How to Start a Chocolate Candy Shop ~ Confectionery



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Chocolate and Candy Shop Owner
Confectionery

Breaking Into and Succeeding as a Chocolate Candy Shop Owner
How to Start a Confectionery
How to Sell Chocolate and Candy Gift Baskets
How to Become a Confectioner Chocolatier Candy Artisan

Candy has been around as long as humanity has had a sweet tooth. Nature has been producing it since the first beehive was assembled, and people have been eating it since the first human stumbled across a cache of honey. In fact, the earliest manufactured candies probably consisted of the use of honey to coat and preserve fruit, nuts, and flowers. Refined sugar isn't much younger; the sugar cane, native to the Ganges delta, was probably first processed in India in ancient times.

The process of dissolving sugar into water and heating it to make what's known as "boiled sweets" or "hard candy" has been with us since then. How far back our fondness for the sweet stuff goes can be estimated by the etymology of our favorite English word for it. It has family ties to the Sanskrit word khanda ("sugar in pieces") as well as to the Arabic word quandi (a sugar confection).

The origins of chocolate are almost as ancient and twice as mythic. The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), whose seeds provide the raw material that becomes what we know as chocolate, was grown in 1200 BC by the Olmec Indians and later used as currency by their neighbors, the Mayans.

Chocolate was credited with divine origin in that region and is one of the edibles that has enjoyed the title "food of the Gods." This may be why the Mayans even buried it alongside their dead, as tombs from 250 BC demonstrate—perhaps they imagined the departed drinking their spicy, frothy cocoa drink with their other ancestors and the deities they worshipped.

When the Spanish conquistadors came to the region, they brought the seeds of the cacao tree back to Spain with them. There the drink soon grew both in popularity and in recipe variety. In the Americas it was a bitter drink; in Europe, sugar was added to placate the common sweet tooth.

The price of farming, shipping, and processing cacao was such that chocolate remained a luxury right up until the 1800s, when mass production not only brought the price down but also led to the manufacture of solid chocolate treats. The cocoa press, created in 1828, made it possible to separate the cocoa butter from the cocoa powder; the powder was then used to create a more consistent product.

Later in that century, someone called Henri Nestlé (you may have heard of him) teamed up Daniel Peter to put into action their bright idea to mix condensed milk with the cocoa, resulting in a creamy flavor the world instantly fell in love with.

The fruits of the cacao tree aren't limited to dessert; cacao extracts have found their way into cosmetics as well, and medicine. In fact, many other candies we enjoy today were in their original form used as medicine

The confectionery industry is a healthy, growing market. In 2005, retail sales of chocolate were up $15.7 billion, and retail sales of other candies were up $8.7 billion. Among chocolates, premium chocolates—those that sell at more than $8/lb—has risen to the top of the market. This is good news for the artisan chocolatier!

And the recent nutritional findings showed stated that cocoa in extra dark chocolate has actual health benefits, such as its high anti-oxidant capacity, its mood-brightening tryptophan, and its stimulating theobromine (bad for your dog but good for you, especially if you have chronic fatigue syndrome), have given us even less reason to avoid the fruit of the cacao tree. An article in Confectioner magazine (March 2006) suggests that mothers today are holding their shopping choices to a higher standard of quality—again, good news for the artisan confectioner who hopes she'll choose they wares for her family!

Another good thing, your boutique products won't necessarily be able to compete with mass-produced chocolates and candies in production scale, distribution, or sales figures, but because of their large batches and automated processes they won't be able to compete with you in quality, which will put your business at the top of the demography, selling "unique and upscale" sweets.

You'll be ordering from higher quality suppliers, especially higher quality chocolate suppliers: chocolatiers who "conch" the chocolate longer, resulting in a smoother consistency and a better flavor; chocolatiers who don't use soy lecithin or extraneous preservatives; chocolatiers who don't let extra sugar or milk fat get between the taste of the chocolate and the person tasting it.

Now if you're wondering whether you can start this business with only a few thousand dollars, the answer is definitely yes, especially if you prefer to sell ready-made sweets or add them to your existing business. Consider these possibilities:

Candy bouquet and gift basket
Self-serve candy shop
Online candy store
Fondue café
Tea and coffee house
Gifts shop

The types of sweets to sell are also limitless. Consider these:

Hard Candies (Boiled Sweets)
Fudge
Toffee
Pralines
Brittle
Divinity
Swiss Milk Tables or Scots Tables
Licorice, or Liquorice
Marshmallows
Marzipan, or Marchpane
Gum/Gelatin Candies
Chocolate (truffle, etc.)

Now, how much money can you make?

With all the above choices, your income potential is literally unlimited. There are several scenarios, depending on which path you choose:

Online candy store can expect to earn anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 per month
Brick-and-mortar shop can expect to earn $15,000 and up, depending on traffic and target market
Self-serve candy shop can earn $20,000 per month or more
Gift basket business can earn $7,500 or more per month

Need we say more?
This eGuide provides insightful information, advices and tips for anyone who is contemplating to become a confectioner, a chocolatier or a chocolate and candy shop owner. Numerous hard-to-find resources are included to help you locate pertinent information.

Do you know?

Chocolate retail is a $19 billion market and candy is a $9 billion market worldwide
Demand for chocolate and candy increase by 3.5% annually
As people are getting more aware about antioxidant health benefits of chocolate, we can expect to see more customers asking for organic products

Editor-in-Chief Jennie S. Bev, co-author Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little have talked to several chocolate and candy shop owners, to provide you with the best and the most comprehensive self-study guidebook filled with insider information, tips and advice for breaking into and succeeding in this lucrative confectionery business.

About the Authors

Jennie S. Bev is THE fashion, image and fun careers expert, whose reputation has been acknowledged by prestigious media internationally. She has been profiled and mentioned in Entrepreneur, Teen People, Canadian Business, Home Business, Dong (France), San Francisco Chronicle, The Independent, Daily Southtown, The Arizona Republic, Femina (Asia) and Dewi (Asia).

Editor-in-Chief Jennie S. Bev was named 2003 EPPIE Award finalist in Non-Fiction How To category for excellence in electronic publishing. She has published over 40 books and 900 articles in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Southeast Asia. She is also a college professor based in San Francisco Bay Area.

Co-author Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little is an accomplished author, freelance writer, and web designer from the New Orleans area. She graduated from Metairie Park Country Day School and went from there to the University of Washington to pursue B.A. in English.

Her fiction and essays have been published in a diverse handful of literary and New Age magazines, including PanGaia. An aspiring novelist, she has been an annual participant in National Novel-Writing Month since 2002. She now resides in Colorado.

This 61-page instantly downloadable StyleCareer.com eGuide Breaking Into and Succeeding as a Chocolate and Candy Shop Owner brings you valuable insider tips, advice and suggestions not available elsewhere to help you embark on this highly lucrative career path.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Myths, the Realities, and the Basics
I have a sweet tooth, but I don’t eat sweets that much.
Can I make a living from selling candies and chocolates?
I’m not a chef, can I start a candy/chocolate shop?
I don’t have much money as starting capital. Can I start this business from home?
Can I compete with mass products?

Candy and Chocolate Industry in a Nutshell
A Brief History of Candy and Chocolate
Confections by the Numbers
Statistics and Growth Trends
Nutritional Findings
Types of Confectionery
Hard Candies (Boiled Sweets)
Fudge
Toffee
Pralines
Brittle
Divinity
Swiss Milk Tables or Scots Tables
Licorice, or Liquorice
Marshmallows
Marzipan, or Marchpane
Gum/Gelatin Candies
Chocolate
Two Different Languages Called English
Mass Products vs. Boutique Products

Starting Your Own Candy and Chocolate Shop
How Much You Can Expect To Earn
Tea and Chocolate Café
Fondue Café
Candy Bouquet
Candy in Bulk
Online Candy Boutique
A Quick Introduction to Candy-making
A Quick Introduction to Chocolate-Making
Learning without Going to College
Ready Stocks
So You Want to Support Organic Agriculture…
So You Want to Support Fair Trade…
Starting a Brick-and-Mortar Shop
Starting an Online Shop (Home Business)

Being Successful
Auxiliary Products
Gift Baskets
Beyond Candy
Trade Associations and Networking Groups
Trade Shows
Trade Magazines
Anatomy of a Successful Confectioner Personality

Success Profiles

This eGuide literally saves you hundreds or even thousands of dollars spent on professional workshops and training and hundreds of hours of research. It will help you break into the career of your dream faster without having to repeat the same mistakes that most newcomers do.

We have also included resources on the following:

Trade and networking associations
Trade shows and expos worldwide
Learning resources
Wholesale suppliers and resources

You can have this exclusive eGuide right away by instant download for only $42.95, which you will earn many times over with your first paid job. This special low discount price is reserved for today, Friday, September 05, 2008 only. (Regular price: $52.95)

Breaking Into and Succeeding
as a Chocolate and Candy Shop Owner
Regular Price: $52.95
Sale Price: $42.95

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