It’s Wacky Wednesday, here at Cocoa Latte…it’s been rainy and just generally gloomy for 4 days straight. I thought this was the “Sunshine State”!? No time for gloom inside the store, though, we have too much to do! Even now, as I write this blog, sipping my Chai Latte, trying to overcome the urge to have another biscotti, I am looking around at all of the shipping boxes that have invaded our small store. They are lined up everywhere, along the walls, under the production tables…no we are not moving…tomorrow, we are shipping our first pallet of DR Decor to New Orleans!!
This is a BIG deal!! Up until now, all of our wholesale clients have been from the Metro Orlando area, and they tend to place smaller, more frequent orders. However, several of David’s colleagues, from around the country are taking notice, and a couple of other big time food purveyors have expressed interest in carrying our product also:-D FANTASTIC news for sure, but there were some logistical snafus to address. Namely, how do you ship a product that is highly perishable and heat intolerant…during Summer?? We spent several months researching products, asking questions of fellow chocolatiers who have overcome the shipping obstacle and finally, we have come up with a solution…which are the large, insulated shipping boxes that line the walls around me.
These boxes are from R.N.C. Industries, based in Atlanta, GA and they come with 1 inch of insulation and a cool pack. A couple of weeks ago, we sent a test box, full of DR Decor samples, to a well known food purveyor in South Florida and the chocolate made the trip beautifully. That made us think…if we can successfully ship the DR Decor, which is very thin, and fragile, why couldn’t we get smaller R.N.C. boxes to ship out DR Chocolates? So we did! Our first 2 boxes of DR Chocolates made it, safely, to David’s cousin in New Jersey (shout out to Leslie and Howie, we hope you enjoy them!!).
We are finishing up our online store, so, in the next week or two, DR Chocolates will be available for purchase through our website, and THAT, my friends is “Sweet News”.
