The day before yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet Jonathan Miller, the co-founder and CEO of element bars. What we do with chocolate, they do with energy bars. You can choose between a chewy, oaty, crispy or datey core, and and then mix in all sorts of ingredients, fruits, nuts, sweets - and boosts.

Now, I have to "disclose" two things: a) I don't really eat energy bars (I'm more the chocolate bar type...). b) Jonathan gave me some bars for free (hey, this is a blog after all). Of course, I had to try a sample on my way back from the meeting, and it actually tasted pretty amazing. Very fresh!

In fact, Jonathan shared with me that freshness is one of the top three reasons why his customers build their own bars at elementbars.com. After you customize your own bar, they bake it and ship it to you, so it is much fresher than a bar that has been lying on a shelf for a few months already. Same with chocolate bars really - we hand-make them and ship them to you, so that you can try them only a few days after they've been made - you will taste the difference!

A second reason why people buy is obviously that - the taste. The chance to create something that is what YOU like - hey, that's the idea of mass customization!

Finally though, you shouldn't underestimate how nice it is to give your creation a name - whether it is your name or a creative invention. That is the third reason why people buy element bars. Chocri also offers you to name your bar, which will be on the packaging. Neat, right?

Here a visual impression from element bars:

Mmm, thanks! ;)

Once again, it was fun to talk to a fellow mass customizer. We both believe that the shift of control to the consumer is not just a temporary fad, but the future! Watch it happen... :)

Visit elementbars and build your custom protein bars

When I planned the giveaway for National Chocolate Day, I expected that there would be four toppings which you, dear readers, are less likely to pick: Nougat Pieces, Toffee, Marshmallows, and Chocolate Coated Rice Crispies. Why, you might ask? Simply because we haven't gotten around to taking pictures of them yet. In the toppings list, they are not as visual as the others. The first person to be brave and pick something without knowing what it looks like was to win the giveaway. Turns out - it was the first person who answered!

Congratulations Thomas!

Tala, Parisa, you picked some of the new toppings as well - next time, you just have to be a little faster to win some chocolate ;)

Here a little interview with the winner:

How did you first hear about chocri?
"I read an article on a website about new web 2.0 startups. It talked about custom chocolate bars. I was very interested, visited the site, connected to the twitter account and of course became a fb fan."

Why do you like chocri?
"I love chocolate (don’t ask my scale) and well, to be honest, I had the same idea some time ago when I first found mymuesli.com on the net. While I didn’t work on the idea, chocri did and here they go. And they do a great job. I really like the website, and the ideas of the chocolate bars with all these toppings and stuff are really cool. And after all, chocolate makes you happy in those stormy times, so I think and hope they will stay a long time in the market! You never can get enough chocolate!"

Who could you imagine sharing a piece of one of your 5 chocri bars with?
"Well, my wife and my kids will be first in line to taste some unique chocolate bars here. Also some very good friends of mine will receive a bar. I guess I need to reorder some to get everyone satisfied ;)"

What topping do you think we should NEVER put on a chocolate bar?
"Hmm, I think you never should say no to a topping. There are a lot of “strange” tastes around, so why lose a possible customer just because you think it won’t fit the taste J So, I hope the future will bring a lot of new stuff to chocri to mix and try."

In the end, picking a topping without a picture is just like reading the blog of a chocolate company before it has launched here yet. Thank you all for being here and commenting - we appreciate it a lot, and we know we will live up to your expectations!

Ok, so I discovered today that there's a "National Chocolate Day" at least three times a year (there seems to be a little disagreement, if all counted, there would be something like 300 chocolate days a year- hey, I'm not complaining). Nevertheless, today is one of them. For us, it's really just a great excuse to have a little sweepstakes, so we'll honor it here:

National Chocolate Day Sweepstakes

It's really easy. All you need to do is to tell us in a comment on this post what chocolate you would create if we were already selling in the US.

You have the choice of dark, milk and white chocolate (organic, fair trade Belgian goodness), and over 80 toppings.

We will choose the winner by tomorrow (Thursday) at noon. If you win, not only will you get your suggested creation, but we will give you the password to our exclusive preview website, where you will be able design four more chocolate bars!

Our method to determine the winner is secret, but it has to do with the toppings you choose.

Enjoy creating your chocolate bar! :)

When we launch in January, we will have a nifty website where you can easily create your own chocolate bar. What we will also have on that website, is a "store" with recommended creations, popular creations and those just designed. Here three selected bars from our recommended creations section:

Our most popular recommended creation:

The winner in the taste test in New York:

And finally, my personal favorite:

Isn't that mouthwatering?

Until next time!
-Carmen

We had a tasting! This past Thursday, I brought some chocolate to a joint event of the Jewish Business School Association of my alma mater, Chicago Booth, and the Kellogg Jewish Business Association.

The purpose of this particular tasting was different than that of the one in New York. While in New York, people filled out "feedback forms" and came just for the chocolate, this tasting was me providing some chocolate as a "back drop" to a fun and social event. And chocolate there was! Three tables full of chocolate bars, of course each unique. And popular! Conversations tended to center around those tables, and one particular person even told me he "hated" me for bringing this chocolate because he couldn't resist the temptation. Well, who could, right?

The three most popular chocolate bars this evening:

• Milk Chocolate with Coconut Shavings and Papaya Cubes
  
• White Chocolate with Roasted Almonds, Cinnamon and Silver Pearls
  
• Milk Chocolate with Nougat Pieces and Chocolate Lentils

All in all, the feedback was very positive and I'm glad I was able to introduce chocri that evening. A big thanks to the groups for having me!

Below a few visual impressions of the event:

Some chocolate and some chocolate lovers :)

Mhmm... chocolate...

More photos are on our facebook page - please become a fan!

I am planning a tasting in Chicago that is open to everyone - stay tuned!

Last Friday, we published our very own quiz on Facebook. Taking the quiz reveals what type of chocolate you are, and what type of chocri creations are most fit for you. This week, we will portray those chocolate types in detail, both on on this blog and our German blog. Take the quiz now to find out what type of chocoholic you are!

Today in our series of chocolate types: chocri-innovation

The adventurer type of chocoholic! ‘chocri-innovation’

Backpacking through Europe and Asia, you learned to appreciate extravagancies – and prefer chive rolls and sea salt on your chocolate. Always aiming to differentiate from the crowd, you stick out with a distinct taste and careful choice. Perfect for you is an exotic chocolate bar!

And here's the matching chocolate bar for the adventurous chocri type:

There's something new to try? You're in. Marshmallow - check. Honey Wheat Flakes - check. Chive Rolls - check. This chocolate bar gives you the energy to conquer the world!

Our very own chocri-overoad chocoholic: Carmen (truly yours) Leave a comment if you are a chocri-innovation, too!

You are what you eat. Eat chocri!

That was it! I hope you enjoyed our chocroholic types and know now which one YOU are!

Last Friday, we published our very own quiz on Facebook. Taking the quiz reveals what type of chocolate you are, and what type of chocri creations are most fit for you. This week, we will portray those chocolate types in detail, both on on this blog and our German blog. Take the quiz now to find out what type of chocoholic you are!

Today in our series of chocolate types: challenge-chocri

The strong and fearless chocoholic! ‘challenge-chocri’

You aren't kidding around. Wasabi peanuts and whole jalapenos? No problem! You like to experience feelings strongly, even (or especially?) when eating. You are fearless, and take up tasks and challenges that others don't. But you don't really talk about it - modesty is also one of your various virtues. Perfect for you is a spicy chocolate bar.

And here's the matching chocolate bar for the challenge - chocri type:

This bar has sent quite some tasters screaming for milk: There's fire in here. But for the fearless challenge-chocri, spicy jalapenos and wasabi peanuts are no obstacle, and the ginger just adds the last bit of tingle to it. The challenge-chocri doesn't even need milk in the chocolate!

Leave a comment if you are a challenge-chocri!

You are what you eat. Eat chocri!

Tomorrow: The adventurous, and last chocoholic in our series: chocri-innovation!

Last Friday, we published our very own quiz on Facebook. Taking the quiz reveals what type of chocolate you are, and what type of chocri creations are most fit for you. This week, we will portray those chocolate types in detail, both on on this blog and our German blog. Take the quiz now to find out what type of chocoholic you are!

Today in our series of chocolate types: chocri-overload

The chocoholic that can never get enough and wants it all! ‘chocri-overload’

You are the kind of person that can never get enough: Roasted Almonds? Yes! Gummy Bears? Of course! Candied Rose Petal? Heck yes! Constantly indulging in the adventure called life, you make no compromise when eating chocolate. Your bar is as full as your calendar. Perfect for you is…everything: let your imagination run wild!

And here's the matching chocolate bar for the chocri-overload type:

Fully packed with all the good stuff your heart desires (well, for this one bar): Gummy Bears, Sprinkles, Sour Cherries, Roasted Almonds, and don't forget the Candied Rose Petals. An orchestra exploding in your mouth!

Our very own chocri-overoad chocoholic: Micha Bruck, one of our founders.
Leave a comment if you are a chocri-overload, too!

You are what you eat. Eat chocri!

Tomorrow: The fearless chocoholic: challenge-chocri!

Last Friday, we published our very own quiz on Facebook. Taking the quiz reveals what type of chocolate you are, and what type of chocri creations are most fit for you. This week, we will portray those chocolate types in detail, both on on this blog and our German blog. Take the quiz now to find out what type of chocoholic you are!

Today in our series of chocolate types: chocri-chic

The elegant type of chocoholic! ‘chocri-chic’

You are the diva of chocoholics, and will only be satisfied with the diva of chocolates. You are always prepared and always perfectly put together, and you expect your chocolate to be as well. Gold on the chocolate translates into gold on your neck and fingers, flowers on the chocolate are mirrored by the flowers you often receive from your admirers. You are a real head turner! Perfect for you is dark chocolate with gold powder or flowers.

And here's the matching chocolate bar for the chocri-chic type:

Golden pearls, flowers and sensuous strawberries mirror your beauty... well, almost. But don't forget that the taste trumps the looks!

Our very own chocri-chic chocoholics: Franz Duge, one of our founders, and Nora, one our interns.
Leave a comment if you are a chocri-chic, too!

You are what you eat. Eat chocri!

Tomorrow: The chocoholic who wants it all: chocri-overload!

Last Friday, we published our very own quiz on Facebook. Taking the quiz reveals what type of chocolate you are, and what type of chocri creations are most fit for you. This week, we will portray those chocolate types in detail, both on on this blog and our German blog. Take the quiz now to find out what type of chocoholic you are!

Today in our series of chocolate types: chocrilicious

The light-hearted and fun type of chocoholic! ’chocrilicious’

You are fun and flirty, light-hearted and don’t get upset easily. You have both feet on the ground, although carrying a balloon in one hand. As the ‘chocrilicious’-type, you are a sweet person that aims to please - and succeeds in doing so. Perfect for you are combinations with milk chocolate, nuts and cranberries.

And here's the matching chocolate bar for the chocrilicous type:

A scrumptious combination of milk chocolate, cranberries and toasted hazelnut. No too outrageous of a combination, but definitely happy-making.

Our very own chocri-overoad chocoholics: Anne, one of our interns, and Jule, one of our chocolate artists.
Leave a comment if you are the chocrilicious type, too!

You are what you eat. Eat chocri!

Tomorrow: The elegant chocoholic - chocri-chic!

In the last few days we had a lot of new visitors - Welcome!

This is chocri's blog, and starting this January, we will sell delicious, customized chocolate bars here.

On this website, you will be able to create your own chocolate bar by combining fair trade, organic Belgium chocolate with your choice out of over 80 toppings - from the expected (dried fruit, nuts) to the extravagant (ever tried sea salt or chive rolls on chocolate?).

In fact, if you speak German and would like to start designing a chocolate bar now, visit our German homepage www.chocri.de.

Should you be a blogger or press representative, visit our exclusive press preview site. You will need an invitation code, which you can also request there.

We are also on Facebook and Twitter as @chocridotcom. Become our fan and follow us!

Finally, if you want to be in the know and make sure you don't miss our launch - let us put you on our email list. We will soon have a feature where you can easily add yourself, but for now email me or add a comment (no one will be able to see your email but us, and it'd be nice if you say hi!) to this post.

We hope you'll enjoy this blog - and very soon our chocolate! :)

Here's another adventure from Germany. The award ceremony for the "Wirtschaftswoche Gründerpreis 2009" was in Munich, so we felt compelled to swing by mymuesli in Passau.

mymuesli took the concept of mass customization in its early beginnings in Germany and applied it to - muesli. Their office and production is nestled between fields and meadows, but they are known widely all over Germany. So we were honored to be invited to visit.

We started right away by looking at their storage and production. Since a box (or in their case capsule) of muesli has a lot more volume than a bar of chocolate, we were impressed by rooms and rooms packed with ingredients for the mixes of the customers. Have you ever read the Duck Tales, with Scrooge McDuck (the rich guy), who goes swimming in his money? The rooms were so full with strawberries and oats and ... it reminded me of the room full of money that McDuck would dive into. Only that of course the supplies at mymuesli were all well packaged and hygienically stored - no one went swimming here.

The production itself was a big mixing station. Unfortunately we arrived there during a break, so we couldn't see how the cereal is actually mixed. But I did learn that all of it is done by hand, and that each capsule is shaken many times to ensure an even distribution of the ingredients (- tricky!).

We sat and talked with the mymuesli founders over tea for a while, about their UK expansion and our US expansion, and how it's like to live and work in Bavaria. We even went to lunch with them with their many interns - to Burger King! (can you say globalization?) Fun times, and I'm looking forward to welcoming Max, Hubertus and Philipp in the US someday - maybe by then they don't only have mymuesli BMWs but also a mymuesli plane ;)

When you, the consumer, can design your own chocolate bar and have it handmade to order for you; and when besides you many (many) more people can do the same, then experts call this mass customization.
I was asking this question in a very early blog post (Mass Customization in the US): Is this just a German phenomenon, European, or is it applicable to the US?

Seems the Entrepreneur Magazine has an answer for me. In a recent article they called mass customization "one of the hottest startup trends". The magazine gives three examples of mass customization companies: ShirtsMyWay (men's dress shirts), Smart Furniture (customized shelves) and 1154 LILL Studio (customized handbags), and how they've gained popularity and are successful with their concepts. I love that Entrepreneur Magazine is aware of this trend. But I do wonder why they portrayed two companies in the article that were founded ten years ago. There are many examples of startups in mass customization, e.g. LaudiVidni for handbags, or Indochino on custom clothing (which was recently funded, and then featured in a chubbybrain article). If not those, take Zazzle, a customizer of many products, from mouse pad to coffee mug. Being a business school graduate, I like to believe that these startups wouldn't be starting without seeing increased demand for such customized products.

I really like that the article points out that the creation and design of the product is often a "creative experience" - and in fact I've found myself many times designing handbags that I cannot afford. Good thing chocri is affordable - and fun to make!

Finally, as another positive comment on mass customization, I want to share the following: At the MCPC (Mass Customization and Personalization Conference) last week, Bruce Kasanoff (an author who has written about the topic before) said "Personalization will be THE driver of the economy within the next 8 years!" (read more on Prof. Piller's blog) I don't know about "THE" driver, but I sure would like it to be - more power to the consumer (you)!

As I was perusing the info from the chocolate museum (see the last two blog posts), I found this neat table that states how much chocolate was consumed per capita and per country. That means the total amount of chocolate consumed in one country was broken down on the number of people living in that country.

No surprises in first place (Switzerland), but who would've thought that this is how the list continues? Personally, I'm not surprised by the numbers for the US since we did research on this before, but it's still always strikes me as being a little strange. Do you all eat less chocolate because there's more candy alternatives? Or is it just because the chocolate in the US is just not that good, compared to Europe? Well, if the latter - we're coming to help!

As mentioned in A Visit to the Chocolate Museum (Part 1), as you enter the chocolate museum in Cologne, you are right away treated a small piece of Lindt chocolate, which is produced on premises.

This production unit of the museum is my favorite part, and I will now take you with me through it, step by step.

• Preparation of the cocoa: Once the cocoa beans are fermented and dried, they are put into containers and shipped to production facilities all over the world.
  Did you know which country produces the most chocolate goods? Yes, it's the US with more than 1.5 million tons. But guess who's next- Germany! With nearly a million tons per year. France, Belgium and Switzerland are only on place four, six and twelve (that means China produces more chocolate than Switzerland!). I digress.
  

• Roasting: The cacao beans arrive and are cleaned, then roasted. The half hour heat treatment intensifies the taste and is per chocolate manufacturer one of the best kept trade secrets. We've tested a long time until we decided that Callebaut, a famous Belgian chocolate company, meets our high standards.

• Crushing: A machine now carefully separates the husk form the coca beans. The husks can be reused, for example as tea. Have you ever tried any?

• Grinding: A mill grinds the shelled beans. In the process, heat develops, which melts the ground beans into a beautiful, liquid chocolate mass.

• Mixing: The other ingredients are added to the chocolate: sugar, milk powder (for milk chocolate), lecithin (a soy bean extract that improves consistency and fluidity of chocolate) and in some cases, vanilla.

Video: The chocolate is ground and mixed with other ingredients that together make chocolate

• Rolling: Since chocolateurs are perfectionist, the chocolate is again rolled in several cooled roller mills, each with a smaller distance between the rolls. In this step, the chocolate obtains a very fine and blended consistency.

• Conching: My favorite step in the chocolate production process. Developed by Lindt and in my eyes the reason for its success, the conche just seems to move around the chocolate, stirring it happily. In the process though it is heated up, which reduces moisture levels and helps develop desired flavors. Since this is a slow process, low quality chocolate doesn't spend a lot of time in the conche, while high quality chocolate (like ours!) considers the conche its vacation home.

Video: The conche

In the case of chocri, the chocolate is now cooled down, formed to big blocks and transported to our facility in Berlin. It is here that the chocolate is further processed by hand. For now, let's follow the museum production though:

• Tempering: Here, the chocolate goes through a rollercoaster of temperatures - high - cool - high. This ensures that it doesn't "bloom" as the expert says (have you ever seen the white film on chocolate that got too hot?). We have perfected this in Berlin, which took a while and which we are very proud of.

• Forming: The warm liquid chocolate mass is poured by an impressive automated machine into synthetic moulds. They are vibrated to release any potential air bubbles, and then cooled down. The moulds are turned over and the chocolate pieces are knocked out onto a conveyer belt.

• Wrapping: Definitely the biggest action at this machine: After a roboter carefully picks the chocolate bars up and the one (!) person controlling all of the machinery makes sure that all the little bars look pretty. They are then lined up and wrapped so quickly that all I could see was "unwrapped - wrapped. unwrapped - wrapped." Then they all fall into a box which is regularly brought to the entrance of the museum where people like me get one of them.

Video: The wrapper machine

A special treat that this blog has been waiting for is my report from the chocolate museum in Cologne. On my trip to Germany (to visit chocri in Berlin) I couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn and experience in the Cologne Museum. Since there's so much at the museum, I'll concentrate today on the cocoa part of chocolate

Let's start where it all begins. The chocolate museum is in a beautiful building just by the river Rhine, and they actually produce Lindt chocolate there. That has the positive effect that, when you enter, you are handed a piece of chocolate to start off with.

The museum then leads you through the history of a chocolate piece from cocoa tree to the wrapper machine -very informative, and also very interactive. Everywhere there's something to open or play with - or maybe I just followed the kids route too much ;-)

First Stop: The Cocoa Tree

The first thing I learned about the cocoa tree is that it is a diva. It takes its time until its ready to bear fruit - up to eight years, and then it bears both flowers and fruit on to the trunk or lower thick branches - as if to say "stay away! they're mine!". Well, granted, cocoa is called "the food of gods" in its Latin plant name. The cocoa tree also has very strict requirements when it comes to temperature and precipitation. And did you know that the cocoa tree is distantly related to the rose? (sounds like some candied rose petal on chocolate to me!)
The museum even had two live cocoa trees in a temperature controlled room.

Second Stop: The Cocoa Harvest and Preparation

If the cocoa farmer is lucky and the tree diva is kind, a tree yields ripe fruit throughout the year. But the cocoa fruit requires between four to seven months to ripen -compare that to your neighborhood apple! The cocoa fruit is removed from the tree by hand or stick, and carried to a collection point with baskets. There, they are sorted and unsuitable fruits are discarded. The remaining ones are prized open and the cocoa beans, which have been hiding inside, are thus collected. A very important step in the process of preparation follows: The fermentation. The cocoa beans and the fruit mush are heated up, ferment, and then are dried, a process during which they lose around half of their weight. Imagine the beans lying flat out in the sun, continually stirred and sorted by the farmers. This is when the intense cocoa flavor develops, and the different types of cocoa are starting to distinguish.

Third Stop: Cocoa Regions and Farmers

The museum did a great job portraying the people who grow and harvest the cocoa trees. Did you know that 75% of all cocoa farmers have never tried chocolate? There's approximately as many cocoa farmers in the world as Chicago has inhabitants. Cocoa cultivation is limited to a few regions in Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania due to the demanding nature of the cocoa tree. The biggest exporter of cocoa beans is the Ivory Coast, where more than a quarter of the world's cocoa beans are produced.
The living and working conditions differ greatly from country to country. Often, farmers are paid in bonus systems, which means that children regularly work as well. That is why there's "fair trade" cocoa products. Here, the farmers are paid a fair price for their product, which enables better living and working conditions and allows the children to go to school.

chocri only uses fair trade (and organic) chocolate for its chocolate bars. Also, we cooperate with DIV Kinder, an organization that helps and protects children of the Ivory Coast. 1% of every chocolate bar purchased goes directly to the children of the Ivory Coast.

Tune back in next week for a walk through the museum's chocolate production.

We Germans might be a little stubborn sometimes, but what's right is right, and the deliciousness we add on your chocri chocolate bar are not ingredients, they are toppings. Not like ice cream toppings, but more like pizza toppings- the chocri bar doesn't "work" without them.

Please bare with us as we get used to the new word and change all the little links and kinks. Most of all though, thank you for your continuous input!

p.s. Happy World Vegetarian Day. Don't forget - chocri bars are always vegetarian! ;-)