Near my little Mayberry of a town, there is a chocolate shop that sells
hand-made truffles and other chocolate confections, but not chocolate
drinks. They have recently added espresso drinks to their offerings. I would
think if even this non-urban area (Central NC) can support a fine chocolate
shop, then someone with a good business plan should be able to succeed
almost anywhere. There is also another chocolates shop, but they sell more
along the lines of barks, cups (almond cups, PB cups, etc), other candies
such as jelly beans and those jelled things that are supposed to look like
fruit. They also sell "gifty" items. This places smells so strongly of mint
that the one time I bought a chocolate confection there, it was tainted with
artificial mint. I never recommend that shop to friends, but I do highly
recommend the other one.

--
Wendy
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
un-STUFF email address to reply




"annead" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> thanks for all the comments, like I said hadn't noticed those types of
> establishments around so there must be a good reason. Thanks again.
>

at Mon, 28 Nov 2005 18:04:40 GMT in
>,
(frood) wrote :

>Near my little Mayberry of a town, there is a chocolate shop that sells
>hand-made truffles ...
>There is also another chocolates shop, but they
>sell more along the lines of barks, cups (almond cups, PB cups, etc),
>other candies such as jelly beans and those jelled things that are
>supposed to look like fruit. They also sell "gifty" items. This places
>smells so strongly of mint that the one time I bought a chocolate
>confection there, it was tainted with artificial mint....

On a related line, what is it that has made the "truffle" so iconically
associated with "high-end" chocolate that invariably, the high-end
chocolatiers are making these kinds of confections, while meanwhile, things
like barks and cups have likewise become so associated with "low-brow"
chocolate that invariably the only place you find these is in low-end
chocolatiers? I'd kill for a truly first-rate chocolate bark or chocolate
peanut butter cup, and yet these items are not found. I find it, honestly,
snobbish and prejudicial to relegate these kinds of items automatically
into the low-end category, and it puts artificially finite limits on how
good these items can be. Yet high-end chocolatiers, even if they want to
make such items, simply can't afford to because they won't sell well in
their shop because of the image issue.

Any thoughts on this positioning dilemma?


--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
...
> at Mon, 28 Nov 2005 18:04:40 GMT in
> >,
>
> On a related line, what is it that has made the "truffle" so iconically
> associated with "high-end" chocolate that invariably, the high-end
> chocolatiers are making these kinds of confections, while meanwhile,
> things
> like barks and cups have likewise become so associated with "low-brow"
> chocolate that invariably the only place you find these is in low-end
> chocolatiers? I'd kill for a truly first-rate chocolate bark or chocolate
> peanut butter cup, and yet these items are not found. I find it, honestly,
> snobbish and prejudicial to relegate these kinds of items automatically
> into the low-end category, and it puts artificially finite limits on how
> good these items can be. Yet high-end chocolatiers, even if they want to
> make such items, simply can't afford to because they won't sell well in
> their shop because of the image issue.
>
> Any thoughts on this positioning dilemma?
>
>
> --
> Alex Rast
>
> (remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

This chocolate shop that I like (Renaissance Chocolates in Cary, NC) has
recently started carrying barks (almond ones, and peppermint, red and white
for the Christmas season), and has some cups with dried fruit and chocolate.
I don't know how well they are selling, as I don't care for either
peppermint or nuts. The dried fruit ones looked tempting last time I was in,
but I was shopping only for molded chocolates at that time.

But that is not what you asked. :-) Perhaps cups and barks are associated
with "low end" chocolatiers because they are easy enough to produce by most
people in their own kitchens. "I could make that" often translates into
non-gourmet or non-artistic (as I've seen in the quilt world). I'm not
saying this is a valid reason, but I have noticed this mind set frequently.

--
Wendy (who remembered to bottom post this time around)
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
un-STUFF email address to reply

Alex Rast wrote:

> at Mon, 28 Nov 2005 18:04:40 GMT in
> >,
> (frood) wrote :
>
>
>>Near my little Mayberry of a town, there is a chocolate shop that sells
>>hand-made truffles ...
>>There is also another chocolates shop, but they
>>sell more along the lines of barks, cups (almond cups, PB cups, etc),
>>other candies such as jelly beans and those jelled things that are
>>supposed to look like fruit. They also sell "gifty" items. This places
>>smells so strongly of mint that the one time I bought a chocolate
>>confection there, it was tainted with artificial mint....
>
>
> On a related line, what is it that has made the "truffle" so iconically
> associated with "high-end" chocolate that invariably, the high-end
> chocolatiers are making these kinds of confections, while meanwhile, things
> like barks and cups have likewise become so associated with "low-brow"
> chocolate that invariably the only place you find these is in low-end
> chocolatiers? I'd kill for a truly first-rate chocolate bark or chocolate
> peanut butter cup, and yet these items are not found. I find it, honestly,
> snobbish and prejudicial to relegate these kinds of items automatically
> into the low-end category, and it puts artificially finite limits on how
> good these items can be. Yet high-end chocolatiers, even if they want to
> make such items, simply can't afford to because they won't sell well in
> their shop because of the image issue.
>
> Any thoughts on this positioning dilemma?

At one restaurant where I worked we made our bark with Guittard
gourmet bittersweet. It was worth using good ingredients because
we had a pretty big following when it came to our desserts.

In my area (SF bay) there's a good number of demanding dessert
lovers who want everything to be perfect, all the way down to
the bark garnishing their sundae. They'll notice every detail
so if you use cheap ingredients you'll end up hearing about it.

You're right though when it comes to shops. I haven't been able
to find a good bark in a shop either. Cups either. Both of these
I have to make myself. Good truffles are everywhere, however.

I think it has to do with the perception as you say. Truffles
beat bark every time, so people will pay a premium for one
and insist on paying as little as possible for the other.


--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

Reg wrote:

> You're right though when it comes to shops. I haven't been able
> to find a good bark in a shop either. Cups either. Both of these
> I have to make myself. Good truffles are everywhere, however.

What do you consider distinguishes a bark from a bar, other than the
regularity of shape?

at Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:49:04 GMT in <QsIjf.1804$s96.74@trndny01>,
(Janet Puistonen) wrote :

>Reg wrote:
>
>> You're right though when it comes to shops. I haven't been able
>> to find a good bark in a shop either. Cups either. Both of these
>> I have to make myself. Good truffles are everywhere, however.
>>
>> I think it has to do with the perception as you say. Truffles
>> beat bark every time, so people will pay a premium for one
>> and insist on paying as little as possible for the other.

>What do you consider distinguishes a bark from a bar, other than the
>regularity of shape?

IMHO a bar doesn't have nuts or other inclusions protruding. In order to
achieve this, a bar generally has a lower proportion of such additions.
Also, barks are generally thinner than most bars - although there are
exceptions. Usually the exceptions are pure chocolate bars, however.

Do "truffles beat bark"? Not every time IMHO. There are times when yes,
you're in the mood for something super-creamy, and then a truffle is the
way to go. But there are other times when you're looking for a different
sensation - something with more bite, and perhaps with more of a mix of
flavours as opposed to a very pure chocolate taste.

However, there is one commanding aspect of truffles that I suspect may make
them a winner - they're bite-size. So the format is ideal for getting a
quick fix or satisfying a craving. It's a much more impulsive sort of thing
to get. Given that the necessity of siting chocolate cafes in areas that
have high foot traffic speaks heavily to impulse buying, it should hardly
surprise us that they enjoy such a prevalence.

And in addition while truffles cost a lot on a per-pound basis, if you're
just going for that isolated impulse buy, it's easy to justify, say, $2.
But a bark is something that, not being so associated with impulse, you
would more probably be buying a fair amount, and this adds up if you use
quality ingredients to make the bark, which is where people balk - they
don't like spending $20 for, let's say, 1 lb.

OTOH, this theory doesn't account for cups. So there's something else going
on as well.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)