Today I'm proud to introduce the newest blog feature that our developer Reiner built - consider it the chocri version of "Hot or Not". If you scroll down a little you will see two chocri bars, randomly created. It's up to you to decide which one is better (well, hotter). It's loads of appetizing fun.

Your playful interaction will also help us to determine which ingredients are "hotter" in the US market. We'll do a survey later as well, but this first step will help us make a survey that knows a little more already, so we don't have to waste your time later. Time that you should rather spend enjoying yourself. Like, playing the Hot or Not for chocri bars :)

What do you think? Please comment!

Enjoy!
The chocri team

Yesterday, we had our tasting in New York, kindly hosted by Entwine Bar. The chocolate tasting was a great success- the chocolate was gone within 1.5 hours, and the feedback was great and very valuable.
What I learned from mingling with the tasters was that everyone has a very unique taste in chocolate. Some don't like dark chocolate, others only like dark chocolate. Some thought the super spicy "firemaker" was the hit of the night, others, well, not. This is really wonderful feedback for chocri, because chocri allows each one of you to make exactly what you like.

So now about the event itself:
The first big group of people came before we even had a chance to bring all the chocolate out of its hiding place. I had told the bar, when we planned the event, that we should set the time to 8 p.m., because then everybody would probably get in around 8:30 p.m. Little did I know! By 8.10 p.m., the wine bar was crowded and the bartender was struggling to supply the thirsty crowd with cocktails and wine. Drinks such as "The Highline" (actually the name of a popular, new park that recently opened not too far from the bar) or Prosecco with Elderflower went with their new owners to discover the chocolate of the night.

New York foodies take a tasting seriously. I saw eyes closed, guests concentrating on the chocolate melting in their mouths and the taste unfolding, then carefully writing down ratings and suggestions. Quickly the chocolates had been reduced to just a few, and latecomers were a left with only a few to try (sorry!). From walking around and speaking to the tasters, I learned that everyone had at least one or a few bars that they loved, but also that people like certain types: Dark vs. not, lots of ingredients on top vs. simple bars, or spicy vs. not spicy. This is great, because it is exactly the reason why customized chocolate like chocri is needed in this world! With chocri, you can create exactly the bar that you (or the recipient) will love.

The two most popular bars were the "White with Berries" bar, that had strawberries, blueberries and cranberries on top, as well as the more extravagant "Classic, Pure, and Dark" with dark chocolate, sour cherries, Sunday morning coffee and almond slices. Overall, the most popular ingredient was coffee, and we received some exciting suggestions of ingredients to add, from pink pepper to sun dried tomatoes. It was great to see though that out of all the ingredients suggestions, more than half of them are already available on the German website, so we're on the right track!

We know now that the high quality of chocri is appreciated also in the US market, and we are looking forward with confidence to our launch here. In the end, we even had a surprise guest: Not knowing about the chocolate tasting, Anne Burrell walked in. She is a chef on the food network in the show "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef", was the sous chef of Mario Batali on Iron Chef, and is very engaged in the food scene in New York. In other words: This lady knows food! Of course she got some chocolate, but I didn't want to disturb her evening so I unfortunately didn't get her feedback. Maybe she wants to leave a comment on the blog or email me at carmen@chocri.com? ...

Finally, thanks to all of you who came. This was a fun evening, and your feedback is appreciated and will make our offering in the US only better. We will soon open up the discussion about ingredients and packaging to more people, so stay tuned.
Until next time!

The chocri team

You can also find us on www.facebook.com/chocri.

Dear chocri friends in New York,

We have great news for you! Our first tasting in the city is coming up! Enjoy handpicked and handmade chocolate, paired with delicious wine and exquisite cocktails that were created just for this event.

How about some "Berries and Flowers with Orange Spice" or "Fashionista Chocolate", or "Firemaker"?

The tasting is this Sunday, August 23
at 8 pm
hosted at Entwine Bar (more info below)

Take your friends or date and come by after dinner for a delicious dessert and relaxed end to the week.

Entwine Bar is on 765 Washington, the cross street is W 12th Street. The closest subway stop is 8th and 14th.

See you there!
Your chocri team

p.s. Don't come too late, we can't guarantee that the chocolate will last...

Part of my job of introducing personalized chocolate to the US (chocri!) is understanding consumers (you!) and trends. Something I've noticed trend-wise is that there are a lot more personalized products in Germany than I can find in the US (experts call it mass customization). I wonder if that is because American consumers are fundamentally different compared to German (or even European) consumers or if that is a case where a trend has grown in Germany and will soon become as important, if not more, in the USA. What do you think?

One of the cool personalized products I have found in the US is cereal: [me] & goji, custom artisanal cereal. In Germany, chocri already partnered up with mymuesli, and this is effectively the American version of it. I had the pleasure of chatting with Carl from [me] & goji to learn from them how to make a customized product successful in this market.
Here's the two things I learned:

1) A superior product will have superior success.
I've ordered some [me] & goji cereal for myself and must say that it tastes great. Crunchy, yummy, healthy. They have a vast abundance of ingredients - like chocri.
I am very glad that this is one of the most important success criteria. I've skimmed through something like 5000 customer feedback forms from German customers, and let me assure you - they LOVE chocri. Also, I've had a little tasting in Chicago and everyone couldn't get enough of it. Finally, I've tasted it myself :) Also, chocri has ingredients that you won't easily find anywhere. For example candied rose petals - those come from a little farm in the mountains (sorry, but where exactly is a secret), and this farm hardly even sells them to anyone. But chocri has them!

2) Take customer feedback serious and love your customers back.
Thank you [me] & goji for being a good example and reinforcing something we believe in: superior customer support, and interaction. After all, you, who is readings this, are (ok, will be) the creative mind in the production process, and we care about you being happy and the ideas you have. Excellent service is a given, without that we don't even have to begin. A great inspiration when it comes to this is also Tony Hsieh, who just announced that Zappos' objective is now "Delivering happiness".
Why do you think are we trying to integrate you in the process as we "immigrate to the US"? In this blog, you will soon see calls to help us identify delicious ingredients and toppings, as well as packaging, as well as... stay tuned. We are doing this to make you happy and deliver something you really want.

Oh, one last thing. Leave a comment if you may. It's much more fun to know who we're talking to. Leave just a tiny little sign of life before you continue on into the vastness of the internet :)

What I haven't told you yet in my last blog post is the whole story behind chocri. The two founders are Franz and Micha. Before chocri started, they were both entrepreneurs already, selling yummy chocolate fountains.

The first chocri chocolate bar was really an emergency solution: The birthday of Franz's girlfriend was coming up, and he had no idea what to give her as a gift. He needed something that was cute, something that showed that he cared and that he had thought about what she liked.

One day before her birthday, he finally had the idea: Using the liquid chocolate he had access to from the chocolate fountain business, he created a chocolate bar and then covered it with her favorite snacks. Thus, the first ever chocri bar was created. The design was a white chocolate bar, topped with gummibears and trail mix. His girlfriend loved it, the birthday gift was a full success.

Shortly after, the first friend of Franz showed up and wanted to know whether he could have a customized chocolate bar for his mother. This was early 2008, and the beginning of chocri.

Since then, chocri has grown tremendously in Germany. Chocri was (and still is) featured extensively on TV shows and in the press in Germany, and people soon went online to the newly launched website to design their own chocolate bars. To keep up with the demand, chocri has grown to a 20 people strong team, full of joyous and reliable people that have set it as their goal to "sweeten the world" together. Whether in the office or in the production, everyone is committed with ambition, passion and a sense of fun. We think that this attitude translates into the products that you will soon also have access to here in the US.

Welcome to our blog! This is an exciting milestone in the adventure of bringing chocri to the US.
What is chocri, you ask?

Chocri is delicious, handmade chocolate, that you (yes, you!) design. So far chocri is only available in Germany (visit us on chocri.de), but when it finally makes its way to the US, you will be able to comfortably create an individual chocolate bar just how you like it. There's a good chance that no one else will have a chocolate bar quite like yours - because with three chocolate bases (dark, milk and white chocolate) and a choice of more than 80 ingredients, more than 10 billion combinations are possible. And it makes a great gift too!

We would like to invite you to take part in our "immigration" adventure. A lot has to be planned and tweaked before our launch in January. As you come along, please share your opinion via the comments, give us advice and share your wishes. After all, this is what this is about - a chocolate according to your wishes!

See you around!
The chocri team

P.s. If you are eager to try some chocolate (or just because!), become our fan on facebook.com/chocri. Like this, you can be sure to hear immediately about our tastings. The next one will be in New York City. How about some, say, milk chocolate with strawberries, honey roasted almonds, hazelnut brittle, cinnamon and gold flakes? Delicious or not?