Tuesday, November 27, 2012

It's getting better all the time

Hello!


Thanks for reading my inconsistently updated blog- I know we are all busy.

Here is a brief overview of what has been going on for Zimt and a bit of a look at what it is like to have a little chocolate company.

So,  I am very happy to report that Zimt manufacturing has moved to its beautiful new home- in North Vancouver! The facility is really quite perfect- very big, very clean, bright, professional- just beautiful. But very cold. We cannot have it all, though- and the chocolate likes the cold so I guess that is what counts.  I can't believe I didn't think about this before, but this is the first facility Zimt has operated out of which seems like a proper step up. Like I wrote, it is professional and clean, which shouldn't be a luxury in manufacturing, but in the day-to-day running of things, when one is working "in" one's business  as opposed to "on" one's business (an E-Myth no-no), it is easy to lose site of the bigger picture. Not a good idea, but it is tricky to find balance, trust me.

The new location is one of the main things- such a relief! One that I did not realize was going to make such a huge difference. There is a ton of storage space and things can be kept better organized (re: packaging is no longer living in my office...). Here- a beautiful photo for you to enjoy!

The kind folks at Crave Conscious even built on an extra shelving unit to the work station. Look at how beautiful and organized. And clean. (!)


Macaroon boxes are IN. And filled with Double Chocolate Macaroons on the shelves at Whole Foods Cambie. Here is a photo I took of them:

Double Chocolate Macaroons in packaging
I think they are doing pretty well because they have already been ordered twice now.

And some more exciting news- this is such a big deal I don't think I fully comprehend it yet, as is the case with most big deals.

Two different shelving spaces at Whole Foods Cambie! Isn't that awesome? Now you can get Zimt chocolate by your kale chips!

Here is a photo of the space:


Superfood Sandwich! 




Other exciting news if you love fudgy chocolate cakes. Zimt is now offering fudgy chocolate cake in the form of the Chocolate Ganache Torte. I will be bringing a sample to the Regional Manager at Whole Foods once he is back from vacation, which should be at the end of the month.

Here is a photo of the Chocolate Ganache Torte, which Karmavore had in their dessert case display:

Fudgy Chocolate Ganache Torte

Hoping to get it into Urban Fare, too. (Mention it to them for me?)

And classes are up and running- really fun. You can take a look at the schedules by clicking on the links that are found in this link here: http://www.zimt.ca/classes.html Try to come if you can- we make pretty things like this:

Other than that... things have just been busy. Always dealing with lots of little components and at least one loooooooooong day in the kitchen each week. It seems to work most economically that way but wow it is really tiring. I kind of feel like I need to sleep for three days straight afterward. Things will hopefully get a bit easier again soon because I got an automatic tempering machine- will have to see how that goes, as Zimt chocolate is not like most chocolate (apparently, most chocolatiers get ready made chocolate and then put this chocolate into the tempering equipment, which heats and cools the chocolate until it is at the correct consistency to work with). But we have done this by hand, thus far. And it takes a very, very long time. I know a few good people in the chocolate biz, though, and they are kind enough to help me figure it out.

That's all for now, folks!

Emma