Mixed Pack: Collaboration for Chocolate Makers SUPERCUT

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Hey everyone.
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Welcome to Bean to Barstool.
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Back in the very first episode of the year, I went through a list of things that I think craft chocolate can learn from the craft beer industry.
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Some of those were things craft beer has done well, some of them were things it hasn't done well that I think we can learn from their mistakes.
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One of the things that I talked about in there was collaboration.
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Collaboration is something that I see a ton of in craft beer, but it exists in very narrow lanes in craft chocolate.
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Collaboration exists, but like there's very specific situations for it.
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And I think that there are a lot more opportunities for collaboration in craft chocolate, and I would like to see more of it.
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This episode is a super cut of our Collaboration for Kraft Chocolate Makers series that I released in five episodes this past spring.
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We're going to talk all about collaboration opportunities for craft chocolate makers today, and I will put in the show notes links back to those individual episodes if you ever want to reference them on their own.
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Let's talk first about the idea of collaboration in general, why I think this is something craft chocolate makers should do, and some things that you should keep in mind before you get started on a collaboration.
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Later in the episode, we're going to talk about a bunch of different types of examples and unique considerations for those.
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So we'll talk about collaborating with beverage alcohol producers, collaborating with other craft chocolate makers, and then some creative collaboration ideas, things that you might not think about.
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First off, let's talk about the benefits of collaboration.
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Before we're looking at any kind of specifics or types of collaborations, why should you even be thinking about this?
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What are some of the things this can do for your craft chocolate company?
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Some of these are taken from a talk that I gave at the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival a couple months back, titled From Bean to Barstool and Back.
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That was specifically focused on collaboration with beverage alcohol producers, but these benefits uh really would apply to any kind of collaboration you're looking at.
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I'm gonna break these benefits into two parts, and I'm gonna call these financial benefits and cultural benefits.
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And by cultural, I'm looking at company culture, things that this can do for your business that maybe aren't affecting the bottom line, but can really change a lot in terms of the kind of holistic health of your company.
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So let's look at the financial benefits first.
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The first big financial benefit, and this is one of the major and easy to uh identify benefits, is that collaborating with another company can expand your customer base, expand your reach to a new group of potential customers, to a new audience.
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With trying to gain new customers and get more uh brand awareness by doing social media or by doing uh standalone events in your cafe or whatever it might be, you're scrapping for every single customer.
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And when you can partner with another company, you automatically gain access to their entire customer base.
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Now, not only does that mean the product or products that come out of the specific collaboration have a wider audience, but now the collab partners' customers know your name.
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They know you're worth knowing about because the company that they already like likes and respects you enough to work with you, that can be a huge benefit.
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That expanded reach can be realized through special events, through social media reach, through packaging visibility, through uh direct-to-consumer channels like newsletters and things like that.
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But either way, you are gaining an audience just by partnering with another business without you having to scrap and claw for the eyes of every single one of those customers individually, like you might have otherwise.
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That expanded reach can be as simple as the fans of another chocolate maker who maybe just aren't aware of your brand, but looking beyond chocolate, looking again at other possible segments, whether it's beverage alcohol or some of these other creative ones that we're going to talk about, this can be fans that maybe don't have any real awareness of craft chocolate.
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And you otherwise you wouldn't even have an avenue to get in front of.
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You can be the representative basically of craft chocolate to fans of craft beer or spirits or coffee or spice purveyor or whatever it might be, you are not only introducing yourself, you're introducing the idea of better chocolate.
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The reason any of us get into any kind of craft segment, whether it's chocolate or beverage alcohol or coffee, is sometimes more circumstantial and random than we'd like to believe.
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Like, like once we are die-hard fans of one of these segments, it feels like we were always going to be part of this.
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But honestly, the more time that I spend working across multiple segments, the more I realize that we're all basically doing the same things and having the same kind of conversations.
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It's the details that are different.
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And so it could have been, you know, a slightly different influence.
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And maybe I'm a wine guy, or maybe I'm a coffee person.
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And, you know, I like wine and coffee, but those are not my biggest areas of interest or my areas of professional focus.
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And it's just kind of, I don't want to say luck, but we end up fans of the things we're we're fans of by less intention than we maybe sometimes want to believe.
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And the reason I explain all that is that a fan of craft beer or spirits or coffee or tea, they might be very, very prepared to be fans of craft chocolate, but don't even know it yet.
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You know, they're they're fans of flavor and they're fans of process and they're fans of maybe they understand the agriculture behind these things.
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And so they have done a deep dive into their specific area of interest.
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But if they can get exposed to craft chocolate and hear an interesting story and through a collaboration see the tie between craft chocolate and this thing that they're already a fan of, they might be very, very primed to now be new customers of yours and new fans of craft chocolate.
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That is really, really important and something I don't think that we talk about enough when we're looking at collaboration is an opportunity to not only sell a unique product, but bring new people into the thing that we're interested in.
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Beyond fans of other segments, there's also a potentially an access to fans from a different geographical area.
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Now, obviously, this depends on the nature of the collaboration.
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If you're if you're collaborating with somebody down the street, this probably doesn't apply.
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But if you're partnering with somebody across the country or in another country, even if their fans are, you know, already existing fans of craft chocolate and so should be fans of yours, they might just not know about you, especially if you're a smaller maker.
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And so just uh having your name on this collaboration product or seeing your, you know, a video of you pop up on the social media feed for their favorite, whatever it might be, brewery or craft chocolate maker, uh, that can now you know make them potential customers of yours.
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And the great thing about chocolate, different from beverage alcohol or from a lot of liquid-based products, is that you can ship anywhere.
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Pretty much every craft chocolate maker sells direct to consumer through their websites.
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And so that geographical barrier is not a problem from a standpoint of them being your customer.
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They just need to know about you and have a reason to care.
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So that can give you access to a customer base that might be like an easy overlap with your customer base.
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They're just in a different area and don't have as much awareness of you.
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There is another consideration here, and this is something that um I want to be careful with talking about because it can sound like I'm saying something prescriptive that I am not saying, but for better or worse, and I would argue strongly that it is for worse, but there are still a lot of gendered stereotypes around a lot of different artisan food and beverage segments.
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Chocolate still has a very feminine image.
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Now, obviously, chocolate and all these other segments, they don't have genders.
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There is no reason that only men like this or only women like this when it comes to food and beverage.
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But like it or not, culturally, there are these kind of stereotypes and images built up.
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And collaborations across segments, I think can be a valuable way to break down some of those barriers.
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And um, for example, with craft chocolate partnering with breweries, which is something that I focus on all the time, it's a major theme of being to bar stool.
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Kraft beer has a somewhat masculine image, and that is starting to change.
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And there are and always have been women playing vital roles in craft beer, but there can still be kind of this boys' club around that.
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And I think it's probably safe to assume that you're not getting a ton of like the IPA bros from the brewery just randomly wandering into your chocolate shop.
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Hopefully I'm wrong, but I'm I'm guessing that's probably the case.
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But if you're doing an event in the brewery and your cacao nibs are in their are in a you know, chocolate stout at their favorite brewery, or you're releasing a bar that is made with citra hops or something from their favorite IPA.
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Well, now suddenly they have a reason to care and can potentially become customers of yours.
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Maybe that's a one-time thing, maybe that's an ongoing thing as those barriers get broken down and they realize that, yeah, IPA bros can like chocolate too.
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Like they're again, those stereotypes shouldn't exist.
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These things don't have gendered qualities to them, but those stereotypes and images do still exist in society, and and collaboration can be one way that we can potentially break some of those down and you can gain access to uh customers that might not otherwise have considered your products to be for them.
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The final financial consideration to keep in mind with this is that for chocolate makers specifically, collaborating with a different segment.
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And I'm looking specifically at beverage alcohol, but this can be true for uh for coffee as well and some others.
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This can generate an ongoing revenue opportunity to be an ingredient provider for them for products going forward.
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So let's say you work with a brewery to make a one-off chocolate beer using your cacao nibs.
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And you know, it's got your name on the label and it's like this, you know, mutual collaboration.
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But going forward, they're probably going to use cacao nibs in a lot of different beers.
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And if you can do this one standalone collab with them and then say, hey, where are you getting your cacao nibs from the rest of the time?
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I can roast these for you same day or the day before you need them, and they'll be super fresh.
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You can come right down to the factory and you know, sample nibs, and we can pick out origins and you can that can now be an ongoing revenue stream.
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There are a lot of craft chocolate makers for whom selling to breweries, even if these aren't actually branded collaborations, you're just being an ingredient provider, that is a significant part of their income.
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That may not be a major viable option for every single situation, but it is definitely something to look at.
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If you've got a brewery who can buy in bulk from you on, you know, a semi-regular basis, that's a nice, that's a potentially nice little chunk of change without you really having to do a whole lot to garner that.
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So let's talk now about those cultural benefits that I mentioned.
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And again, I'm using cultural to refer to the company culture.
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So, what can this do for the holistic health of your business beyond just dollars and cents?
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One of the biggest things that you can gain from collaboration, and this is true working with other chocolate makers, it's true working in a totally different segment outside of chocolate, is knowledge sharing and education.
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On the brewing side, I mentioned collaborations are just a huge part of craft beer.
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There is such an opportunity when brewers get together to learn from each other and to say, oh, you do it that way, I do it this way.
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And you can kind of see the pros and cons of different methods, little tips and tricks that get picked up along the way.
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When you work at a brewery or you work at a chocolate uh factory, day in, day out, you are working on your own equipment, you're working with your own employees.
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If you have employees, you are you have uh systems in place you have figured out through trial and error, and that is great, but that can become very, very siloed to where you uh just kind of shave off other possible techniques for doing things, or you aren't even aware of how other people solve a particular problem that you've solved this other way.
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Getting together with people, you know, getting together with another chocolate maker, for example, is an amazing opportunity.
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I think this is especially true in craft chocolate because so many uh craft chocolate makers are extremely small businesses.
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You might be your only employee or you have one employee, you know, it's it's this is not even a like a large team, potentially.
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It is an amazing opportunity to get an infusion of information and share knowledge and kind of raise the institutional knowledge of craft chocolate rather than everybody just kind of needing to do their own thing.
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And when you're partnering with a collaboration partner that is not in craft chocolate from a totally different segment, even though that may not directly impact how you make chocolate, you can still gain a lot of knowledge about how flavors work together, how uh flavor concepts are built for different products, um, how different ingredients can be used, uh, just all sorts of different things.
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This is such an amazing opportunity to just learn, learn, learn in a hands-on way with colleagues who uh, you know, probably equally want to learn from you.
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Along those same lines, there is a big benefit of just the creative infusion and exchange that comes from collaboration.
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I, you know, obviously I'm not a chocolate maker, I'm not a brewer, I'm not involved in directly producing any of these products.
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I am a writer.
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I spend most of my time sitting at my desk alone on my computer doing my work, and I enjoy doing that.
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But this job takes a lot of work, and sometimes it can be draining, and the world is on fire, and that can be draining, and uh, you know, there's often bad news from the industries that I'm covering.
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Kraft beer has been struggling the last couple years, and a lot of breweries are closing, and chocolate companies are closing.
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Like, this can all be a drain, and there are definitely days where I'm just like, oh my god, why am I doing this?
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And what I find to be almost just across the board, the most encouraging thing that just reinfuses energy and excitement and curiosity is just being around other people in these industries.
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So the industry events, uh, when I travel on site to cover a story, when I'm going to a uh competition to help with judging, when I've got a festival, when I'm going to be speaking, those things that come up maybe every few weeks, every few months, depending on what they are, I always come away from those, even if there isn't some specific thing that I've gained, I always come away from those with renewed energy and a renewed curiosity.
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And that is easy to overlook and easy to undervalue because it doesn't have a dollar value on it.
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But we are not machines, we are holistic beings.
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Emotion is a part of that, mental health is a part of that, fatigue can play into that, and being around other creative people and remembering why we love this and why we're excited about it can have so much value.
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And being around um other other chocolate makers, you know, and remembering why you love doing this, being around people from a totally different artist and segment and seeing their excitement and how how they interact with flavor and ingredients.
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And even though it's totally different, you're seeing the overlap there.
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Like that can have so much value.
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Along those same lines, this can be a really great employee perk, a really great way to build buy-in from your employees.
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Now, again, you might be your only employee, you are the company.
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But if you have one or two employees or six employees or 20 employees, a lot of them probably are not career craft chocolate people, or at least didn't come into this because they wanted this to be a career.
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They got a job with you.
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You know, they were looking for a job, you had a job opening, it was a fit, and they like their job, but maybe they maybe craft chocolate is not the passion for them that it is for you.
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Take them along with you on a collab day.
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If you're going over to the distillery across town because they're gonna make a rum with your cacao nibs, and then you're gonna take those nibs mat back and make a bar from it, take them along with you.
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Yeah, it's one day of of pay you're gonna have to give them where they're not in the factory making chocolate, but the value that comes away from them getting to do that and the buy-in and the enthusiasm that that can garner can be game-changing for them.
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They could very literally become career craft chocolate people because of that.
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Think about being in your early 20s, and this is just a job that you took and yeah, you enjoy it, but now you're getting to, you're telling your friends that you got to go to this distillery and be involved in like making this rum, and now they can come and taste this chocolate bar.
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And like it just you can't replace that kind of excitement and buy-in.
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So definitely think about this as an employee perk as a way to uh show your employees that you're not the only person doing these things.
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Along with that, there is a huge storytelling opportunity that comes along with doing collaborations, whether it's with another maker or somebody totally outside of uh out of craft chocolate.
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You are, as we talked about earlier, scrapping for every customer.
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And on social media, that means day in, day out trying to make the same thing look different and interesting.
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You know, three weeks ago, you were breathlessly telling everyone about this amazing new single origin of beans that you got in.
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And now today you're breathlessly telling everyone about a different single origin that you got in.
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And three weeks from now, you'll be doing that again.
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And it might all be true.
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You're excited about all of them, and they're all delicious.
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But that can be very, very same, very, very monotonous, and it's very hard to figure out new ways to say the same things and sell the same products.
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But when you're working with somebody else with a different company that is doing something different from what you're doing, suddenly you genuinely, legitimately have something different to tell your customers about.
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And there is a new story to tell, completely different ingredients that you haven't worked with before, uh, a new setting for your photos and your videos of like look where we got to go.
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You can put yourself when you're doing a collaboration, and uh we'll talk about this more in just a little bit, you need to be getting everything out of that you can, which means getting content and and photography and video and all that kind of stuff.
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Uh, you you're basically taking a field trip and you can bring your customers along with you.
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You can put yourself in the place of the customer and say, check out this amazing place we got to go.
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We're gonna get to do this and this today and go in there.
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And you're actually getting to show them new content and just instead of just trying to convince them that this is new content, uh, that is really, really valuable from a storytelling standpoint.
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And then finally, and I know this is cheesy, but it shouldn't be overlooked.
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There is value in the goodwill that this garners with your colleagues and the friendships that get built this way.
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And in some ways, this goes back to that creative infusion I was talking about.
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But especially in craft chocolate, craft chocolate can operate on a much smaller scale than craft beer, not just as an industry, but the individual business.
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You can't have a brewery that is as small as our smallest chocolate making companies are.
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It can be very easy to just be doing this completely alone and get very, very siloed.
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And the friendship and the goodwill that comes along with doing these partnerships can be very, very valuable.
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You never know when you're gonna need help, when they're gonna need help.
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Uh, and being able to build those friendships and not be so isolated can really go a long way.
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All right.
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So if I've convinced you, hopefully, that collaborations are an awesome idea.
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Let's talk about some considerations to keep in mind before.
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Before you begin a collaboration partnership.
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First thing, and this is truly the first thing sequentially that you need to think about is making sure that your values align with your collaboration partner.
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And I think this is especially true when you're looking outside the craft chocolate industry and maybe have less familiarity with that potential partner.
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You need to make sure that when your names are together on a product or on a social media post, that there's not going to come a point where you are, where you regret that, where you're where you don't love seeing those names side by side.
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Um I know it sucks that this is true, but I personally, I'm just going to be completely honest, before I'm writing an article about a company, if I don't already have intimate familiarity with them, I always Google the founders' names with the word allegations.
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I sorry, but I do because I don't want to end up having supported something and given it a platform and then find out that yeah, all their employees have some things to say, you know, and like those are that's important to find out.
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Like it does not hurt, especially if you're partnering with a collaboration partner from a different geographical area.
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Maybe you're not, you know, you're not around that company's people enough to hear everything.
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Like it doesn't hurt to ask someone in that area.
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You know, do they have a good reputation?
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Is there anything I should be aware of?
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Um back in that episode at the beginning of the year, I talked about the fact that just because somebody shares our interests doesn't mean they share our principles.
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Just because they have good taste doesn't mean they have good intentions.
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Just do a little due diligence to make sure that your values align and that you're gonna be proud of this having been a partnership that your name is gonna be on right beside theirs.
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Once you have decided that a collaboration is a good idea, then you and your collaboration partner need to do some advanced planning.
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Do not make this something that you're just gonna wing.
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Don't just be like, oh, we'll get together and we'll figure something out.
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That is a recipe for disappointment and frustration.
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You need to do advance planning.
00:26:31.140 --> 00:26:38.980
You need to do, first of all, you need to make sure that responsibilities for this collaboration are clearly outlined in advance.
00:26:39.299 --> 00:26:41.220
Who is ordering ingredients?
00:26:41.460 --> 00:26:44.340
What is the product going to be that you're going to make?
00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:47.380
Who is creating and designing the labels?
00:26:47.620 --> 00:26:49.700
Who is hosting the collaboration?
00:26:49.860 --> 00:26:52.259
Is it going to happen at your place or at theirs?
00:26:52.500 --> 00:27:01.299
That might depend on what the product is, but if it's uh, you know, if if if you're collaborating with a different chocolate maker, that could happen at either place.
00:27:01.620 --> 00:27:03.460
Who is hosting a release event?
00:27:03.620 --> 00:27:04.740
Who is planning that?
00:27:04.900 --> 00:27:06.900
Who is shouldering some of those costs?
00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:18.259
Uh, all of those things are things you need to have clearly spelled out, written out in advance, so that there is no ambiguity about whose job these different things are.
00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:36.019
Uh, so first of all, that's to make sure that it runs smoothly so that everything gets done and you get the most out of this, but also it's so that there's no frustration and resentment down the line when somebody ends up having to give a heavy sigh and be like, okay, I'll take care of that because you know it was just assumed that the other person was going to do it.
00:27:36.100 --> 00:27:38.500
Uh, just make sure everything is planned out.
00:27:38.740 --> 00:27:43.059
It does not remove any of the fun and spontaneity of the day itself.
00:27:43.220 --> 00:27:51.539
It give it releases you to make the actual collaboration process fun and more relaxed when you have all of that planned in advance.
00:27:51.860 --> 00:27:55.140
Make sure, and and this is going to depend a little bit.
00:27:55.220 --> 00:28:04.740
There's a little bit of wiggle room on this, depending on what the nature of the collaboration is, but make sure that there is uh an equal workload and an equal commitment to this collaboration.
00:28:04.980 --> 00:28:15.700
We all remember group projects in school where one person ended up doing 80% of the work and the other person got equal credit just because they were in the group.
00:28:15.860 --> 00:28:37.220
Like make sure that both of you are fully invested and uh bought in on this collaboration and that there is a may not literally be equal work depending on what the nature of the collab is, but that there is a um a logical balance to the workload relative to what the project actually is.
00:28:37.620 --> 00:28:50.980
Finally, you want to make sure that you are maximizing the benefits of your collaboration, because this is going to require a little bit of time, a little bit of inconvenience, might incur a little bit additional cost.
00:28:51.140 --> 00:28:55.460
Hopefully that should all be more than offset by the value of the collab.
00:28:55.700 --> 00:28:59.460
But be with those things in mind, you need to make sure that you're getting the most out of it.
00:28:59.539 --> 00:29:03.299
You need to wring every potential benefit out of the collaboration that you can.
00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:11.380
So if events, if a release event or one or more events are uh feasible, roll those in with this.
00:29:11.460 --> 00:29:13.460
You know, celebrate the collaboration.
00:29:13.700 --> 00:29:20.259
Make sure that the labels are what they can be, that the that both collaboration partners are represented on those.
00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:26.100
Figure out your storytelling opportunities in advance in case any of those are gonna require some advanced planning.
00:29:26.180 --> 00:29:35.940
If you know, if you want to do full videography of the collaboration, that's gonna need to be arranged and not just like kind of improvised on the day of on your phones.
00:29:36.100 --> 00:29:39.539
Uh, make sure that you have your social media plan in place for this.
00:29:39.700 --> 00:29:47.299
If you're gonna go to the trouble of doing a collab, you need to make sure that you get all the benefits that we talked about earlier out of it.
00:29:47.539 --> 00:29:58.740
So uh maximize those benefits, do some advanced planning, figure out how you're going to get full marks on each of those different potential benefits from it.
00:29:59.059 --> 00:30:02.900
Uh there are more collaborations than you would think out there.
00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:04.340
You're already doing some of these.
00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:14.740
If you're working with any other ingredient provider outside of craft chocolate, if you make a coffee bar and you work with your, you get coffee from the local coffee shop, that's already a potential collaboration.
00:30:14.980 --> 00:30:16.660
Maybe you're not treating it as one.
00:30:16.819 --> 00:30:20.340
Maybe you're just grabbing their coffee and putting it in the bar.
00:30:20.740 --> 00:30:26.740
Maybe look at reevaluating some of those relationships just to make them more visible collaborations.
00:30:26.900 --> 00:30:34.019
You don't even have to necessarily change anything about your process, but make it something that maximizes benefit for both parties.
00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:38.579
There are a lot of potential opportunities for collaboration you might not be realizing.
00:30:38.819 --> 00:30:52.500
Now let's take a while to talk about a range of different ideas and examples for collaboration opportunities for craft chocolate makers and some special considerations for each of them.
00:30:52.740 --> 00:31:05.059
Let's start with something near and dear to being to bar stool and talk about collaborations with beverage alcohol producers, breweries, distilleries, wineries, etc.
00:31:05.539 --> 00:31:14.420
And we'll talk about how the benefits that we just discussed above apply here, as well as some individual ideas to get you started.
00:31:14.660 --> 00:31:29.460
While pairings with chocolate and beverage alcohol are definitely a form of collaboration, for the purposes of this series, we're talking product-based collaborations where you're going to partner to make some new chocolate or beverage product.
00:31:29.620 --> 00:31:37.220
There is, of course, lots of information available on BeandoBarstool.com about pairing with different drinks.
00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:41.059
So you can find more information about that on the website.
00:31:41.220 --> 00:31:45.460
But here we're talking about how to collaborate to make new products.
00:31:45.700 --> 00:32:03.539
When looking at collabing with beverage alcohol, one of the most valuable things here financially is that this gets you in front of craft consumers who may not know anything about craft chocolate and may be interested in purchasing your other products because they learn about you through this collaboration.
00:32:03.779 --> 00:32:13.140
They might be primed to enjoy craft chocolate, but they might literally never have even heard that term or know what bean to bar means or even what cacao is or anything like that.
00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:19.059
So you can be a gateway into craft chocolate and be their first reference for that.
00:32:19.380 --> 00:32:26.180
Along with that, this can help you reach potentially a different demographic than your current customer base.
00:32:26.340 --> 00:32:34.579
We talked in that first episode about how, right or wrong, there are still a lot of gender stereotypes around different craft segments.
00:32:34.740 --> 00:32:40.100
And while I would love a future in which those don't exist, for right now they still do.
00:32:40.259 --> 00:33:09.700
And when you're looking at some beverage alcohol segments like craft beer, for example, there is often still a uh male focus or a perception in a lot of how uh those those products are positioned, and you can potentially maybe lure some of those folks toward craft chocolate who might, again, because of those stereotypes, have had some preconceptions about whether or not chocolate is for them.
00:33:09.860 --> 00:33:14.100
And that can uh be an interesting way to maybe bring in a new demographic.
00:33:14.340 --> 00:33:29.380
We also talked about the avenues for ongoing revenue to come from these collaborations, not just the collaboration product itself making you some money, but the opportunity to continue to make more money after that because of the relationship.
00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:34.180
This is especially true with collaborating with breweries.
00:33:34.420 --> 00:33:44.420
Most breweries make a chocolate beer at some point, maybe annually, maybe on an ongoing basis, and they need cacao nibs for that.
00:33:44.660 --> 00:33:51.220
A lot of breweries don't know a lot about cacao, so they aren't super picky about where they get those from.
00:33:51.380 --> 00:33:55.940
Maybe they just reach out to their ingredient supplier and take whatever they're getting from them.
00:33:56.100 --> 00:33:58.819
Sometimes those are good nibs, sometimes they're not.
00:33:58.980 --> 00:34:08.900
But you have the opportunity to start a relationship with a collaboration partner and say, hey, in the future, if you're making beers that have cacao nibs in them, I can provide those for you.
00:34:08.980 --> 00:34:13.860
We can roast them the same day or the day before, and you know, you can get them locally from us.
00:34:14.019 --> 00:34:22.420
And that can be an ongoing source of revenue, even if those don't end up being branded collaborations, it's still an income stream for you.
00:34:22.579 --> 00:34:26.260
So that's definitely something to consider as a long-term benefit.
00:34:26.579 --> 00:34:36.500
We also looked at potential cultural benefits, and I'm using cultural there to refer to your company culture, like your institutional culture.
00:34:36.820 --> 00:34:43.539
Uh, you can get to know through these collaborations how another craft segment works with flavor.
00:34:43.700 --> 00:34:45.940
You can learn about new ingredients.
00:34:46.180 --> 00:34:50.660
Even for your fans, they get to enjoy and see your products in a new light.
00:34:50.820 --> 00:35:02.740
There's a lot of ways in which doing a collaboration with beverage alcohol can it can be a morale boost, it can be an image boost, even if that's not a direct hit on your bottom line, it can still be beneficial.
00:35:02.980 --> 00:35:12.100
And then finally, kind of along with that, there are some really great storytelling opportunities and marketing opportunities that go along with these collaborations.
00:35:12.660 --> 00:35:36.260
It can be difficult day after day, week after week on Instagram to come up with new ways to talk about your products when you can get out of the chocolate factory and go and work with a brewery or a distillery or uh, you know, try uh taste bourbons from different barrels to figure out what kind of barrel you're gonna you're gonna barrel age your nibs in or something like that.
00:35:36.579 --> 00:35:44.820
There is wholly new content then that you can put on social media, send out in your newsletter, put on your website, make videos about, whatever.
00:35:45.140 --> 00:35:54.420
And that can that can be kind of a jolt of enthusiasm and interest in your brand, even just beyond selling the product itself.
00:35:54.579 --> 00:35:56.579
It's something different, it's something new.
00:35:56.740 --> 00:36:06.579
It shows that you're continually being creative and trying new things, um, even just a different setting for your video content is is a valuable thing.
00:36:06.900 --> 00:36:14.340
Let's talk about opportunities for collaboration with beverage alcohol producers from a product standpoint.
00:36:14.500 --> 00:36:16.579
We're gonna break this into two parts.
00:36:16.740 --> 00:36:32.659
We'll talk about the beverage side, so alcoholic drinks using cacao or chocolate, and we'll talk about the chocolate side, so chocolate bars or other products that use either an alcoholic drink or an ingredient from a drink, uh, something along those lines.
00:36:32.820 --> 00:36:38.260
So we're we'll break those apart, talk about examples for both, and things to consider for each.
00:36:38.420 --> 00:36:48.740
And then after that, we'll talk about how to approach a collaboration, things to consider before getting started when you want to work with a beverage alcohol producer.
00:36:49.059 --> 00:36:51.539
So let's talk about drinks examples first.
00:36:51.699 --> 00:37:11.780
This is going to be if you collaborate with a brewery or a distillery, a winery, some drinks producer on a beverage that they're going to produce, this is going to be the easiest lift for you as a chocolate maker when it comes to collaborations because you won't be the one actually making and packaging and distributing the final product.
00:37:11.940 --> 00:37:25.460
Your role in a collaboration like this is essentially going to be as an ingredient provider, and then of course as an advisor and educator to both the producer and their consumers about those ingredients that you've provided.
00:37:25.619 --> 00:37:32.099
So this can be a great way to start in a collaboration because you're not having to do all of the work.
00:37:32.260 --> 00:37:42.179
You're able to take something you already know a lot about, make recommendations, provide those ingredients, and then hopefully benefit from the final product.
00:37:42.420 --> 00:37:52.500
When we're looking at different types of beverage alcohol to work with, breweries are by far going to be the most common when it comes to this type of collaboration, the most pervasive.
00:37:52.659 --> 00:38:01.619
Like I said, most breweries work with cacao nibs at some point and may or may not know where those are coming from, may or may not care.
00:38:01.780 --> 00:38:27.539
So this is uh one of the few areas of collaboration where I already see a lot of chocolate makers participating, but there are a lot of missed opportunities here and ways that you can step in and become a collaboration partner in a situation where a brewery was maybe using somewhat anonymous ingredients just to get an end flavor, and they're not recognizing that opportunity for collaboration either.
00:38:27.699 --> 00:38:33.619
Let's talk a little bit about how this type of collaboration can work and what your involvement is going to be.
00:38:33.860 --> 00:38:46.179
So after the collaboration has been agreed to, you've done your due diligence in terms of vetting your collaboration partner to make sure values align and this is going to be a good partnership.
00:38:46.340 --> 00:38:49.860
Again, I talk about all of that much more in the first episode.
00:38:49.940 --> 00:38:51.780
So you can go back and catch up on that.
00:38:51.940 --> 00:39:04.579
But once this is actually on the board and now you're figuring out what the specifics of the collaboration are going to be, your role in working with the brewery in this case is going to be, again, as an ingredient provisor.
00:39:04.659 --> 00:39:10.820
So you're going to be primarily or most likely providing cacao nibs, possibly cacao husks.
00:39:11.059 --> 00:39:22.740
The biggest thing that the brewery is going to need from you is knowledge sharing on what options are available for them in terms of cacao origins and roast levels.
00:39:22.820 --> 00:39:28.500
So make sure that you know the origins you're working with and you know what you have available and what you can provide.
00:39:28.820 --> 00:39:47.460
You're also obviously going to need to figure out quantities and delivery dates and all that kind of thing, but they're going to need you to walk them through what kind of flavors are potentially possible from different origins, what you can do from a roast standpoint to adjust levels of intensity, levels of acidity, things like that.
00:39:47.780 --> 00:39:50.420
So you're going to need to be able to walk them through that information.
00:39:50.579 --> 00:39:58.260
What you're probably going to do with your collab partner in this case is either have them come to the factory or you're going to take samples to the brewery.
00:39:58.420 --> 00:40:01.940
You guys are going to smell and taste and do things like that.
00:40:02.099 --> 00:40:07.860
You can bring finished chocolate to kind of give a sense of what that origin can do down the line.
00:40:08.099 --> 00:40:19.380
There is more information on Bean to Barstool, and I will, I am happy to provide information directly if you reach out in terms of some uh advice along origins and things like that.
00:40:19.619 --> 00:40:26.340
But this is going to be the most valuable service you can provide because for most brewers, cacao is cacao is cacao.
00:40:26.420 --> 00:40:27.619
It's kind of all the same thing.
00:40:27.780 --> 00:40:36.019
They're used to working with most often, if they're getting anything, they're getting like Ghana nibs that maybe aren't the freshest nibs in the world.
00:40:36.179 --> 00:40:40.099
So like uh they don't necessarily know what is available.
00:40:40.179 --> 00:40:43.220
So you're gonna be providing all that kind of information.
00:40:43.539 --> 00:40:56.099
Because of that, again, by providing that service and being able to provide a fresh product that can be customized for them, even after the collaboration is done, this is an awesome opportunity for ongoing revenue.
00:40:56.260 --> 00:40:58.980
So do them a good service during this.
00:40:59.139 --> 00:41:06.420
Make sure you are providing them valuable information and that you can deliver that information and those ingredients on an ongoing basis.
00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:09.860
And this can be something that continues to make you money down the road.
00:41:10.179 --> 00:41:14.579
You can absolutely partner with distilleries and wineries.
00:41:14.740 --> 00:41:28.900
There is a little bit more challenge here on the drinks side because craft beer as a culture is much freer and looser when it comes to how products can be customized.
00:41:29.059 --> 00:41:40.659
There is absolutely, there are traditional styles that you don't mess with, but perfectly fine with adding different flavor ingredients into beer styles and doing something fun.
00:41:40.820 --> 00:42:07.860
On the spirit side and the wine side, while that's available, there is a lot more, I would say, rigid tradition around something like whiskey or wine to where, you know, maybe cacao nibs could taste really good in a Cabernet Sauvignon, but good luck selling a Cabernet Sauvignon with cacao nibs in it to a serious wine person or wine outlet.
00:42:07.940 --> 00:42:13.460
So, like, there's a little bit more resistance there on that side on the beverage side.
00:42:13.619 --> 00:42:28.579
Uh, looking at something like rum, I there I've noticed a little bit more freedom there to work with uh other ingredients because rum has for a long time struggled to be taken as seriously as the whiskey world.
00:42:28.740 --> 00:42:36.260
And while it has a rich tradition and all that complexity and all that, uh there's a little bit more freedom there.
00:42:36.420 --> 00:42:40.099
So you could potentially work with a distillery on a product like that.
00:42:40.420 --> 00:42:50.740
I've also seen surprisingly some gins that are working with cacao nibs because those nibs, even though people associate chocolate with sweetness, the nibs themselves are not sweet.
00:42:50.820 --> 00:42:52.260
They've got a little bit of bitterness to them.
00:42:52.340 --> 00:42:57.139
So, in the right balance, they can actually work well in a gin with other botanicals.
00:42:57.699 --> 00:43:08.659
One opportunity for growth that I think a creative chocolate maker could propose to a beverage producer is in the world of RTDs, ready-to-drink cocktails.
00:43:08.740 --> 00:43:13.220
So these are basically pre-mixed cocktails that are sold in single servings in cans.
00:43:13.780 --> 00:43:19.699
Uh, there is definitely an opportunity for creative RTDs using cacao.
00:43:19.780 --> 00:43:24.500
Some kind of I mean, chocolate and cacao-based cocktails are growing in popularity.
00:43:24.659 --> 00:43:27.460
So that could certainly be the case in the RTD world.
00:43:27.699 --> 00:43:36.019
I am have not directly seen a craft chocolate maker in a collaboration like this, but I think it's primed to be something that could work.
00:43:36.179 --> 00:43:48.900
So if you are aware of a collaboration like that or you're a chocolate maker and you embark on one, by all means, let me know about it because I would love to hear, and I think it's a potential growth segment for uh craft chocolate makers.
00:43:49.380 --> 00:43:52.659
Jumping over to the chocolate side of these collaborations.
00:43:52.740 --> 00:44:03.300
So you're gonna work with a beverage alcohol producer to make a chocolate bar or bonbon or something like that using either their uh their liquid or their ingredients.
00:44:03.380 --> 00:44:06.980
Let's talk about how those collaborations can work.
00:44:07.220 --> 00:44:15.059
First off, just on a product standpoint, there's a number of different ways that alcohol can be incorporated into chocolate.
00:44:15.380 --> 00:44:24.900
The by far the most common is soaking cacao nibs in whatever type of drink it is for a given amount of time.
00:44:24.980 --> 00:44:37.380
That's going to change based on the specifics, taking the cacao back out, drying it out, and then proceeding with the chocolate making process, and you end up with a finished chocolate bar that is infused with whatever that drink is.
00:44:37.619 --> 00:44:41.699
That is definitely the most popular and most common way of doing this.
00:44:41.860 --> 00:44:43.860
It's relatively simple.
00:44:47.539 --> 00:44:54.179
A lot of makers are doing this, and it is very, very easy for the beverage producer.
00:44:54.340 --> 00:45:03.300
So if you can get them on board from a branding and marketing standpoint, it's an extremely easy lift for them from a workload standpoint.
00:45:03.460 --> 00:45:09.300
So you can talk them into this very easily and then just handle the chocolate making process on your side.
00:45:09.539 --> 00:45:21.619
You can do some of the same things from an advanced testing standpoint as you would do on the uh drinks side where you're taking chocolate bars or nibs to them to try.
00:45:21.780 --> 00:45:31.300
You can do a little tasting with them of their different spirits or beers or whatever it might be to, you know, make that collaboration more of an actual creative partnership.
00:45:31.380 --> 00:45:35.220
Uh, and then you're you'll handle obviously making the actual chocolate.
00:45:35.460 --> 00:45:45.220
Another way that um requires a little bit more logistically and certainly a little bit more time, but can also be interesting is barrel aging nibs.
00:45:45.380 --> 00:46:05.699
So taking an empty barrel that has aged some kind of alcoholic drink, putting nibs in there, allowing uh the uh the the the or the aroma of the the wood and whatever spirit or drink aged in it to infuse the those nibs, then taking them back out and making chocolate with it.
00:46:05.780 --> 00:46:13.380
This is going to be more of a time investment, uh potentially more of a financial investment, depending on how you're able to get those barrels.
00:46:13.619 --> 00:46:16.740
And uh, you know, it's gonna take up a little bit of space.
00:46:17.139 --> 00:46:19.220
But this can be a really interesting way to.
00:46:19.699 --> 00:46:25.059
Do it because just the the phrase barrel aging kind of has a cachet to it.
00:46:25.220 --> 00:46:36.179
It it sounds it sounds cool, it it implies a long period of time was taken to do this, uh, and it can definitely be used in marketing really well.
00:46:36.340 --> 00:46:45.940
Uh, if you want to learn more about doing this, I've got some specific makers who do a lot of barrel aging of their cacao, and I can put you in touch with them to learn more about it.
00:46:46.260 --> 00:46:51.460
This can be an easy lift for a uh distillery if you want to work with them.
00:46:51.619 --> 00:47:05.139
Go and taste some uh you know whiskies or rums or whatever that came out of a specific barrel, and then buy that barrel from them when they're when they empty it to package the product and use it then for aging.
00:47:05.460 --> 00:47:19.460
I also have seen some folks doing this with barrel-aged beer, you're getting some layering of flavors there because barrel-aged beer is generally being aged in second-use spirit barrels.
00:47:19.539 --> 00:47:28.500
So, what you're actually getting is a bourbon barrel that has then aged a beer, and you're getting, you know, multiple layers of flavor impact from that.
00:47:28.579 --> 00:47:33.780
So, this can be done with a variety of different uh drink segments.
00:47:34.019 --> 00:47:37.220
Another way that this can be done is with fillings.
00:47:37.300 --> 00:47:40.019
So, this is going to be common for bonbons.
00:47:40.420 --> 00:47:52.740
Uh, as you know from many previous episodes on Bean to Barstool, you can't really use liquids directly in the chocolate making process, aside from infusing the nibs uh before you actually make the chocolate.
00:47:52.980 --> 00:47:54.420
This can be a way to get around that.
00:47:54.500 --> 00:48:06.340
So you can make a ganache, a filling of some kind that actually incorporates the alcoholic drink in it, and then make the finished bonbon or bonbon bar or whatever it might be.
00:48:06.500 --> 00:48:09.380
So they're that that kind of opens things up a little bit.
00:48:09.619 --> 00:48:35.619
The last way that you can do this, and I think this is a one that has um a lot of potential for creativity, and we're seeing a lot of makers do this, is not working with the finished beverage, but working with ingredients that go into one of these drinks and incorporating those into your bar to basically evoke or to riff off of whatever that drink is without actually using the liquid itself.
00:48:36.099 --> 00:48:42.980
This is by far more common working with beer than it is with any other segment.
00:48:43.300 --> 00:48:57.300
So even though with soaked nibs being the most common way to work with beverage alcohol on the chocolate side, the single most common way to work with breweries is by using their ingredients, not the finished beer.
00:48:57.460 --> 00:49:07.699
What we see most commonly is working with hops, but also you can work with uh malt powder or even whole kernels of malt and different things like that.
00:49:07.780 --> 00:49:16.019
But it's a really fun way to incorporate specific flavors from the beer side without working with the beer itself.
00:49:16.500 --> 00:49:21.780
You don't have that liquid issue, so you're freed up a little bit there in terms of how you can do this.
00:49:22.019 --> 00:49:24.740
There's a lot of different techniques, specifically with hops.
00:49:24.820 --> 00:49:27.619
Hops are an ingredient that can get away from you quickly.
00:49:27.699 --> 00:49:37.460
So there are a lot of different things people have tried, and some of those I think are better than others, but this can also be really, once you figure out what you want to do, it can be really simple.
00:49:37.619 --> 00:49:44.260
Uh, the most common way I'm seeing this done now is making a finished chocolate bar and then aging them with hops.
00:49:44.420 --> 00:49:47.380
The cacao butter absorbs the aroma from the hops.
00:49:47.460 --> 00:49:53.940
All you got to do is seal them up with the hops for three or four weeks, and you end up with a hop-infused bar at the end.
00:49:54.179 --> 00:50:03.380
This can be a fun way to collaborate with beer because the brewer gets to talk about their ingredients more than the finished product.
00:50:03.619 --> 00:50:12.260
You can go and learn about hops and do some what we call hop rubbing, where you rub the hops in your palm to smell the resins that are coming out of it.
00:50:12.420 --> 00:50:20.019
You can learn about different varietals of hops, figure out the one that's going to have the aromas that match with whatever cacao origin you want to work with.
00:50:20.179 --> 00:50:26.260
It's a really fun way to do a collaboration from both a creative standpoint, also from a storytelling standpoint.
00:50:26.500 --> 00:50:31.860
Hops are the buzziest and uh sort of sexiest ingredient in craft beer.
00:50:31.940 --> 00:50:44.019
So being able to say we used citra hops that are used in this brewery's hazy IPA, going back to what we talked about about reaching another craft segment's consumers, that can be a really eye-catching thing.
00:50:44.179 --> 00:50:46.900
This chocolate bar is aged with citra hops.
00:50:46.980 --> 00:50:47.619
That's cool.
00:50:47.699 --> 00:50:52.500
Uh so that can be a really fun way to do that, specifically when you're working with breweries.
00:50:53.220 --> 00:51:04.500
Beer is uh the most common collaboration partner for chocolate on the drinks side, but whiskey is actually the most common on the chocolate-based collaboration.
00:51:04.820 --> 00:51:17.699
For my own informal record keeping of um collaborations between craft chocolate and beverage alcohol on the chocolate side, the the highest number of instances that I found are from whiskey.
00:51:17.780 --> 00:51:19.940
There's a variety of reasons for that.
00:51:20.179 --> 00:51:28.740
The flavors that we get in whiskeys, bourbon being the best example, are primarily coming from the oak that it's aged in.
00:51:28.820 --> 00:51:39.539
And you're getting flavors like vanilla, caramel, baking spices, coconut, all of those are things that work easily in chocolate.
00:51:39.699 --> 00:51:44.659
You probably use any or all of those already as actual inclusions in other bars.
00:51:44.900 --> 00:51:52.820
So it's very easy to see why whiskey would be a very complimentary flavor along with um with chocolate.
00:51:52.980 --> 00:52:00.740
Additionally, something like bourbon, which rules the roost when it comes to American spirits, has a real prestige to it.
00:52:00.900 --> 00:52:13.139
So where craft beer is really fun, bourbon has kind of this aura around it that can definitely uh elevate some of the perception of chocolate for people who maybe haven't taken it as seriously.
00:52:13.380 --> 00:52:20.579
When you're looking at working with whiskey for chocolate, you're primarily going to be looking at either soaking nibs or barrel aging.
00:52:20.659 --> 00:52:23.139
So those are gonna be the best ways to do that.
00:52:23.619 --> 00:52:32.019
On on the beer side, like I said, it is a bizarre flip-flop where ingredients are the most common, even though we hardly see that at all when we're working with spirits.
00:52:32.900 --> 00:52:37.139
Working with breweries, I think chocolate has they have a lot in common culturally.
00:52:37.220 --> 00:52:39.940
This is something that we look at a lot here on Bean to Barstool.
00:52:40.099 --> 00:52:44.260
So this is a really good partnership from a vibes standpoint.
00:52:44.500 --> 00:52:49.940
Um, there can be a lot of similar ways that both beer and chocolate get marketed.
00:52:50.099 --> 00:52:56.659
There's a lot of freedom in both of them in terms of how ingredients can be like additional flavor ingredients, can be used.
00:52:56.900 --> 00:53:05.460
So the easiest collaboration I would say to start with is going to be reaching out to one of your local craft breweries to start there for sure.
00:53:05.780 --> 00:53:11.860
So let's talk about how to approach a potential collaboration partner in the craft chocolate space.
00:53:12.099 --> 00:53:14.579
First thing I would recommend start local.
00:53:14.740 --> 00:53:30.659
You probably already know some folks involved with, you know, if you have a brewery nearby or multiple breweries, or if not, you know, fans probably who are into craft beer or are into wine and they go to your local winery or whatever, you you might share some customers.
00:53:30.900 --> 00:53:31.780
Start local.
00:53:31.940 --> 00:53:36.579
And I would recommend that you approach that collaboration partner with a clear pitch.
00:53:36.740 --> 00:53:41.860
Come to them, don't come to them kind of softly of just like, hey, do you want to work together sometime?
00:53:42.099 --> 00:53:46.019
Come to them with a very clear idea of, hey, I was thinking we can work together.
00:53:46.179 --> 00:53:48.659
Here are the mutual benefits we would get from it.
00:53:48.820 --> 00:53:53.380
Here's my proposed division of labor for this, here's what would be involved.
00:53:53.619 --> 00:53:58.579
I'm thinking maybe we do this kind of product or maybe these, you know, these products together.
00:53:58.740 --> 00:54:07.220
Maybe you do both a beer that has cacao nibs and then you make a bar that has beer in it and you do it as like a combined collaboration like that.
00:54:07.460 --> 00:54:10.260
Explain your vision for how that marketing would work.
00:54:10.579 --> 00:54:13.300
Be open to creative ideas from them.
00:54:13.380 --> 00:54:24.659
Uh, but I would definitely recommend rather than some sort of like soft, kind of apologetic, like if you're ever interested, type of pitch, bring a clear, confident pitch to that collaboration partner.
00:54:24.980 --> 00:54:40.179
Um let them know you're open to their ideas, obviously, and that that you want this to be a true collaboration, not just somebody piggybacking on somebody else for their brand awareness, but bring a clear idea to them and I think you'll probably get a good reception.
00:54:40.340 --> 00:54:47.619
All right, finally, let's talk about some considerations when you're going to work with a beverage alcohol partner for a collaboration.
00:54:47.780 --> 00:54:50.820
Everything from the first episode applies here.
00:54:50.980 --> 00:54:54.900
So make sure that your values align with that partner.
00:54:55.220 --> 00:54:57.380
Definitely do some asking around.
00:54:57.539 --> 00:55:06.900
It is not inappropriate to inquire about the reputation that this brewery has, both from a standpoint of character and quality.
00:55:07.059 --> 00:55:09.380
Make sure that this is a respected brand.
00:55:09.539 --> 00:55:14.500
Make sure that their beers are considered to be good by people who like beer.
00:55:14.659 --> 00:55:18.420
Like your name is going to be associated with this partner.
00:56:21.170 --> 00:56:32.130
So make sure that uh you do a little due diligence to make sure that values align and that this is a good partnership, uh, whatever the whether it's a brewery or distillery or winery, whatever it is.
00:56:32.370 --> 00:56:34.130
Also, do some advanced planning.
00:56:34.290 --> 00:56:41.250
Figure out and agree with the collaboration partner when the collaboration will happen, where it will take place.
00:56:41.490 --> 00:56:45.810
There's going to be production schedules on both sides that have to be accommodated.
00:56:45.970 --> 00:56:57.970
If this is going to be a branded product that actually gets packaged, figure out what those labels are going to look like and when those are who's going to order them, when they're going to be due, what kind of marketing assets are going to be needed.
00:56:58.130 --> 00:57:03.570
All of that needs to be figured out in advance because there's going to be a timeline of when those different things are needed.
00:57:03.650 --> 00:57:05.650
So you don't want to be winging this.
00:57:06.130 --> 00:57:11.330
Some breweries specifically, I have found, are more professional than others.
00:57:11.490 --> 00:57:15.570
So make sure that you are being taken seriously in the collaboration.
00:57:15.810 --> 00:57:22.530
Respect your collaboration partner's time, but also you are owed that same respect in return.
00:57:22.610 --> 00:57:27.330
So some of that goes into advance, uh, you know, making sure values align.
00:57:27.410 --> 00:57:38.210
But even once you get into it, you can kind of feel out is this a collaboration partner that is clearly on the ball when it comes to scheduling and logistics and all that kind of thing?
00:57:38.370 --> 00:57:42.610
Is it something where you're going to be shouldering a little bit more of that responsibility?
00:57:42.770 --> 00:57:48.930
But it is always going to be better for this to be more organized and more scheduled rather than less.
00:57:49.250 --> 00:58:02.210
And then uh perhaps most importantly, for capitalizing on all this, plan and schedule the event uh for releasing whatever the collaboration product is in keeping with your production time.
00:58:02.290 --> 00:58:03.890
So plan in advance.
00:58:04.130 --> 00:58:11.090
Don't leave the event, the release, the public reveal of this, which is really the cherry on the Sunday.
00:58:11.250 --> 00:58:15.490
Don't leave this to something that you're just gonna, we'll do this later.
00:58:15.570 --> 00:58:16.370
We'll wing it.
00:58:16.530 --> 00:58:22.770
You want to make sure that that release is as much of a collaboration as the actual product is.
00:58:22.930 --> 00:58:30.370
Collaboration continues on social media, it continues uh at the reveal event when this actually gets released.
00:58:30.530 --> 00:58:42.530
You don't want it to be something where the product is there and then it just kind of you know falls flat because you didn't have time to do that planning, you didn't have time to get social media assets together, all that kind of stuff.
00:58:42.770 --> 00:59:06.690
So always do as much as you can in advance, do as much planning, as much clear communicating, as much scheduling as you possibly can so that when it comes time to actually unveil this product, you are you have everything you need, and that can go as smoothly as possible, and you can capitalize on the collaboration and benefit from it as much as possible.
00:59:06.930 --> 00:59:14.930
Now let's talk about a type of collaboration that I think is wildly underutilized in the craft chocolate space.
00:59:15.090 --> 00:59:20.770
Kraft chocolate makers collaborating on products with other craft chocolate makers.
00:59:21.010 --> 00:59:24.450
We see this prolifically in craft beer.
00:59:24.530 --> 00:59:26.850
This is baked into craft beer culture.
00:59:27.010 --> 00:59:32.290
Collaborations between breweries on a single beer are super common.
00:59:32.690 --> 00:59:39.090
In fact, there's an entire prestigious collaboration festival that is nothing but collaboration beers.
00:59:39.410 --> 00:59:52.210
Wandering Monsters, who we had on being to bar stool a couple months back, they do a mini collaboration fest every winter where all of the beers poured at the fest are collaborations between them and different breweries.
00:59:52.450 --> 01:00:00.770
In addition to some of the benefits we've discussed previously, collaborations between breweries build camaraderie within the industry.
01:00:00.930 --> 01:00:09.250
They prevent some of the uncomfortable realities of the fact that both businesses are theoretically competing for the same customers in a crowded market.
01:00:09.570 --> 01:00:16.850
Brewers can share institutional knowledge and learn how to do things in different ways from their colleagues, and they're just kind of fun.
01:00:17.090 --> 01:00:24.450
One of the biggest benefits we've discussed for any kind of collab is gaining access to another company's customer base.
01:00:24.530 --> 01:00:42.690
And this is potentially even more helpful for craft chocolate makers than it is for breweries, because alcohol producers are bound by a lot of complicated and at times archaic and contradictory laws around where and when and how alcoholic products can be sold.
01:00:42.930 --> 01:00:45.410
This does not apply in any way to craft chocolate.
01:00:45.490 --> 01:00:48.130
People can order your bars pretty much anywhere.
01:00:48.370 --> 01:00:56.530
So if they find out about you because you collabed with one of their favorite chocolate makers, they can immediately order your chocolate as well.
01:00:56.770 --> 01:00:58.930
And their existing craft chocolate fans.
01:00:59.010 --> 01:01:03.090
So the initial education component is likely already taken care of there.
01:01:03.890 --> 01:01:14.930
In artisan food and beverage, uh, fandom and curiosity are driven as much or more by a company's story and stories as they are by its products themselves.
01:01:15.250 --> 01:01:24.370
People who are dedicated fans of your chocolate company obviously love your chocolate, but the fact that you make good chocolate should be a given at this point.
01:01:24.530 --> 01:01:32.610
Those folks are fans of you because they have connected with your brand story and with the individual stories you continue to tell.
01:01:32.850 --> 01:01:37.570
When you collaborate with another chocolate company, you are now bringing those stories together.
01:01:37.650 --> 01:01:43.650
And it's like when an actor from some movie franchise does a cameo in another movie from that universe.
01:01:43.730 --> 01:01:49.650
It's like fan service and it gets people excited and reminds them about uh the other things that are out there.
01:01:50.290 --> 01:02:00.290
Collaboration also cements to your audience, both new and established, part of what makes craft chocolate different from mass-produced chocolate.
01:02:00.530 --> 01:02:02.930
Collaborations are celebrations.
01:02:03.090 --> 01:02:18.210
They're about camaraderie, creativity, about doing business differently, about creating a craft business so you can create amazing flavor experiences and focus on something beyond just the bottom line.
01:02:18.530 --> 01:02:24.450
Major corporations that are about profit at all costs are not collaborating with their competitors.
01:02:24.610 --> 01:02:31.890
Now, make no mistake, collabs can definitely help your bottom line for all the reasons I've already shared, but that's not all they're about.
01:02:32.130 --> 01:02:40.290
They flaunt the way capitalism is usually expected to work and reaffirm that a rising craft chocolate tide will lift all boats.
01:02:40.850 --> 01:02:49.010
So let's talk about some examples of types of collaborations you can do with other chocolate makers, occasions for these, and some special things to consider.
01:02:49.090 --> 01:02:51.570
Let's start out with talking about some examples.
01:02:51.890 --> 01:02:53.490
Lots and lots of different options.
01:02:53.650 --> 01:03:01.170
Basically, all of the options that you have for making craft chocolate bars exist for collaboration, but with some added opportunities.
01:03:01.410 --> 01:03:14.930
One of the easiest things you can do is for you and another craft chocolate maker to make the same bar concept in your own separate spaces and then either sell them alongside each other, sell them in a pack together.
01:03:15.090 --> 01:03:19.090
Both of you just market each of yours so people can see that both are there.
01:03:19.330 --> 01:03:21.090
This has the fewest moving parts.
01:03:21.170 --> 01:03:23.890
It's the easiest lift when it comes to collaboration.
01:03:24.050 --> 01:03:30.770
All it requires is a creative conversation with the other maker and then figuring out the timing and the marketing.
01:03:30.930 --> 01:03:34.850
And this type of collaboration is really for the chocolate nerds.
01:03:34.930 --> 01:03:45.410
You know, who wouldn't buy a pack of two favorite chocolate makers, both making the exact same dark chocolate bar from the same origin at the same percentage?
01:03:45.570 --> 01:03:51.970
So it's just highlighting the impact of the maker and how their different processes lead to different flavor expressions.
01:03:52.210 --> 01:04:08.530
As craft chocolate fans, we are often assembling this kind of tasting ourselves anyway, whether it's for Instagram posts or for group tastings or for professional tastings, we're often taking bars that are very similar and just highlighting the differences between them.
01:04:08.770 --> 01:04:24.530
Wouldn't it be cool if two esteemed chocolate makers decided to do that formally and release two bars that are theoretically the exact same thing, but allows us to see the difference in their processes and uh encourages us to get both and taste them together.
01:04:25.090 --> 01:04:30.690
If you actually want to collaborate on a single product, there's a ton of options for how this could work.
01:04:30.850 --> 01:04:38.050
You could both roast part of the cacao for a bar that you're going to make at one or the other facility.
01:04:38.290 --> 01:04:45.170
Uh, you could both provide some of the inclusions for a bar that's going to be made at one or the other.
01:04:45.490 --> 01:04:51.490
This provides a really cool opportunity for bringing together different cultural and geographic elements.
01:04:51.730 --> 01:05:24.610
So if you wanted to work with a chocolate maker who has a different cultural or ethnic background and brings that into their chocolate, or you're from two different geographic areas and you have ingredients that are common to your local region, you could figure out a bar that brings together those different elements and each of you provides the inclusions that kind of tie to either your geographical area or your cultural or ethnic background or whatever it might be and kind of celebrates both together in that way.
01:05:25.330 --> 01:05:28.210
You could do variance on existing bars.
01:05:28.290 --> 01:05:46.930
So if you have a best-selling bar, you could do a variation on that bar that brings in maybe an additional inclusion or changes the percentage or something like that, and release that as a collaboration with another maker, but it already has the built-in popularity of that brand name.
01:05:47.170 --> 01:05:50.050
You could do these collaborations with more than two makers.
01:05:50.130 --> 01:05:53.170
There are collaboration beers between multiple breweries.
01:05:53.330 --> 01:06:00.130
Now, one thing to understand with collaborations, and we don't always get the full information about this.
01:06:00.370 --> 01:06:11.330
Sometimes collaborations are more in name only than they are a reflection of actually getting together and doing this work or uh, you know, creating, building a concept together.
01:06:11.490 --> 01:06:18.210
Sometimes it's more about just like celebrating that we're all friends, and there's not actually a whole lot of actual work that goes into it.
01:06:18.290 --> 01:06:20.290
And you know what, that's totally fine too.
01:06:20.450 --> 01:06:30.690
Sometimes that can happen, but uh you could actually do any of the concepts we just talked about with more than two makers, even though it gets more complicated.
01:06:30.850 --> 01:06:36.930
And then all of the benefits that we've already talked about get extended beyond just uh two makers.
01:06:37.730 --> 01:06:43.890
There are tons and tons and tons of options for the types of products that could be made here.
01:06:43.970 --> 01:06:46.690
So if you think of more, by all means, share them with me.
01:06:46.930 --> 01:06:51.490
Let's talk about how this can actually work, collaborating with another maker.
01:06:51.730 --> 01:06:54.130
The easiest way to do this is going to be locally.
01:06:54.210 --> 01:07:07.170
So if you have another craft chocolate maker in your town or city or region to where you could actually physically go to one space or the other and do these collaborations, that is going to be an easy way to do this.
01:07:07.330 --> 01:07:29.570
But again, because craft chocolate can be ordered pretty much wherever and shipped uh wherever, you're not quite as much bound by local geography as on the beer side, where if both companies are really going to benefit from this beyond the actual collaboration product, it makes a lot more sense for them to be in a place where customers could actually get to both of them.
01:07:29.890 --> 01:07:38.130
You could also travel to wherever another craft chocolate maker is, or vice versa, and do the collaboration at one place or the other.
01:07:38.370 --> 01:07:47.090
Now, this obviously increases your expense because there are travel costs involved, but it also increases the storytelling opportunities.
01:07:47.170 --> 01:07:52.770
And that journey and that travel actually becomes part of the storytelling of the collaboration itself.
01:07:53.090 --> 01:07:57.010
And then finally, you can also do these collaborations entirely remotely.
01:07:57.170 --> 01:08:04.210
So the creative conversations and all that kind of stuff happens remotely, you know, Zoom, phone, whatever it is.
01:08:04.370 --> 01:08:10.130
And then one or the other ships the products to uh the other maker and it gets made there.
01:08:10.210 --> 01:08:15.330
Or if you're dividing this up and each making a version of it, you know, you can work out the logistics of that.
01:08:15.490 --> 01:08:18.369
But really, any of those options are available.
01:08:18.689 --> 01:08:22.289
Let's talk about some of the possible occasions for doing a collaboration.
01:08:22.369 --> 01:08:27.170
Now you can always do these just because there doesn't have to be something that it is tied to.
01:08:27.329 --> 01:08:33.489
If you're friends with another maker or you have a cool idea, at any point you can do a collaboration and release that.
01:08:33.730 --> 01:08:38.930
But often on the beer side, these get tied to specific occasions.
01:08:39.170 --> 01:08:41.649
So things like business anniversaries.
01:08:41.730 --> 01:08:51.329
You know, if your craft chocolate company is celebrating its sixth anniversary, maybe you reach out to another craft chocolate maker to release a special anniversary collaboration bar.
01:08:51.649 --> 01:08:54.850
You can also do these for charitable causes.
01:08:55.010 --> 01:09:10.770
Maybe uh, you know, you do a collaboration with another maker and a certain part of the proceeds go to a nonprofit or uh a local or regional disaster relief if there's been some kind of recent hardship, anything like that to benefit a cause that you care about.
01:09:11.250 --> 01:09:14.770
These can also be tied to craft chocolate festivals.
01:09:14.930 --> 01:09:21.730
We see this a ton on the beer side, where beer festivals are often an excuse for breweries to release collaborations.
01:09:22.289 --> 01:09:24.210
Especially tied to the festival.
01:09:24.449 --> 01:09:31.329
This can be a really cool thing to do in the craft chocolate space because there is an element of exclusivity.
01:09:31.489 --> 01:09:38.130
And, you know, if you did a limited batch and it's only available at that chocolate festival, that's an incentive for people to come.
01:09:38.210 --> 01:09:43.010
It's an incentive for people to buy that bar when they're there because they can't get it anywhere else.
01:09:43.250 --> 01:09:45.970
That can be with a maker who can't make it to the festival.
01:09:46.050 --> 01:09:53.970
It could be with another maker who is at the festival, uh, whatever you wanted to do there, but you can tie those to those craft chocolate festivals.
01:09:54.050 --> 01:09:59.329
Um, I've talked on a number of episodes about the Midwest Kraft Chocolate Festival in Rushville, Indiana.
01:09:59.489 --> 01:10:03.569
I have uh spoken and tabled there the last couple years.
01:10:03.810 --> 01:10:12.529
And I just found out a week or so ago that they are going to be organizing a collaboration bar for the upcoming 2026 festival.
01:10:12.609 --> 01:10:14.449
So look for information about that.
01:10:14.609 --> 01:10:21.090
I am super excited to see them doing that because, again, I almost never see this happening on the craft chocolate side.
01:10:21.170 --> 01:10:22.930
So I think that's an awesome opportunity.
01:10:23.010 --> 01:10:26.289
And that is an example of one that's going to be done between multiple makers.
01:10:26.369 --> 01:10:32.850
So I think any of the makers who are coming to the festival have the opportunity to be involved with that.
01:10:33.329 --> 01:10:49.090
You can also release collaborations for any kind of local or regional event, whether it's a town festival, uh music festival, historical event, any any kind of thing like that, you can release it for those.
01:10:49.250 --> 01:10:56.850
I know where I am here in Ohio, all of the small towns around us have their own little, you know, summer festival.
01:10:56.930 --> 01:11:00.529
And maybe it's got some specific tie to the town.
01:11:00.689 --> 01:11:11.890
Maybe it just 80 years ago they decided to start such and such festival, and now it's just kind of its own self-running machine, even if there is nothing, you know, no specific tie, whatever it is.
01:11:12.050 --> 01:11:14.449
Uh, you also have cultural festivals.
01:11:14.529 --> 01:11:33.970
You know, here in Dayton, Ohio, we have a German fest every summer and a Celtic fest and a Greek festival and any kind of local or regional event like that, you could uh opt to release a collaboration bar, and that could even be in some way themed to the theme of the festival.
01:11:34.050 --> 01:11:36.930
So we have a town here that does a strawberry festival.
01:11:37.090 --> 01:11:48.369
So, for example, a craft chocolate maker, if it were in the area, could maybe release some kind of strawberry collaboration with another maker and sell it at that fest or uh in connection to it.
01:11:48.850 --> 01:12:05.329
Depending on the success of the collaboration and what it's tied to, these can be one-offs, they can be periodic releases, they can become annual releases where you can expect it for such and such festival or just at a certain time of year every single year.
01:12:05.570 --> 01:12:08.369
That's totally up to you and your collaboration partners.
01:12:08.610 --> 01:12:14.130
A few things to consider if you're looking at collaborating with another craft chocolate maker.
01:12:14.210 --> 01:12:24.449
Uh, the basic steps of how this is going to work, we've talked about with the other types of collaborations already, but I want to look at how these might be specific when working with another craft chocolate maker.
01:12:24.690 --> 01:12:26.690
First thing you obviously need to do is reach out.
01:12:26.770 --> 01:12:33.329
If you have a craft chocolate maker you'd like to work with, pitch them the idea, explain some of the benefits.
01:12:33.490 --> 01:12:43.250
Uh, you can even share this podcast episode and uh a collaboration series with them and help explain a little bit of why this is a benefit.
01:12:43.409 --> 01:12:49.970
But let them know that you love what they do and that you'd love to work with them, and you guys can talk out what the idea for that is going to be.
01:12:50.289 --> 01:12:52.930
Make sure that your values align.
01:12:53.329 --> 01:13:08.690
You're gonna be sharing space on a label, you're going to be uh together on social media, your names are gonna be linked, your craft chocolate audience, a certain part of that, kind of knows what's what around craft chocolate.
01:13:08.850 --> 01:13:20.210
So make sure the company that you are uh prospectively working with is a company that you feel comfortable being aligned with and working together with and having your names associated.
01:13:20.610 --> 01:13:22.369
Plan everything in advance.
01:13:22.449 --> 01:13:25.090
This is one I've come back to time and again.
01:13:25.329 --> 01:13:29.010
What is the recipe going to be and what ingredients are gonna be needed?
01:13:29.250 --> 01:13:33.010
Who is ordering or providing those different ingredients?
01:13:33.250 --> 01:13:39.010
Which facility is going to host the actual making of the collaboration, or is it gonna be both?
01:13:39.170 --> 01:13:42.530
Who's designing the labels and what will those labels look like?
01:13:42.850 --> 01:13:44.610
Is this an equal collaboration?
01:13:44.690 --> 01:13:54.530
And so that is going to be equal credit on the label and the logos are gonna be the same size, or is this primarily one maker's project and another is helping out in that collaboration?
01:13:54.610 --> 01:14:01.890
And maybe you agree to a slightly different uh division of uh how that is going to be displayed on the label.
01:14:02.050 --> 01:14:04.210
Um, who's paying for what?
01:14:04.530 --> 01:14:10.289
Who reaps what benefits from it, who will host the release event, how is marketing gonna work?
01:14:10.449 --> 01:14:13.570
I know that's a lot of lists of questions there.
01:14:13.730 --> 01:14:17.650
Uh, it doesn't have to be overwhelming, but make sure that you do all this in advance.
01:14:17.810 --> 01:14:34.930
You do not want to wing this, both because it can lead to misunderstandings and even uh you know soured relationships if there is a misunderstanding or one of you thought the other was going to be responsible for something, but also because you want to be able to maximize the benefits of the collaboration.
01:14:35.010 --> 01:14:37.810
And so planning everything in advance allows you to do that.
01:14:37.970 --> 01:14:40.130
And you do want to maximize those benefits.
01:14:40.289 --> 01:14:49.090
You want to make sure you know how to market this, what's going to go on social media, make sure you've got all the photography and video and storytelling to go along with it.
01:14:49.170 --> 01:14:56.210
Uh, you can even potentially uh reach out to local media or chocolate uh specific media.
01:14:56.530 --> 01:15:10.850
Collaborations are often a great opportunity to do that, both because they're unique, but because they're often tied to one of the seasonal or annual or local uh events or festivals or anniversaries that we talked about a little bit ago.
01:15:11.010 --> 01:15:15.170
So there can be a specific tie for media to pay attention to.
01:15:15.409 --> 01:15:23.890
Once this collaboration series wraps up, I am going to be putting together a series on media relations for craft chocolate makers.
01:15:23.970 --> 01:15:26.050
So we'll talk more about that stuff at that time.
01:15:26.130 --> 01:15:32.770
But definitely maximize all of the opportunities of doing the collaboration in how you're telling that story.
01:15:33.010 --> 01:15:38.449
And then I would recommend after the collaboration that you do a post-mortem with your collab partner.
01:15:38.610 --> 01:15:50.210
So once the product is out there, it's been released, it's been selling for a little bit, whether or not it's still available, get together either in person or remotely with the collab partner and just discuss how it went.
01:15:50.369 --> 01:15:51.329
What did we learn from it?
01:15:51.409 --> 01:15:52.610
Do we want to do this again?
01:15:52.850 --> 01:15:54.289
What could we do differently?
01:15:54.530 --> 01:15:56.050
How did the division of labor work?
01:15:56.210 --> 01:16:14.770
Just kind of talk out what worked, what didn't, what you'd want to change to make sure that, you know, if you're going to do it again, that that you're in the best position going forward that you can be, but also just so you can uh you know reaffirm that relationship and also both learn from the experience, whether you collab together again or with other makers.
01:16:15.570 --> 01:16:16.610
Please do this.
01:16:16.770 --> 01:16:20.289
I would love to see craft chocolate makers collaborating with each other more.
01:16:20.449 --> 01:16:22.050
If you do this, tell me about it.
01:16:22.210 --> 01:16:24.369
If you see a collaboration, tell me about it.
01:16:24.530 --> 01:16:29.490
If you have other ideas within these collaborations that I haven't shared, uh share those with me.
01:16:29.570 --> 01:16:30.850
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
01:16:31.010 --> 01:16:32.369
I want this idea to catch on.
01:16:32.449 --> 01:16:39.250
It's such a fun part of craft beer culture, and I think it has so much promise for the craft chocolate space as well.
01:16:39.570 --> 01:16:46.770
Okay, now we're going to discuss ideas for creative, unexpected collaborations.
01:16:46.930 --> 01:17:04.449
These are partnerships with businesses or other entities that you might not think about for collaborations, but can lead to some really cool storytelling opportunities and opportunities for visibility with groups that you might not have an opportunity to reach otherwise.
01:17:04.530 --> 01:17:10.610
So we're going to run through these kind of rapid-fire uh examples and ideas.
01:17:10.770 --> 01:17:25.090
Uh, these ideas are less intended as prescriptive, uh, the, you know, you should do this exact idea type of things, than ways to get your creativity moving and get you brainstorming different options for creative collabs.
01:17:25.329 --> 01:17:28.930
I fully expect I have missed more ideas than I've come up with here.
01:17:29.010 --> 01:17:31.730
So please share others as you think of them.
01:17:32.130 --> 01:17:41.490
To start out, I want to talk about some food-based collaboration ideas that some of you are probably already doing, but I think are easy to do more widely.
01:17:41.650 --> 01:17:49.170
And sometimes it just means formalizing the relationship to turn an ingredient provider into a collaborator.
01:17:49.570 --> 01:17:56.369
The most obvious example, and one that some of you are already doing, is working with a coffee roaster, a coffee shop.
01:17:56.530 --> 01:17:57.730
This is pretty easy.
01:17:57.890 --> 01:18:01.010
People already associate coffee and chocolate together.
01:18:01.090 --> 01:18:03.409
The flavors are often very complementary.
01:18:03.650 --> 01:18:08.610
Cacao beans and coffee beans are both roasted and take on complementary flavors.
01:18:08.770 --> 01:18:11.570
Not a big reach here from a flavor standpoint.
01:18:11.730 --> 01:18:16.530
I would wager most of you already have a coffee bar of some kind.
01:18:17.250 --> 01:18:22.210
I know many craft chocolate makers are also roasting coffee, which is awesome.
01:18:22.289 --> 01:18:27.010
We had Mike from Encore Coffee and Chocolate on the podcast a couple months back.
01:18:27.170 --> 01:18:31.650
You can go back and listen to that for a great example of how that can work in-house.
01:18:31.810 --> 01:18:39.730
But the majority of you who are making some kind of coffee craft chocolate bar are sourcing from a local coffee roaster.
01:18:40.050 --> 01:18:44.050
You probably put the name of the roaster on your chocolate label.
01:18:44.369 --> 01:18:52.130
All collaborating would mean would mean reaching out to that coffee roastery and just kind of formalizing the collab relationship a little bit.
01:18:52.289 --> 01:19:01.409
A lot of this doesn't really involve changing anything you're doing from a process standpoint, besides expanding your storytelling and marketing opportunities.
01:19:01.570 --> 01:19:10.690
So you can do some things with that coffee roastery on social media or in your newsletter to highlight the relationship, put their logo on the bar.
01:19:10.850 --> 01:19:14.690
You can see some cross-selling of the bar in their shop potentially.
01:19:14.850 --> 01:19:18.690
They can become a vendor for that uh chocolate bar or line of bars.
01:19:18.850 --> 01:19:25.090
You could even do an exclusive small batch coffee bar that is only sold through their shop.
01:19:25.329 --> 01:19:36.690
Coffee drinkers are primed to love craft chocolate, and they already understand the idea of paying more for a better product if, you know, if they're already paying for good coffee.
01:19:36.850 --> 01:19:39.970
They get the idea that this isn't just an artificial markup.
01:19:40.050 --> 01:19:42.050
There's a reason that you're paying more.
01:19:42.289 --> 01:19:47.730
So they are primed to be able to make that adjustment on the craft chocolate side as well.
01:19:47.970 --> 01:19:59.010
You could also look at rolling in a coffee and chocolate pairing at the coffee shop or a comparative coffee cupping and chocolate tasting together.
01:19:59.250 --> 01:20:06.690
That can be a standalone collaboration, but it can also be a great way to be able to market a collab bar if you're working with them.
01:20:06.850 --> 01:20:09.010
Again, you're probably already making a coffee bar.
01:20:09.170 --> 01:20:24.930
This doesn't really require you to do much more from a process standpoint, but a little bit of legwork on the relationship side can lead to a much better visibility and more storytelling and marketing opportunities if you make that a formal collaboration with the roaster.
01:20:25.490 --> 01:20:28.449
A lot of the same stuff applies working with tea shops.
01:20:28.610 --> 01:20:33.409
A number of uh makers make some kind of tea chocolate bar.
01:20:33.490 --> 01:20:43.570
Uh, if you are lucky enough to have a tea purveyor or tea shop in your area, reach out to them about doing some sort of branded collaboration.
01:20:43.730 --> 01:20:53.010
Much like we talked about with the coffee shop, you can potentially sell that at the tea shop, maybe even do an exclusive bar, maybe do some tastings or pairings.
01:20:53.409 --> 01:21:18.130
But rather than just saying we have this type of tea in our chocolate bar, being able to say that you worked with this tea company who advised you on this tea and like show show a video of you guys doing tea tastings together or whatever can provide more of a storytelling opportunity and take this from just being an interesting ingredient to something that actually has a story behind it.
01:21:18.369 --> 01:21:31.250
In the same way, if you have a spice merchant near you that you work with, you could work on some kind of branded collaboration bar with them, uh, working with one or more spices that they sell in-house.
01:21:31.409 --> 01:21:38.530
Again, just like with coffee, most of you are probably doing some kind of spiced bar, probably multiple bars.
01:21:38.930 --> 01:21:44.449
But if you're working with a spice merchant, you can bring in a little bit of their storytelling and their branding.
01:21:44.610 --> 01:21:48.050
It kind of works as a showcase for what they're doing in-house.
01:21:48.130 --> 01:21:57.570
So they might be very primed to sell your bar and show that, you know, look at what these flavors can do when somebody is, you know, making something with them.
01:21:57.810 --> 01:22:09.090
You can also kind of elevate some of these spice names that everyone sees and assumes are a known quantity into being something that is thoughtfully sourced with a story behind it.
01:22:09.170 --> 01:22:18.850
So rather than just saying we use cinnamon or we use nutmeg or whatever it is in this bar, you can talk about exactly where that came from.
01:22:19.010 --> 01:22:28.930
You can, you know, show photo uh photography or video of you working with this spice merchant on exactly the origin and different things that uh go into it.
01:22:29.010 --> 01:22:38.930
And it allows for more storytelling opportunities and takes this from just being some you know name and an ingredient list to suddenly something that people can take a little bit more note of.
01:22:39.170 --> 01:22:46.210
A little bit more outside the box in terms of food-based collaborations, you could potentially work with a local bakery.
01:22:46.690 --> 01:22:53.730
I know a few makers make something that make bars that have like uh sourdough crumbles or something like that in them.
01:22:53.890 --> 01:22:55.810
You could work with an actual local bakery.
01:22:55.970 --> 01:23:06.770
That bakery undoubtedly has loyal fans who would be interested in seeing some of their favorite breads or other baked goods used in interesting ways in a chocolate bar.
01:23:07.090 --> 01:23:13.490
If you're in a rural area, especially, consider working with a local fruit farm.
01:23:13.810 --> 01:23:18.289
I know in my area here in Ohio, our fruit farms are beloved.
01:23:18.690 --> 01:23:26.449
We're not a fruit-growing region, so there tends to be a lot of loyalty to the handful of fruit farms we have.
01:23:26.610 --> 01:23:41.890
Often the ownership of these farms goes back generations and there's a lot of tradition around it, a lot of annual nostalgia when it comes to things like picking apples in the orchards or going and getting your pumpkins or whatever it might be each year.
01:23:42.130 --> 01:23:54.210
If you worked with a fruit farm on, you know, let's say you wanted to do some kind of apple cinnamon bar, and so you're gonna work with them to figure out what is the perfect kind of apples from their orchard to use.
01:23:54.449 --> 01:24:02.530
Uh, maybe it's, you know, pumpkin spice, maybe it's uh peaches, whatever, whatever they're growing, whatever you wanted to make.
01:24:02.690 --> 01:24:08.130
Again, it could potentially be sold at the fruit farm if they have some kind of shop or cafe there.
01:24:08.210 --> 01:24:25.250
Uh, but even if not, from a storytelling and and branding standpoint on social media, that is a really cool thing that can uh bring in locals who might have a strong nostalgic connection to the things they've done at the fruit farm, but might not know much about your coffee shop.
01:24:25.490 --> 01:24:29.890
Again, a lot of this stuff, you might already be using ingredients like this.
01:24:30.050 --> 01:24:36.850
This is just about formalizing that relationship and being able to leverage that for marketing and storytelling.
01:24:37.170 --> 01:24:43.810
Let's expand beyond typical food and drink merchants a little bit and look at some more unconventional options.
01:24:43.970 --> 01:24:44.530
All right.
01:24:44.850 --> 01:24:55.570
A lot of makers love to work with foraged or locally grown botanicals or mushrooms or other wild edibles in limited release bars.
01:24:55.730 --> 01:24:59.730
So why not look for some unexpected collaboration opportunities around these?
01:24:59.890 --> 01:25:06.930
You could work with a local nature preserve to use a wild edible that is grown in your area.
01:25:07.090 --> 01:25:18.610
You could even have a foraging event and have the nature center lead a guided walk or an educational talk on foraged ingredients from the area and maybe potentially then use those in the bar.
01:25:18.770 --> 01:25:22.369
A portion of the sales could then benefit the preserve.
01:25:22.610 --> 01:25:27.890
You could work with a local foraging group or even a mushroom group on a specific bar.
01:25:28.449 --> 01:25:34.289
Maybe tap a local florist to collaborate on a bar with edible flowers of some kind.
01:25:34.530 --> 01:25:43.730
That is a really cool opportunity for your collaboration partner to do something that is totally outside of their uh normal range of opportunities.
01:25:43.890 --> 01:25:50.050
I mean, especially if you're looking at an amateur group like a if you have a local club that forages mushrooms.
01:25:50.289 --> 01:25:51.730
Yes, that really is a thing.
01:25:51.810 --> 01:25:57.090
And they are typically diehards about their favorite hobby, uh, which is super cool.
01:25:57.329 --> 01:26:05.329
How cool would it be for them to be able to work with a chocolate maker and see these mushrooms that they foraged make it into a really unusual bar?
01:26:05.409 --> 01:26:09.490
I'm sure they would be thrilled about the opportunity to do something like that.
01:26:09.810 --> 01:26:24.289
The important thing to understand with any of these types of ideas is that because you're the sole food maker involved in the collaboration, there really aren't many moving parts involved in the collab beyond planning and marketing.
01:26:24.449 --> 01:26:31.010
You're just making a chocolate bar like you do every day, possibly one you were planning to make or already make.
01:26:31.090 --> 01:26:39.890
You're just bringing in another party that can help raise interest, create a local connection, and provide more storytelling opportunities.
01:26:40.369 --> 01:26:46.610
Speaking of which, there's no reason a collaboration has to directly tie into ingredients at all.
01:26:46.850 --> 01:26:55.250
The options for creative collaborations with entities outside of the world of food or beverage or even nature are as limitless as your imagination.
01:26:55.329 --> 01:27:00.850
All right, here are a few examples that I've just jotted down, but truly we could sit here all day coming up with these.
01:27:01.090 --> 01:27:08.449
You could partner with a nonprofit you believe in to raise awareness for them and maybe donate a portion of proceeds to the cause.
01:27:08.610 --> 01:27:15.490
Uh, that is something you care about, so it's a cool thing to do, but it also generates goodwill, brings you a little bit of visibility.
01:27:15.810 --> 01:27:23.810
You can work with a local theater group on a bar that can raise funds for the troupe, as well as maybe be sold at their concession stand.
01:27:24.210 --> 01:27:31.409
Uh is there a local town festival or even a larger draw, like a Comic Con or Horror Con type of event in your area?
01:27:31.650 --> 01:27:39.490
See if you can collab with them to make the official craft chocolate bar for the event, which is undoubtedly not something that already exists.
01:27:39.650 --> 01:27:42.850
And theme it somehow around what the festival celebrates.
01:27:42.930 --> 01:27:51.409
Uh, it's free marketing for the event and requires almost no work from them, and it gets you visibility when they share it and potentially sell it.
01:27:51.810 --> 01:27:54.130
Does your city have a roller derby team?
01:27:54.289 --> 01:27:54.770
Perfect.
01:27:54.930 --> 01:27:59.810
Make a bar with blackberries and blueberries and call it Bruiseberry or something silly like that.
01:27:59.970 --> 01:28:02.449
Roller Derbiers love puns, so have fun with it.
01:28:02.610 --> 01:28:14.690
They will get a huge kick out of getting to be involved with something like this, and now you have a dedicated uh subculture in your local area who has an invested reason to check out your chocolate.
01:28:15.810 --> 01:28:21.329
How about working with a local band or record shop on a collab bar?
01:28:21.570 --> 01:28:23.409
It is instantly cool.
01:28:23.570 --> 01:28:26.449
You can have a lot of fun with them on the name and the idea.
01:28:26.690 --> 01:28:31.409
It's undoubtedly not something they have been approached about before.
01:28:31.650 --> 01:28:35.170
The bar could potentially be sold at the record shop.
01:28:35.250 --> 01:28:40.690
You could have the band in for a listening party at your chocolate shop when their next EP drops.
01:28:41.010 --> 01:28:41.329
Whatever.
01:28:41.490 --> 01:28:42.530
Have fun with it.
01:28:42.770 --> 01:28:45.730
Do you have a beloved movie theater in your town?
01:28:45.890 --> 01:28:49.490
Collab with them on a bar that will only be sold at their concession stand.
01:28:49.570 --> 01:28:55.810
You can make it with buttered popcorn or something else silly to play off of the nostalgia of movie snacks.
01:28:56.130 --> 01:29:07.250
With all of these ideas that I just shared, group members themselves become customers, and you also get access to their fans as well, most of whom will never have heard of craft chocolate.
01:29:07.570 --> 01:29:12.930
The most important part of collabs of this nature is the storytelling component.
01:29:13.090 --> 01:29:17.490
You need to maximize what you get out of this from a visibility standpoint.
01:29:17.730 --> 01:29:22.850
One thing that can be fun is to invite the collab partners to help with making the bar.
01:29:22.930 --> 01:29:26.050
Now I'm putting help in air quotes there.
01:29:26.130 --> 01:29:30.610
Um, this is somewhat like having your kids help you make breakfast.
01:29:30.690 --> 01:29:33.250
This isn't necessarily going to make things go any faster.
01:29:33.329 --> 01:29:47.730
You're going to do a lot of hand holding, but they can pour some nibs into the melanger or they can drop in some inclusions or help you smell beans from different origins and share what they think so you guys can decide on the origin you're going to use together.
01:29:47.890 --> 01:29:52.289
They can also help with the name and maybe even some of the design ideas around it.
01:29:52.449 --> 01:29:57.970
The key here is that they get to be involved and so now they have a deeper investment in the product.
01:29:58.210 --> 01:29:59.890
They have a cool story to tell.
01:30:00.050 --> 01:30:02.289
They got to help make a chocolate bar.
01:30:02.449 --> 01:30:14.610
They're going to tell people about the bar when it comes out, and you have way more interesting photos and videos to share because they were involved, even if technically they weren't a huge help from a work standpoint.
01:30:15.329 --> 01:30:20.050
The most important part of this kind of collab is the creative storytelling that goes along with it.
01:30:20.130 --> 01:30:24.289
So obviously, you need to get all of the social media traction out of it that you can.
01:30:24.449 --> 01:30:32.449
But something like this can also be worth sharing with local media, TV news, newspapers, local websites, etc.
01:30:32.850 --> 01:30:49.409
I'm going to be doing a series this summer on media relations for craft chocolate makers, but for now, know that media is way less concerned with the size of a business or an event than with the unique happenings, the unique angle that goes along with this.
01:30:49.490 --> 01:30:57.570
So feel free to let them know about your next unusual collab, even if it seems like a small thing to you that they might not notice.
01:30:57.730 --> 01:31:03.650
There's really no correlation between the size of a business and what media might find interesting.
01:31:03.970 --> 01:31:13.650
As I mentioned with a number of these, in some situations, the collab partner can become a temporary or ongoing vendor for your products, but not always.
01:31:13.730 --> 01:31:21.730
So make sure you have that clarified before beginning and that you have an avenue for moving interest around the collaboration to.
01:31:22.130 --> 01:31:27.409
Toward your physical shop or your online sales platforms to be able to move it.
01:31:27.810 --> 01:31:37.730
Approaching collab partners like this is as easy as just reaching out, expressing appreciation for what they do and explaining your idea and how it would work.
01:31:38.050 --> 01:31:52.449
That last part is important because they might not have any sense of what would be involved in this and they might be hesitant at the idea of having to take on tasks that they're imagining in their head that like you don't actually need them to take on.
01:31:52.690 --> 01:31:57.409
So make sure you explain to them what would actually be involved and you know what you would need from them.
01:31:57.570 --> 01:31:59.570
This can happen over email or phone.
01:31:59.810 --> 01:32:02.930
You can invite them to your shop to talk more about it.
01:32:03.010 --> 01:32:06.930
You can visit them at their business, uh, but just open that line of communication.
01:32:07.010 --> 01:32:16.770
The worst thing they can do is say no, and likely they're going to find it interesting as long, you know, as soon as they realize that you're not trying to sell them something, that this is a collaboration.
01:32:17.090 --> 01:32:29.570
A few things to consider uh unique to this type of collaboration, as I have emphasized repeatedly in every episode in this series, make sure your values align with your potential collaboration partner.
01:32:29.970 --> 01:32:36.690
Do a little due diligence, make sure you're not gonna regret your names being associated once this product comes out.
01:32:37.010 --> 01:32:38.610
Plan everything in advance.
01:32:38.770 --> 01:32:49.490
This is always true for collabs, but it works a little bit differently here with the types of collaborations we're talking about, because you're gonna be solely responsible for making the end product.
01:32:49.810 --> 01:33:04.850
In the case of a food vendor, like a coffee roaster or a spice merchant, there will be a collaborative process for deciding on origins or exact ingredients, but this is gonna be your product, even though you're sharing the branding and marketing.
01:33:05.090 --> 01:33:07.730
Most of this planning then is gonna fall to you.
01:33:07.890 --> 01:33:09.810
So you need to have your ducks in a row.
01:33:10.050 --> 01:33:27.490
The things that need to be fully discussed with your collab partner in advance are around deadlines, volume needs, branding and marketing, you know, what the marketing plan is gonna be, what the expectations are on both sides for that, what their involvement in the actual process is going to be.
01:33:27.650 --> 01:33:29.090
Are you gonna have them come and help?
01:33:29.170 --> 01:33:30.289
How is that gonna work?
01:33:30.449 --> 01:33:35.329
And what kind of release event, if applicable, you're going to have together.
01:33:35.650 --> 01:33:51.090
Finally, one thing to keep in mind just for your own uh well-being and expectations, your collab partner in this type of collaboration is likely to know nothing about craft chocolate, cacao farming, etc.
01:33:51.329 --> 01:33:55.250
Now, if you're working with a coffee roaster or something like that, they might have some familiarity.
01:33:55.329 --> 01:34:03.570
But if you're working with a community group or one of these other creative ideas that I've shared, they're not going to know anything about what you do.
01:34:03.890 --> 01:34:07.409
That might be obvious, but it can lead to some annoying interaction.
01:34:07.570 --> 01:35:16.920
So expect your collab partners to say things like, I only like really good chocolate like Lint or Giardelli, uh, and expect you to be impressed.
01:35:17.000 --> 01:35:23.720
Or they might want to garner cred with you by saying they don't like milk chocolate or white chocolate, they only like dark chocolate.
01:35:23.960 --> 01:35:28.200
They might balk at the price point for your planned collaboration bar.
01:35:28.440 --> 01:35:36.520
This is all to be expected, and you deal with it from casual customers all the time, but it can hit a little different when it's a creative partner that you're now tied to.
01:35:36.600 --> 01:35:41.560
So just be prepared to be doing a lot of chocolate 101 level educating.
01:35:41.720 --> 01:35:42.520
And that's good.
01:35:42.680 --> 01:35:51.880
You have now an invested audience that you get to share the gospel of craft chocolate with and explain what cacao is and what you do and all that kind of stuff.
01:35:52.040 --> 01:35:53.320
Just be prepared for it.
01:35:53.560 --> 01:36:05.160
All right, that was all a ton of information about a range of different collaboration ideas from beverage alcohol to the craft chocolate space itself to creative ideas.
01:36:05.400 --> 01:36:11.160
I want to finish with basically a case study of collaboration in craft chocolate.
01:36:11.240 --> 01:36:21.400
We're going to talk with someone who knows the craft chocolate space well and initiated a collaboration that I think is kind of a cool blueprint that others could follow.
01:36:21.640 --> 01:36:26.120
Bean to Barstool listeners will be familiar with the name Estelle Tracy.
01:36:26.360 --> 01:36:31.640
Estelle of 37 Chocolates is a craft chocolate educator, extraordinaire.
01:36:31.800 --> 01:36:36.200
She is uh, I think a three-time past guest on Bean to Barstool.
01:36:36.280 --> 01:36:37.480
She's a friend of the podcast.
01:36:37.560 --> 01:36:38.920
We have her on here often.
01:36:39.080 --> 01:36:48.840
We've talked about pairing with tea, pairing with wine and beer, uh, pairing unusual or challenging chocolate bars, always a fun conversation.
01:36:49.160 --> 01:37:02.120
She reached out to me a few weeks back in response to this collaboration series I've been doing, letting me know about a collaboration she was involved in in 2025 that she hopes to repeat again.
01:37:02.440 --> 01:37:05.880
Estelle is, as I said, a chocolate educator.
01:37:06.040 --> 01:37:21.080
She does a lot of uh virtual tastings, among other things, and she worked with a popular craft chocolate maker to release a limited chocolate bar and then led a virtual event to tell the story of the bar along with the maker.
01:37:21.400 --> 01:37:45.320
In our conversation today, Estelle talks about how she approached this collaboration, how it all worked behind the scenes, what the advantages were for both sides, both for her and for the craft chocolate maker, and what you need to know if you want to pursue a similar collaboration as either a craft chocolate maker yourself or as an educator or enthusiast within craft chocolate.
01:37:45.640 --> 01:38:01.320
I was originally going to look at this type of collaboration when I looked at outside the box collab ideas, but decided to let Estelle demonstrate how this can work from her own experience, and then we'll discuss a little bit more after the interview.
01:38:01.560 --> 01:38:08.840
Here's Estelle Tracy to talk about her experience as a chocolate educator collaborating with a craft chocolate maker.
01:38:09.640 --> 01:38:12.840
The reason we're talking today, I know you're a frequent guest on the show.
01:38:13.000 --> 01:38:15.080
We always find fun stuff to discuss.
01:38:15.320 --> 01:38:15.480
Yes.
01:38:15.800 --> 01:38:28.440
The reason we're doing this one today is because I've been doing this collaboration series where we're talking about craft chocolate makers collaborating with different businesses, and you were involved in a creative collaboration recently.
01:38:28.600 --> 01:38:33.240
So, real briefly, introduce us to what that collab was and then we'll talk about how it worked.
01:38:33.480 --> 01:38:33.800
Yeah.
01:38:33.880 --> 01:38:36.280
So, first of all, I have loved that series.
01:38:36.360 --> 01:38:42.520
I've been like nodding vigorously throughout the whole session in my car, listening to the podcast.
01:38:42.760 --> 01:38:50.440
And yeah, I thought it would be exciting to talk about what does that look like and what how do you start and where does the seed get planted?
01:38:50.600 --> 01:38:55.480
So we're gonna go back to August of last year, 2025.
01:38:55.640 --> 01:39:03.640
I host chocolate tastings and I give talks on chocolate for people who may uh find out about me for the first time.
01:39:03.880 --> 01:39:08.120
And I had an opportunity to partner with Botanical Gardens.
01:39:08.520 --> 01:39:12.200
And um, so it's a partnership with a partnership, if that makes sense.
01:39:12.280 --> 01:39:18.920
So the uh Longwood Gardens is uh uh the botanical garden 10 minutes from my house.
01:39:19.160 --> 01:39:31.160
They partner with a beer garden on a series where they bring in a speaker who talks about botany and food and uh not always food, but botany.
01:39:31.240 --> 01:39:40.360
And it's uh you get a free drink, uh usually beer, a free drink, uh a little appetizer, and and the people listen to the speaker.
01:39:40.600 --> 01:39:54.520
And I did a talk on the botany of chocolate, and I was thinking to myself, well, would I be fun if I were to introduce people to the concept of single varietal chocolate uh for the first time?
01:39:54.680 --> 01:39:56.120
I had never done that before.
01:39:56.280 --> 01:40:08.200
This is really a level of, you know, like geekery that is definitely not mainstream, but I always like to experiment and try things, and they may work or they may not, but at least I will know.
01:40:08.360 --> 01:40:19.640
And so I looked at um the 37 chocolate inventory and I thought, okay, I carry Askinosis, National Ariba, uh, chocolate, love the bar.
01:40:19.800 --> 01:40:21.320
It is a single varietal.
01:40:21.880 --> 01:40:29.960
And I thought to myself, well, I do have an existing relationship with Denise Castronovo, Castronovo chocolate.
01:40:30.280 --> 01:40:40.040
I gave her a call in August, which was a great time because a lot of chocolate companies are not as swamped as in December or February, right?
01:40:40.120 --> 01:40:44.360
So I thought, why don't I give her a call and tell her about what I'm trying to do?
01:40:44.520 --> 01:40:54.600
And I asked her, hey, would you happen to have single varietal chocolates in your, you know, in your in your product line?
01:40:54.760 --> 01:40:57.480
Because I'm looking for a single varietal chocolate.
01:40:57.640 --> 01:41:06.520
And uh she says, Oh, it's it's funny you bring this up because I do have some pura blanco from Peru that um I haven't molded yet.
01:41:06.600 --> 01:41:15.080
I mean, it was like early, the chocolate was that close to being ready, and also a test batch of cupolate, which is the seed of cupuasu.
01:41:15.480 --> 01:41:21.080
That is cupuasu is a cousin of Theobo Makikao.
01:41:21.560 --> 01:41:27.720
And um, so it's not chocolate, but it is, you know, ground um ground cupuasu seeds.
01:41:27.800 --> 01:41:34.520
And I thought that's great because you know, I present to people what both of this product would be.
01:41:34.680 --> 01:41:35.800
I can frame them.
01:41:35.960 --> 01:41:39.080
This would be the perfect context for me to sell this product.
01:41:39.320 --> 01:41:43.960
And then I thought, well, you know, she said that the packaging was already.
01:41:44.040 --> 01:41:46.520
And I said, hey, would you be willing to use?
01:41:46.680 --> 01:41:55.400
So she has like a blank wrapper called that says factory first, stuff that she limited around batches, where she put a sticker.
01:41:55.880 --> 01:42:01.000
And I said, Would you be open to having these two bars being co-branded?
01:42:01.160 --> 01:42:03.560
Castro Novo Chocolate, 37 chocolates.
01:42:03.640 --> 01:42:07.080
I really wanted them co-branded versus you know private label.
01:42:07.400 --> 01:42:12.520
Uh, I think that was more powerful, but I thought, you know, that'd be great.
01:42:12.600 --> 01:42:13.720
Let me bring them over.
01:42:13.960 --> 01:42:18.920
Then I buy the chocolate, put it on social media, and my DM exploded.
01:42:19.080 --> 01:42:21.240
Oh my gosh, how can I get this?
01:42:21.400 --> 01:42:27.160
Uh, like it just was because it was exclusive, and Castro Novo Chocke has already this following.
01:42:27.480 --> 01:42:29.160
She's an award-winning maker.
01:42:29.240 --> 01:42:37.640
And so this sense of exclusivity and the co-branded, like people just like were telling me, oh my gosh, I want this, I want this.
01:42:37.880 --> 01:42:43.880
And for me, what was special about these bars is that they were single varietals.
01:42:44.120 --> 01:42:53.400
I was buying them as part of a presentation, and I wanted people to get exposed to the education before enjoying the chocolate.
01:42:53.480 --> 01:42:54.920
For me, this wasn't just a product.
01:42:55.080 --> 01:42:58.600
This was like, okay, this is special, this is important.
01:42:59.320 --> 01:43:02.920
And so I really thought, okay, I'm gonna take a break here.
01:43:03.000 --> 01:43:10.360
I'm not gonna sell this chocolate bar, I'm gonna sit with this and see how we can bring this collaboration to the next level.
01:43:10.520 --> 01:43:15.240
So that is the context, and we can talk about what the next level looks like.
01:43:15.800 --> 01:43:16.120
Perfect.
01:43:16.200 --> 01:43:17.400
Well, let's just go straight from there.
01:43:17.640 --> 01:43:30.600
So when you had the idea for making this a more formalized collaboration, why what was the process of approaching Denise and kind of pitching her on what your idea was?
01:43:30.760 --> 01:43:31.960
How did that process go?
01:43:32.280 --> 01:43:40.280
So it was really single varietal, co-branded chocolate, you know, because those bars were not ready for the public yet.
01:43:40.440 --> 01:43:41.560
Very scrappy.
01:43:41.880 --> 01:43:51.880
And I I can't emphasize enough that I have been working with Denise probably for the past eight years.
01:43:52.040 --> 01:43:54.840
We kind of got in touch 10 years ago.
01:43:55.000 --> 01:43:57.720
There was a trust that was already there.
01:43:57.880 --> 01:44:09.400
There was also like a friendship that developed over the years, and it really started with what if, and which I think is the, you know, what if you you, you know, do you have this?
01:44:09.480 --> 01:44:11.000
And what if we did this together?
01:44:11.160 --> 01:44:18.520
There is that sense of like possibility and imagination, and also we kept things very simple.
01:44:18.920 --> 01:44:27.160
A very scrappy wrapper with two with a sticker that says Castro Novo and 37 Chocolates, very simple.
01:44:27.400 --> 01:44:35.880
Um, and it I think it's you know, Denise had it in stock and uh, but not ready for prime time, you know.
01:44:35.960 --> 01:44:42.840
Now you can find the pura blanco with this nice wrapper, but it was really, yeah, that was like how we we approached it.
01:44:43.000 --> 01:44:43.160
Yeah.
01:44:43.400 --> 01:44:43.640
Okay.
01:44:44.600 --> 01:44:50.760
So to clarify, the is the bar that you did in the collaboration now publicly available for the case.
01:44:50.920 --> 01:44:51.320
Yes, it is.
01:44:51.720 --> 01:44:51.800
Okay.
01:44:52.040 --> 01:44:52.360
Correct.
01:44:52.440 --> 01:44:52.920
Yeah.
01:44:53.080 --> 01:45:03.800
Uh the coupon late, I don't think is out there yet because of supply, like the availability of the coupon associates, but it was definitely it's available here first.
01:45:04.280 --> 01:45:17.560
And um, to give more details, the way I did it is like it for me, it was just like for the 37 chocolates, the business bought the chocolate at wholesale price, just like any other bar.
01:45:17.720 --> 01:45:19.320
That was the financial arrangement.
01:45:19.400 --> 01:45:22.360
So it was no different than any other bar.
01:45:22.520 --> 01:45:31.080
So, and I'd like to think for Denise, she was able to get this product out a little faster because of you know, uh of this outlet.
01:45:31.240 --> 01:45:31.480
Yeah.
01:45:31.800 --> 01:45:37.080
And was there a window of time when it was only available through you or as a collab?
01:45:37.960 --> 01:45:39.320
I'm gonna say so.
01:45:39.560 --> 01:45:44.440
I had the bar for the presentation, it was in September, mid-September.
01:45:44.760 --> 01:45:57.160
And we can continue going to what ended up happening, and it was available till probably the end, yeah, I mean end of October, um, and early November.
01:45:57.320 --> 01:46:04.200
I want to say that the Pura Blanco came out in uh the official one in December.
01:46:04.360 --> 01:46:06.120
You know, that's where it was readily available.
01:46:06.200 --> 01:46:07.640
So it was three months early.
01:46:07.880 --> 01:46:13.960
So, and we can go back of how we ended up truly bringing the collaboration to the whole to the other level.
01:46:14.120 --> 01:46:22.280
So, what happened is that when I saw the the excitement for those bars and I really posed about, I really posed.
01:46:22.360 --> 01:46:26.120
I thought, is this this isn't what this product is?
01:46:26.200 --> 01:46:30.920
I don't want to just sell the chocolate like it's any other bar on the shelf.
01:46:31.080 --> 01:46:32.520
This is truly special.
01:46:32.680 --> 01:46:37.640
And when I saw how excited people were, I said to Denise, let's do something.
01:46:37.880 --> 01:46:47.480
I host chocolate tasting and I do online, I offer ticketed online tasting year-round, probably every other month on average.
01:46:47.720 --> 01:46:50.360
And I didn't have anything lined up in October.
01:46:50.520 --> 01:46:52.520
And I said, this is what we should do.
01:46:52.760 --> 01:47:00.360
I said, I want these two bars to be available for people who sign up for this online chocolate tasting.
01:47:00.520 --> 01:47:05.560
I would love for you to be a guest and explain what's so special about this chocolate.
01:47:05.960 --> 01:47:12.280
And the only way you can get those bars is if you really sign up for the whole experience.
01:47:12.600 --> 01:47:13.880
We priced it.
01:47:14.040 --> 01:47:17.400
So I had bought the chocolate, you know, wholesale.
01:47:17.720 --> 01:47:23.960
And for the two chocolate bars, we priced, uh, I priced the chocolate tasting at$67.
01:47:24.840 --> 01:47:28.440
Um, that included two bars, the presentation and the shipping.
01:47:28.680 --> 01:47:32.840
And Denise also put a listing out on her website for that.
01:47:33.000 --> 01:47:49.640
And I said, because, you know, like it's one thing to say, oh, well, for a consumer, like in the bean to bar world, we we make a big emphasis on like, oh, our chocolate is made with transparently traded cacao and you know, supply chain.
01:47:49.800 --> 01:47:52.760
But this is honestly, I find that this is the minimum.
01:47:53.000 --> 01:47:58.840
And there is, you know, I love how you also talk about, you know, aligning with people's values.
01:47:59.000 --> 01:48:02.600
It's not because you care or you like the same thing that the values align.
01:48:02.840 --> 01:48:12.120
For me, it's how can what's the next level of creating uh more equity or really bringing money back to origin?
01:48:12.440 --> 01:48:13.720
What does that look like?
01:48:13.960 --> 01:48:18.920
So Denise is a uh board member of the Amazon conservation team.
01:48:19.160 --> 01:48:26.760
And I can't, I mean, I hope you get to talk to her about her amazing work and her knowledge is absolutely incredible in conservation.
01:48:26.920 --> 01:48:28.440
And I said, how about we do this?
01:48:28.600 --> 01:48:33.720
$10 of each ticket will go to the Amazon conservation team.
01:48:34.040 --> 01:48:39.400
And this is meaningful because this is otherwise it's just pure consumerism.
01:48:39.560 --> 01:48:41.720
Here's my money, I want to chalk it, move on.
01:48:41.800 --> 01:48:42.440
No, no, no.
01:48:42.520 --> 01:48:55.480
We're gonna create something that actually is meaningful, is aligned with Denise's um uh really her own value of being a member, you know, uh being involved in the Amazon conservation effort.
01:48:55.720 --> 01:49:18.440
And we promoted uh the tasting to each of our audience, and together, Denise and I, Denise, so Castro Novo Chocolate and 37 chocolates, we managed to raise$500 for the Amazon conservation team, which represents uh one month of work for a ranger, you know, guarding the land.
01:49:18.760 --> 01:49:20.440
Uh so that was really exciting.
01:49:20.520 --> 01:49:36.600
And so we were able to use this excitement, this exclusive Castronomo chocolate to do more good, like to reinvest it back, you know, use that so that we can do something at origin uh in a way that was aligned.
01:49:36.760 --> 01:50:03.400
And um, Denise ended up sharing um a lot of information from um so on the pura blanco beans, and she explained, you know, the environment in which those beans were coming from, which is those beans are white, a lot of them are white, because I mean she'll tell you more, but they she explained the why, the the scientific reason of why this beans are white.
01:50:03.720 --> 01:50:13.880
And people listened to this and uh and I think got to enjoy the chocolate that much more because they had access to this amazing information.
01:50:14.040 --> 01:50:22.200
Uh, we talked about um you know the arch some of the archaeological sites she had visited uh this that summer.
01:50:22.360 --> 01:50:26.040
The feedback was incredible because she's a chocolate maker.
01:50:26.200 --> 01:50:29.960
She doesn't have time to talk about archaeology and Amazon conservation.
01:50:30.200 --> 01:50:38.680
What I could provide is the marketing of this experience, the audience that I had built over the years for this type of online tasting.
01:50:38.840 --> 01:50:54.760
Yeah, it was truly a collaboration between the chocolate maker who's busy making chocolate with the chocolate educator that I am, bringing her audience, doing the marketing and the whole collaboration returning back to the Amazon.
01:50:54.920 --> 01:50:57.800
So this was really a win-win-win situation.
01:50:57.960 --> 01:51:06.120
And just talking about it now is so exciting because you know it was probably my most attentive chocolate tasting to date.
01:51:06.200 --> 01:51:09.320
And I felt it was truly a fruitful collaboration.
01:51:09.400 --> 01:51:11.960
And I know I can't wait to do something like this again.
01:51:12.040 --> 01:51:13.640
So yeah, no, that's really cool.
01:51:14.040 --> 01:51:21.720
Well, toward the end there, you addressed part of what I was going to ask next, which is from a purely business standpoint.
01:51:21.960 --> 01:51:28.360
What do you feel like the advantage was for Castor Novo to get to partner with an educator like yourself?
01:51:28.680 --> 01:51:34.600
Taking the marketing off her plate, the promotion of her plate.
01:51:34.840 --> 01:51:39.400
She doesn't do a lot of Denise doesn't do a lot of Zoom tasting or anything.
01:51:39.480 --> 01:51:42.040
She didn't have to worry about any of the tech.
01:51:42.280 --> 01:51:48.440
She didn't have to worry about, you know, getting people in from the waiting room or anything like that.
01:51:48.600 --> 01:51:55.160
She was able to be that guest and worry about this is my PowerPoint that I'm sharing.
01:51:55.320 --> 01:51:56.440
That's it, right?
01:51:56.760 --> 01:52:02.040
And you know, like I had really promoted really heavily this tasting.
01:52:02.360 --> 01:52:11.640
And uh yeah, it it took it took some of the legwork, it took something of the marketing and the promotion of her plate.
01:52:11.800 --> 01:52:19.400
And also I know how to run a tasting, I know how to make sure people feel included, I know how to engage with the audience.
01:52:19.640 --> 01:52:49.160
So she has to use brain power, you know, to take in questions or to make sure people were feeling comfortable asking her questions, you know, and then I was able, you know, like all the communication, you know, I like to send the pre-email and then the wrap-up email, and this is the money we raised together, like all this, those communication was to able to take off her place, and she was able to focus on the making and sharing the story.
01:52:49.480 --> 01:52:50.680
No, that's really cool.
01:52:50.840 --> 01:52:51.480
Yeah.
01:52:51.960 --> 01:52:56.600
So, was there any development that had to take place for the product itself?
01:52:56.680 --> 01:53:02.120
Or would you sounded like this was something she kind of already had available, and then you came alongside with that?
01:53:02.360 --> 01:53:02.760
Correct.
01:53:02.840 --> 01:53:03.720
Yeah, 100%.
01:53:04.200 --> 01:53:05.080
Yeah, yeah.
01:53:05.320 --> 01:53:14.440
Do you see any avenue in the future for planning with her or another maker on developing something that you would have your name on?
01:53:14.680 --> 01:53:19.080
Uh, I do, and I have thought, to be honest, I have thought about it.
01:53:19.240 --> 01:53:26.600
I have some makers in mind, perhaps some beans in mind, or at least some, I have a very rough concept in mind.
01:53:26.920 --> 01:53:38.280
I think that for you know, the chocolate, if uh, you know, I go back to my chocolate selection, the 37 chocolate selection and filter coffee.
01:53:38.360 --> 01:53:41.400
You know, there is, I'm not there to push the chocolate, right?
01:53:41.480 --> 01:53:46.360
And to present the chocolates on a minute-by-minute basis.
01:53:46.760 --> 01:53:54.840
People who come in the shop are not necessarily chocolate enthusiasts, the way you and I are, where we know our origins and we know the maker.
01:53:55.000 --> 01:54:04.360
They are looking at the chocolate and they might just buy the chocolate because of the inclusion, or because, you know, so I met somebody today who said, Oh, my father, my father in law is from Ecuador.
01:54:04.440 --> 01:54:06.600
And I said, Look, Ecuador has an origin.
01:54:06.840 --> 01:54:13.080
Like everybody's gonna look at those shelves based on who they are and what resonates with them, right?
01:54:13.480 --> 01:54:21.320
And Pura Blanco Peru on a chocolate shelf is a very hard sell to mainstream audience.
01:54:21.880 --> 01:54:23.640
I really highlight mainstream, right?
01:54:23.880 --> 01:54:36.680
And that being said, when you incorporate something very geeky, a very geeky chocolate bar, there truly is an audience that's exciting to hear about it.
01:54:37.000 --> 01:54:43.000
We, you know, our success, like we we had uh about 50 people who signed up for this online tasting.
01:54:43.080 --> 01:54:46.840
So we know with the right promotion and the right chocolate maker.
01:54:47.000 --> 01:54:54.120
I mean, the Castronovo has been around for so long and she she's very established as a chocolate maker.
01:54:54.280 --> 01:55:07.160
I I think the trust she had built, the audience that I had, and the trust that I had with my own audience combined with this unique beans really attracted this subset in chocolate enthusiasts.
01:55:07.240 --> 01:55:14.040
And we have the number to show, okay, for you know, you can get people excited about this type of geeky product.
01:55:14.280 --> 01:55:25.720
And, you know, it would need to be a collaboration with a very established maker as well that has its own following and trust where people are watching for the next release.
01:55:25.960 --> 01:55:46.200
So that would be a you know, somebody that uh a maker that that would need to have that um and might like to make the chocolate, probably like actually not might, who likes to make chocolate more than like necessarily organizing a zoom tasting and sending an email to their newsletter and on and on and on.
01:55:46.440 --> 01:55:58.440
So um, yeah, so I don't know, maybe somebody is gonna listen to this and uh it's gonna talk to me about their rare beans and uh let's do a co-brandy chocolate, you know.
01:55:58.600 --> 01:56:04.360
Uh but um but Denise is the kind of maker that, you know, I know her bar so well.
01:56:04.760 --> 01:56:11.000
Um I knew that I could go, you know, I did with my eyes closed, I knew the beans already.
01:56:11.240 --> 01:56:15.320
We had tested uh a pura blanco together in 2019.
01:56:15.480 --> 01:56:19.160
So we just there's a lot of things that just made sense about this collaboration.
01:56:19.480 --> 01:56:20.600
Oh, that sounds very cool.
01:56:20.840 --> 01:56:21.000
Yeah.
01:56:21.240 --> 01:56:31.160
Well, I feel like craft chocolate is kind of unique in what you're describing because working, you know, covering some other craft, food and beverage industries like I do.
01:56:31.400 --> 01:56:52.760
One of the unique things with craft chocolate, partially because it's still relatively small as an industry, but also just something in the the spirit of the industry, is that there is a very close collaboration between enthusiasts and quote-unquote influencers and the actual producers.
01:56:52.920 --> 01:57:03.480
There is like a familiarity and an intimacy there that doesn't always exist between people who love or write about or run podcasts about other craft industries.
01:57:03.720 --> 01:57:14.680
So it feels like this is an opportunity that that exists within craft chocolate where you could definitely see some other educators or influencers or enthusiasts pursuing this type of thing.
01:57:15.000 --> 01:57:25.240
Are there unique things that you think those individuals or chocolate makers should consider if they're considering this type of collaboration?
01:57:25.560 --> 01:57:30.040
I I think at the core of it there was a relationship.
01:57:30.360 --> 01:57:37.000
And they can be tricky to build because you know, all of us are based all over the country.
01:57:37.160 --> 01:57:40.120
We don't, you know, we've never met in person yet, right?
01:57:40.600 --> 01:57:53.240
A lot of us are geography separated and main only occasionally, if at all meet at like chocolate festivals, you know, or chocolate industry events.
01:57:53.480 --> 01:58:02.120
And um, for the past 10 years, I have attended at least one industry event and one chocolate festival per year.
01:58:02.360 --> 01:58:06.520
And Denise and I originally connected on on uh the internet.
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I had reviewed uh her one of her bars in like late 2015, and then we we ran into each other at the Fine Chocolate Industry Association gathering X number of years ago.
01:58:20.280 --> 01:58:38.600
That original connection was made from the internet, and then we actually sat next to each other, and then I I I had made multiple regular wholesale orders over the years, and every order was like adding to the relationship, it was fueling the relationship.
01:58:38.840 --> 01:58:46.440
This is something that personally I like to do is I'd rather buy chocolate, because I carry 37 chocolates has its own inventory.
01:58:46.520 --> 01:58:57.960
I would rather carry three bars from one maker than three different bars from three different makers, because my my first company value is people first.
01:58:58.200 --> 01:58:59.960
I'm in here for the relationship.
01:59:00.120 --> 01:59:05.720
This is where you get to know people and where you can get to the point of relationship, right?
01:59:05.960 --> 01:59:18.200
So we we had invested through meeting in person, uh, online review, uh, multiple wholesale order, and you know, that really helped force that relationship.
01:59:18.360 --> 01:59:28.520
And once you have that, then you can have casual conversation because this really this collaboration came from a casual conversation that was based on an existing relationship.
01:59:28.760 --> 01:59:57.480
So what I would really encourage is for people listening is show up to this chalkhead festival, show up to if you're if you're not very active on Instagram, you know, maybe post a few things, comment on other people's things, but most importantly, if you feel you're vibing with somebody, send them a DM, tell them, you know, engage genuinely with people, because this is the first break to like the these are the first breaks to the relationship.
01:59:57.640 --> 02:00:00.680
It takes time, takes intentionality.
02:00:00.840 --> 02:00:12.760
But if you find somebody that, you know, you just seem to vibe for whatever reason, maybe you like their point of view as a chocolate maker, you like the way they use inclusion, can you make room in your inventory?
02:00:12.920 --> 02:00:21.000
You know, uh if you're if you happen to have wholesale accounts with with vendors, can you make multiple orders, pay them on time?
02:00:21.160 --> 02:00:22.360
That's a huge one.
02:00:22.760 --> 02:00:26.360
You know, um, and so you know, can you show up for them?
02:00:26.520 --> 02:00:29.000
Can you show up for them when they don't need you?
02:00:29.160 --> 02:00:31.320
Um, can you start first?
02:00:31.400 --> 02:00:33.640
Like, can you provide value to people?
02:00:33.880 --> 02:00:44.520
And I can guarantee you, when you make the first move of doing something and expecting nothing in return, that is gonna fuel that relationship, right?
02:00:45.080 --> 02:00:55.240
Like uh some examples also is that personally, in what I do is that I'm very fortunate to live a few hours away, three hours away from, say, Mocha Origins.
02:00:55.480 --> 02:00:57.960
Every Black Friday we try to go as a family.
02:00:58.120 --> 02:01:04.840
I mean, uh, because my mother-in-law lives not too far from there, and I just show my face and I just look around.
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I, you know, what happens is that, you know, let people know you're there and say, hey, can I make time with you?
02:01:13.400 --> 02:01:19.720
I don't want to interfere, you know, uh, but like if you're not too busy, would you be open to meeting?
02:01:19.800 --> 02:01:21.000
This is what I do.
02:01:21.240 --> 02:01:28.440
And I have learned so much uh from these casual gatherings with the staff over there.
02:01:28.600 --> 02:01:36.440
Um, but you know, invest in that relationship and give before you ask anything from anyone.
02:01:36.600 --> 02:01:39.880
I think these are good rules outside of chocolate, to be honest.
02:01:40.120 --> 02:01:57.080
But you know, I was when I started like that, and I it's definitely a long-term view, but I reap the benefits of having invested so heavily in going to chocolate festival, being a volunteer at the Fine Chocolate Industry Association at all those gatherings.
02:01:57.160 --> 02:01:59.720
I have met so many people that way.
02:02:00.040 --> 02:02:03.880
After that, it's up to you to you know check in, send people email.
02:02:04.120 --> 02:02:06.520
Hey, I read this, reminded me of you.
02:02:06.680 --> 02:02:10.040
Congratulations, you were quoted in this article.
02:02:10.280 --> 02:02:12.680
I think at the core of it is a relationship.
02:02:13.000 --> 02:02:15.000
Yeah, there's a lot of great advice in there.
02:02:15.240 --> 02:02:16.040
Absolutely.
02:02:16.280 --> 02:02:23.320
Uh, looking back at this collab, finally, is there are is there anything you feel like you learned that you would do differently if you do this again?
02:02:23.640 --> 02:02:24.920
Yeah, I I don't think so.
02:02:25.080 --> 02:02:29.720
I can't think of um of anything that I would do differently.
02:02:29.960 --> 02:02:32.760
I just was like I'm a very impulsive person.
02:02:33.480 --> 02:02:40.840
And this I feel like this is one thing I did right, is I didn't, you know, offer the bars just in exchange of money.
02:02:41.080 --> 02:02:46.600
You know, I could have done that from the get-go, send sending the bars to people who send me the DMs.
02:02:47.080 --> 02:02:50.760
I actually paused and thought and kind of regroup with myself.
02:02:50.840 --> 02:02:52.680
I'm like, hmm, what's going on here?
02:02:52.920 --> 02:02:54.280
Is this really what I stand for?
02:02:54.440 --> 02:03:01.320
This is where, you know, during the chocolate educator workshop, I encourage every single attendee.
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Like before I tell people how to do a tasting, I'm like, you're gonna go to the drawing board and you're gonna define those company values right now before you even have a business.
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Some of them already do.
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You're gonna decide what matters to you.
02:03:15.480 --> 02:03:19.960
And when you have tough decisions to make, you're gonna filter them to those values.
02:03:20.120 --> 02:03:23.400
And that's kind of what that's that's what I did.
02:03:23.720 --> 02:03:31.480
So that's how like having those values protected me from myself, to be honest, because this is now how I operate.
02:03:31.560 --> 02:03:33.080
I'm really like, oh, this sounds fun.
02:03:33.240 --> 02:03:35.480
Oh my gosh, what did I get myself into?
02:03:35.560 --> 02:03:36.680
Why did I say yes to this?
02:03:36.760 --> 02:03:39.000
And I'm like, that is the one thing that I look back.
02:03:39.240 --> 02:03:42.120
I'm like, wow, I I was protected from myself.
02:03:42.280 --> 02:03:47.480
Then that's just the one thing, that's one thing I felt that that was done, that was done right.
02:03:47.560 --> 02:03:48.200
Yeah.
02:03:48.600 --> 02:03:49.560
Okay, great.
02:03:49.880 --> 02:03:52.520
Well, Estelle, keep us updated if you do this again.
02:03:52.600 --> 02:03:56.760
I want to hear about your future collaborations and anyone out there listening.
02:03:56.840 --> 02:04:03.960
Uh, if you've gotten ideas from what Estelle has shared today and you pursue something like this, I know we would both love to hear about it.
02:04:04.040 --> 02:04:05.880
So please definitely share it with us.
02:04:06.120 --> 02:04:08.360
Estelle, always fun to have you on the show.
02:04:08.440 --> 02:04:10.200
Uh, look forward to next time already.
02:04:10.360 --> 02:04:11.480
Thanks for coming on.
02:04:11.960 --> 02:04:13.000
Thank you, David.
02:04:13.400 --> 02:04:16.760
Estelle shares so much great advice here.
02:04:16.920 --> 02:04:29.640
You can understand why I just rolled everything on this topic into this episode because she summarizes it so well and is so thoughtful in how she approached this collaboration with Denise at Casternovo.
02:04:30.040 --> 02:04:35.880
We've talked repeatedly in this series about maximizing what you get out of a collaboration.
02:04:35.960 --> 02:04:38.040
And that is all certainly true.
02:04:38.200 --> 02:04:51.800
But Estelle highlights how she goes out of her way to maximize what she can provide a collaboration partner or a potential collaboration partner, even before any specific project is in the works.
02:04:52.120 --> 02:05:00.760
Obviously, in the professional world, we need to have boundaries and protect our time and only say yes when we can do so fully and enthusiastically.
02:05:01.000 --> 02:05:04.280
But what she's advocating for here doesn't counteract that.
02:05:04.360 --> 02:05:14.760
Her emphasis is on making sure that when she interacts with another professional in this field, she is making sure they come away from it benefiting, whether it's a big or small thing.
02:05:14.920 --> 02:05:25.160
And then when the opportunity to actually work together presents itself, they have had nothing but good experiences with her and already recognize the advantage of working with her.
02:05:25.400 --> 02:05:42.520
I was talking recently with someone about beer collaborations, and they were mentioning breweries collaborating with nonprofits and made the point that when a brewery is doing marketing around a collab of that type, they should always push the nonprofit to the front in that storytelling.
02:05:42.680 --> 02:05:53.720
The brewery will get its recognition, but by centering the collab partner, the nonprofit gets the attention they need and comes away with a very good taste in their mouths about working with that brewery.
02:05:53.960 --> 02:06:01.320
What Estelle talks about here, while it's different in terms of the phase of the collaboration that she's talking about, is very similar.
02:06:01.640 --> 02:06:05.080
This is such a rich area for potential collaboration.
02:06:05.320 --> 02:06:22.120
While Kraft Chocolate's media ecosystem is still pretty thin at the formal level, we don't have much in way of dedicated publications or legacy media, but we do have a thriving network of educated enthusiasts and chocolate educators.
02:06:22.280 --> 02:06:25.560
And I know this can be a tough word, but influencers.
02:06:25.880 --> 02:06:31.880
Instagram is not what it used to be, obviously, but there is still a great community of craft chocolate folks on there.
02:06:31.960 --> 02:06:42.280
And a lot of these folks have dedicated followings and they are committed to the success of craft chocolate as an industry and to their favorite makers and farms and such.
02:06:42.600 --> 02:06:54.600
Partnering with one of these folks could be a great opportunity for a craft chocolate maker, particularly when you take into account a collab of this sort, is likely to be a pretty easy lift on your side.
02:06:54.840 --> 02:07:00.600
You don't have to worry about coordinating ingredients and production schedules with another producer.
02:07:00.760 --> 02:07:02.920
You're going to be handling it all in-house.
02:07:03.000 --> 02:07:10.200
So it's just in, you know, and just involves planning the collab and then coordinating the marketing and storytelling.
02:07:10.520 --> 02:07:18.440
As with every type of collaboration, it is critical, of course, that you make sure your values and reputation align with the person you want to collaborate with.
02:07:18.520 --> 02:07:24.600
And you're going to need to make sure everything is clearly planned out and discussed and assigned in advance.
02:07:24.840 --> 02:07:28.680
But basically, any type of bar, any occasion could work here.
02:07:28.840 --> 02:07:35.560
With due diligence, it's pretty low risk and high reward from a collab opportunity standpoint.
02:07:35.880 --> 02:07:39.560
With that said, I've been thinking about reaching out about a collab with some makers.
02:07:39.640 --> 02:07:43.240
So maybe we'll see a bean to bar stool collaboration at some point.
02:07:43.560 --> 02:07:49.720
I really do want the idea of collaborations to catch on in the craft chocolate space.
02:07:49.880 --> 02:07:55.080
If you're a craft chocolate maker or you work in the industry somehow, please do this.
02:07:55.320 --> 02:07:58.600
Explore some ideas, have some conversations.
02:07:58.760 --> 02:08:05.080
I hope the advice I provided in this episode and in the earlier series help with that.
02:08:05.320 --> 02:08:07.640
Let me know if you end up doing a collaboration.
02:08:07.720 --> 02:08:08.840
I would love to hear about it.
02:08:08.920 --> 02:08:10.600
I'll share it if you do.
02:08:10.920 --> 02:08:14.680
Ask questions if you have any and get collaborating.
02:08:14.840 --> 02:08:20.920
Thank you all so much for listening to this supercut of my collaboration for Craft Chocolate Makers series.
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I hope you enjoyed it.
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Take care.