacob on Sept 18, 2017 12:07:05 GMT -5
Ben,
I wondered about Beckett's "Science of Chocolate". When I looked at the table of contents on amazon, I thought it looked oddly familiar. Glad to have that cleared up.
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