Smash the Chocolate Crunch
Posted: 01 Nov 2024
Smash the 2024 Chocolate Crunch: Easy Wins to Boost Your Business When You Need Them Most
It’s a tough time for those working with chocolate, with a perfect storm of factors causing steep manufacturer price increases. Getting yourself over the financial finish line each month is more important than ever.
To help you smash the 2024 chocolate crunch and give your business a boost, we’ve put together some ideas you can easily add to your range of existing products. These are quick and simple wins to appeal to all during the busiest season and help ensure you have plenty of ways to safely navigate these tricky times.
Whether you implement all the concepts or just one, we hope they will spark fresh ideas and give you confidence that sometimes the smallest tweak can have the biggest impact.
Spread Some Joy
Chocolate spreads have always been a big seller, but thanks to social media they’ve become more aesthetically pleasing and, frankly, more fun! By layering one or two different spreads with some crunchy inclusions, your jars will be sitting pretty, and your customers won’t be able to resist taking a few home for gifts and special occasions.
Classic flavours such as hazelnut and chocolate or pistachio are now popular enough that supermarkets are taking note and making their own-label versions. It’s an extremely simple and effective way to sell your excess spreads and market them as a premium, limited time offer for toast topping or indulgent snack…
Or, for another way to make the most of your spreads, why not team up with your local bakery or distributor? You can take small tart cases and fill with your chosen spread, topped off with some simple decorations for visual flair! You can even mix in crunchy inclusions using the Keylink Essentials range to add texture and interest. These can be proudly displayed as little bite-sized treats on your counter that customers can enjoy with a coffee.
Choc it Like it’s Hot
A really fun and simple way to use every last bit of chocolate and reduce wastage is to bag up chocolate shavings with some marshmallows and sell it as fancy hot chocolate.
Just pour your remaining tempered chocolate onto a marble slab or countertop, take a scraper and scrape away from you to create curls or shavings of chocolate, then weigh out (350g makes approx. 10 drinks) and portion into clear bags. Pop in a handful of marshmallows, et voila! The poshest and most indulgent hot chocolate that your customers can take home and enjoy, or gift to friends and family.
Looking for an even simpler way to add hot chocolate to your point-of-sale product range this winter? The Van Houten chocolate drink powders come in great-looking boxes and would really stand out on your chocolate shop shelf, or they can be separated into clear bags and sold individually. Or simply re-bag chocolate blossoms for an easy but effective way to fill your shelves!
Dip, Dunk, Dive and...Dip
At almost every café, you’ll find a selection of chocolate biscuits to complement your coffee, so why not capitalise on popular flavours in the world of chocolate and put your own spin on this?
It can be as simple as dipping in pistachio coating and drizzling with dark coating, or use your leftover white chocolate and roll the dipped biscuit in coloured sugar strands! If you’re a regular user of crunchy fillings and toppings such as honeycomb, this is also a great way to make the most of every gram of product.
You can even sandwich two biscuits together by adding flavoured spread between the two and sealing the deal by dipping in coating!
Grab and Go!
Need a quick, affordable way to fill your chocolate shop’s shelves? Ready-made chocolate products are ideal. Simply weigh out and bag up Swiss milk chocolate hearts, chocolate covered coffee beans or Callebaut Sensation Pearls for an easy, delicious point-of-sale product range.
Or keep it simple by bagging up Callebaut callets or any other type of couverture you think your customers may like as a fine quality chocolate treat. Callebaut’s coloured and flavoured couvertures are especially perfect for this; our favourites are Strawberry Flavoured White Chocolate and Cappuccino callets!
We hope you found a couple of ideas to help your business thrive in these tricky times, whether you make the most of every last drop of couverture or try a few new-to-you products to boost your profits. We’re always here to chat about chocolate and help you and your business whenever you need advice or support, so don’t hesitate to give us a call or send an email and we’ll be happy to help!