Manufacture of handmade chocolates business. How I organized the production of chocolate products at home

You can long dream of your own chocolate shop, imagining it in the style of Willy Wonka, this is the one that invited Charlie to his own chocolate factory. Or maybe build your own Gingerbread house, and wait for their Hansel and Gretta? Also no? Indeed, the story of the owner of that chocolate shop did not end well for her. And the young racketeers were not even punished for destroying private chocolate property. However, these characters have nothing to do with reality. Let's get back to chocolate and the modern reality of doing business.

To open a chocolate shop, you must first:

1. Have initial capital.
2. Pick up the room.
3. Find suppliers of quality goods.
4. Take care of the staff.
5. Buy equipment.

And yet, to begin with, you should decide what to open - a chocolate retail store or a workshop shop? It should be borne in mind that the shop-workshop is more expensive to open.

In all cases, you should look for quality suppliers, and when you find it, continue this search, because chocolate suppliers often fail (more on that below). It is also necessary to understand the types of chocolate raw materials, the methods and technologies for making chocolate. This will allow you to create a unique interior and exterior of the store. Marketers say that high-quality advertising of chocolate increases the demand for it.

Choosing the format of a chocolate shop

The format of the store also depends on the choice of sales direction. Directions can be:

• Sale of expensive exclusive chocolate,
• Sale good chocolate from different price ranges.

Other areas, such as selling inexpensive factory-made bars and chocolates, turn your store into a regular candy store. That is, the perfect "non-format" of this business idea.

Choosing a store location

If you have a really good assortment, then the location of your chocolate shop will not have such a clear impact on the profitability of the business, but a good location is always a plus for the success of the company. good places may be like this:

• Place with high traffic of people (near shopping centers, entertainment centers);
• Availability of recreational facilities (parks, squares);
• Consider the location of competitors. It has long been known that opening a store next to a competitor increases sales.

Chocolate shop assortment

Having decided on the place and suppliers, we approve the assortment. Assortment is one thing where you can let your imagination run wild. The brighter and more eccentric your products will be, the more buyers will be.

Assortment example:

1. Chocolate of various shapes with mint, candied fruits, nuts.
2. Chocolate products (portraits, medals, weapons, boxes).
3. For diabetics, it is also necessary to choose product options.
4. You can organize sets of sweets "For your beloved mother", "dad", "husband" and so on.

Don't forget about related products. Various souvenirs and, most importantly, coffee. Coffee sells well in chocolate shops.

Product storage

It is very important to follow all temperature conditions and shelf life of products. Temperature fluctuations can not only spoil the appearance of the product, but also spoil the product itself as a whole. When exhibiting products on a showcase, it is best to use a showcase-refrigerator or a refrigerated chest.

It is best to write off and dispose of expired and stale goods, you should not chase profit, neglecting the reputation of the store, of course, you can recycle expired chocolate many times, but a customer dissatisfied with the product will come to your store only once.

Wholesale chocolate suppliers

Explore the entire product market that suppliers can provide, try to place products from the world's leading chocolate houses on your windows.

• Belgian: Leonidas, Neuhaus and Godiva, Wittamer;
• Swiss: Toblerone;
• German: Moser Roth;
• Italian, one of the best: Amedei.

Remember that one supplier can always let you down. Not even on their own, but because of technical failures. Therefore, be sure to enter into partnerships with several suppliers, the range of which overlaps in a number of ways.

Suppliers should supply you with both expensive brand name chocolate and several inexpensive brands, but they must have the same product. This way you will increase your target audience and average check, because in this area of ​​business, the client is always eager to try something new.

Design and interior of a chocolate shop

Good design, good startup. A rule that works in any business idea. An excellent design solution would be to create your own brand or label for a branded chocolate store. You can create your own takeout bags with a store image, candy storage bags, and so on. Visiting your store, the buyer should plunge into the magical world of sweets, where everyday problems and worries are absent.

In my opinion, one of the most successful design decisions was the work of the Japanese studio Wonderwall. I was struck by the effect of hot chocolate dripping from the ceiling, which flows down the walls of the store.

An excellent solution would be to allocate space in the store for a couple of tables and chairs. The opportunity to drink excellent coffee and taste delicious chocolate. This will only add charm and eccentricity to your store.

chocolate shop staff

After your store is almost ready to open, quality staff should be selected. These should be young, energetic young people, 18-25. They should know the types of chocolate, be able to brew coffee, advise customers. It is recommended to conduct an internship (for example, many suppliers have such a service) so that employees fully know all the goods and their features.

It would be nice to apply incentive measures: financial and non-financial. The atmosphere in the team should be friendly and warm. Non-financial incentives include the establishment of the best employee of the month, the issuance of a certificate, the presentation of store attributes in a festive atmosphere. An excellent solution would be the establishment of uniforms in the store.

Financial incentives, as you may have guessed, include the issuance of bonuses, time off, career growth.

It should be remembered that the staff must have a sanitary book. And the employment contract that you conclude with them must be registered at the employment center at the place of registration of your company.

Material costs for opening a store

Starting costs include:

1. Purchase and installation of the necessary equipment - $ 1,800
2. Purchase of an assortment for sale - $ 4,400
3. Room rental - $ 700
4. Other, unforeseen expenses - $1,000

Advertising

Good advertising is always necessary for any store. Prepare beautiful flyers, business cards, order an advertising banner. Business cards and flyers can be flavored with a chocolate smell - this will directly attract customers to the store. In the store itself, you can place large screens that will broadcast videos with the process of making chocolate. Additionally, you can arrange various weekend tastings.

Also take care of promoting the store on social networks. Don't forget radio and TV ads.

Pros and Cons of Opening a Chocolate Shop

Opening a chocolate shop, like any business, has pros and cons.

Pros:

• High profitability.
• Seasonal shopping explosions. Especially on holidays and events.
• Constant demand.
• Fast payback.

Minuses:

• Large opening costs.
• Difficulties with registration and obtaining a license for equipment, a certificate for products and a permit for retail trade.
• Perishable products.
• Difficulties in finding reliable suppliers of products.

A chocolate shop is a great start-up idea that has its challenges and pitfalls, but with hard work, you can achieve great results.

Attachments: from 50 000 rubles

Payback: from 3 months

Among the huge assortment of sweets for lovers and connoisseurs quality product it's hard to make a choice. Unfortunately, there are few good quality products in today's candy market. Therefore, the manufacture and sale of sweets self made from healthy ingredients may be successful. Sweets are always in demand, since even a banal visit involves buying a sweet present for the hostess or children. Let's take a closer look at this business idea.

business concept

Handmade goods today are in demand and are a success. It is not so easy to buy an original gift for a holiday or to surprise a loved one. Therefore, it is the "hand-made" that will emphasize the special attention of the donor.

The price of handmade sweets is an order of magnitude higher than for mass consumption products. Therefore, the creation of a business for the production of original sweets will bring good financial profit.

Clients are all the sweet tooth of the village, because from time to time almost everyone has a need for sweets.

What is required for implementation?

1. For the manufacture of desserts, novice confectioners at first use their own kitchen. If the dimensions allow, you can organize a separate warehouse with provisions, as well as a special cabinet for storing finished goods.
2. An important factor is the presence of a proven supplier of natural raw materials.
3. High-quality raw materials are the key to success, as they guarantee the excellent taste of sweets.

Step by step start instructions

Analyze the market before launching.

The primary task in this matter is to identify the most profitable product.

The startup process is simple:

1. registration with the relevant state local authorities;
2. purchase of raw materials;
3. purchase of equipment;
4. ensuring proper packaging of goods;
5. promotional activities;
6. marketing of products.

If demand gradually increases, consider expanding the business: renting additional premises, as well as using hired labor.

Financial calculations

Using at first your own kitchen and the kitchen utensils available on it, you can reduce the initial investment in the project.

This business has an increasing need for holidays. The greatest profit is in these periods.

At the initial stage, pay special attention to the recipe and produce the highest quality product. In the future, this will serve as additional advertising.

The first investment in production can start from 50 thousand rubles. This amount is sufficient for the manufacture of the first batch of goods. The most expensive part is the purchase of high-quality raw materials.

Among the monthly expenses, in addition to the purchase of raw materials, the first six months, 8,000 rubles will be spent on advertising. This is the key to expanding the client base and increasing the market segment. Also, do not save on the packaging of sweets, because they are often bought as a gift.

During the holidays, the profitability of the business can sometimes be 300 percent of the net profit.

But during such periods, you will have to work “round the clock”, without days off and sick days.

It turns out to recoup the investment in the production of handmade sweets quite quickly. Sometimes as little as three months: depends on the pace of trading. If you participate in mass events of the locality, as well as establish sales through other channels (cafes, shops, shopping centers), then success is guaranteed.

Business risks and cons

The main risk is finding clients. Before starting the production of sweets, it is advisable to conduct a thorough analysis of the target audience. It also makes sense to divide the assortment into consumer and premium goods. Typically, luxury products earn significantly more than ordinary products.

Outcome

Quality is the key to the success of the handmade candy business. It is also important to pay attention appearance and the announcement of new products every three months.

In addition, a small chocolate business brings great benefits and quickly pays off.

To open a chocolate business, you need to rent the right premises, since cocoa beans - a raw product - are very demanding in terms of conditions. Therefore, room for chocolate production should be very well ventilated and always be dry - chocolate does not like moisture, and the temperature in this room should be no more than 17 degrees.

Like the production of any other food product, chocolate business requires the premises to comply with sanitary standards, complete cleanliness and a constant fight against dust and dirt.

Chocolate production equipment

In order to open the production of chocolate, it is necessary to purchase special equipment. First of all, it is a boiler in which fat will be melted. Its average cost is from 300 thousand rubles. A ball mill for mixing components will cost more than one and a half million rubles, and a tempering machine will cost at least a million.

In order for the production to be continuous, there must be several konches, each worth at least half a million. Cooling the mold will require a special cooling tunnel, the cost of which is from two and a half million.

In addition, you will need a large number of secondary equipment: conveyor belts, hoods, thermostats for storing ready-made chocolate, as well as pipelines. All additional equipment will cost the entrepreneur an average of 5 million rubles.

Raw materials

Raw materials for the production of chocolate consist of three main ingredients: powder, cocoa butter and powdered sugar. The most important ingredient - powder - costs from 500 rubles per kilogram, but in some industries it is replaced with carob powder - carob, as it costs only 60 rubles per kilogram.

As a result, the quality of the chocolate deteriorates accordingly. And cocoa butter can be replaced with milk fat or palm oil.

Sales

Opening own production chocolate and chocolate products could turn out to be quite interesting. Large investments are not needed in business: most products can be made manually and no expensive lines are required.

Impressive is not only the variety of products that can be made from chocolate, but also the price of some products, reaching up to several thousand rubles per piece. Such products are often bought as a souvenir as a birthday present, New Year, Valentine's Day and so on.

You can sell products through retail stores, through wholesale buyers, as well as through your own points of sale (for example, a pastry shop).

Investments and equipment

Investments in opening a business will depend on which method of production is planned to be used: automatic or manual. The purchase of an automated line (for example, a line using Shell technology) will cost at least 4 million rubles. Such equipment works according to a simple technology: the chocolate shell is formed using a metal stamp, which is lowered into a plastic mold filled with chocolate. In this way, it is possible to produce chocolate in various shapes in a continuous flow: in the form of a bar, an egg, a ball, animal figurines, and the like.

A cheaper option is a manual line. For mini-production of chocolate by hand, it is enough to purchase the following set of equipment:

• tempering machine designed to melt chocolate and icing. This is the most expensive piece of equipment. The minimum price is 300 thousand rubles;
• thermometer;
• shoulder blades;
• scrapers;
• forms for figures (figures of animals, cars, people, hearts, and so on);
• refrigeration equipment.

The total cost of purchasing such a kit will be 600 - 800 thousand rubles. It is worth considering one important point which makes the manual method less attractive is the high dependence on the workforce. If only 1-2 people can serve an automatic line, then for manual production it will be necessary to create a staff of 8-10 people. And even in this case, it will not be possible to catch up with automatic equipment in terms of production volume. Despite this, there are examples of organizing micro-production with 2 employees (forum www.chocolatier.ru) . Apparently this is enough:

room

For the production of chocolate and chocolate products, you can rent a room with an area of ​​40 sq. m. In this area, it will be necessary to allocate space for the production workshop, which houses the main equipment and the desktop. It is also necessary to allocate space for a warehouse of raw materials and finished products, staff room (rest room), as well as a toilet room. When selecting premises, attention should be paid to compliance with legal requirements. A number of strict requirements are imposed on food production enterprises by the SES. So, it is necessary to have hot and cold water supply, ventilation and heating systems. Walls in the production hall up to 1.5 m high must be covered with tiles, and the rest of the wall must be painted with non-toxic paint. Do not forget that chocolate production cannot be opened in an ordinary apartment (although some people have such ideas). The violation here goes on several points at once:

• production cannot be opened in residential buildings,
• the apartment must be transferred to the appropriate type of permitted use, that is, removed from the housing stock.

What about raw materials?

The real features of this business are such that 99% of all small enterprises buy ready-made chocolate for the production of chocolate products and sweets. Getting real industrial chocolate is quite difficult. This requires high financial costs, as well as hiring highly qualified technologists to develop original and delicious chocolate.

As a finished raw material, Belgian chocolate "Belcolade" has proven itself well. He not only has excellent palatability but also very well tempered. It is used for glazing, the production of chocolates, chocolate decor and cream fillings. Produced in the form of tablets.

What other options are there for organizing a chocolate business?

The forums are also actively discussing such an idea as the sale of chocolate directly at the place of production. Business means opening outlet in major shopping malls on an area of ​​25-40 sq. m. In this case, production is organized in front of the eyes of buyers: figures, hearts, balls are cut out of the finished chocolate, all this is sprinkled with icing or nuts. This adds interest and creates an increased demand for the finished product.