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🍫 Choc-A Lot - How to increase price by increasing value.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 172 - Choc-A Lot, my sisters and my mom partook in our annual "Christmas in July" gift exchange. For a family who loves gift-giving with birthdays from November - February, the rest of the year feels like a gifting desert. Ergo - Christmas in July for the fourth year running was born.

The rules are simple: you must buy everyone a gift that is $50 each, and you must give everyone the same gift.

I'm still in my minimalist era, so I wanted to go with a consumable (something that won't live on the shelf collecting dust), and a new local chocolate shop opened at our favorite mall - Läderach (good luck pronouncing that). 

Their claim to fame is giant chocolate slabs you can see walking past their pretty storefront (pic in the newsletter is from their Facebook page here). Yeah - definitely a head-turner for just about any "sweet treat" addict like myself. I ended up shellin' out $250 to meet the "Christmas in July" spending requirement (while also sweet-treatin' myself), and lemme tell ya - Y-U-M-M-O.

But cheap ain't luxury and luxury ain't cheap - so here are the 10 things we found that made the difference between Laderach and Dove chocolate (no hate to Dove, those are my go-to Saturday night sweet treats). 

🍫 Packaging Packs a Punch.

I swear they had more packaging options than they had chocolate - and for good reason. This chocolate is meant to be gifted. Their store screamed "This is a perfect gift for the hard-to-buy-for" with so many selections for varying chocolate sizes and truffles combos - there was a gift box for every budget. If you were worried about presentation, worry no more - this brand was a packaging powerhouse.

Same with your packaging - the bigger, flashier, funnier, brighter, cuter - the better. We're not selling food. We're selling really delicious gifts - just like Laderach.

🍫 Samples Sell.

I'll be honest - this chocolate shop has been fueling my mall powerwalks for months - there's always a person at the front door offering bits of broken chocolate slabs for the passersby to tempt themselves. They don't hard-pitch you on anything - just merely ask, "Would you like some chocolate?" That's one question you'll never hear me say no to. The fun fact is - they'd given me three samples before I finally reached into my chocolate change purse. 

Same with samples at vendor markets. No, I don't think you're "giving away product for free" - I think you're building a returning customer base. Remember - it took me three completely free samples before I spent $250.

🍫 Location Location Location.

Laderach had one thing on lock - their location. Between a mall entrance and a high-foot-trafficked anchor store (Macy's), there were tons of people walking by (did we mention their all-glass storefront where you can drool... I mean... see the stacked slabs of delicious chocolate). 

While your bakery may be at home, your location at vendor events can make all the difference. See if you can find a spot next to a popular vendor (stay away from direct competitors) and an entryway.

🍫 Brand Fans.

If being decked out in branded aprons, crisp button-down white collared shirts, and fancy black slacks wasn't enough, the staff truly seemed to be fans of the brand they worked for. One staff member heard us struggling (see: slaughtering) pronunciation and chimed in not only with the easy way to remember the name but added some history about the brand. "That brother works in the kitchen developing some of the most unique chocolate pairings I've ever tasted - he's a chocolate genius." 

Are you excited about your brand?