How would you rate Guittard? "Premium consumer", "high-end", or "elite"?


Alex Rast wrote:

>at Tue, 10 Feb 2004 02:36:51 GMT in
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>(Linus) wrote :
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>>On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 15:56:35 GMT, "Tea" > wrote:
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>>>I must admit that I'm surprised. Wouldn't most potential retailers
>>>know something about the kinds of products they want to sell?
>>>Nevertheless, my two cents- Valrhona, Callebaut and Scharffen-Berger
>>>are all very good, and they make large bars. Scharffen-Berger and
>>>Michel Cluizel also make excellent chocolate. I would suggest that you
>>>come to the next annual Chocolate Show in New York (it's in November,
>>>and it has a website) so you can meet with some of the world's top
>>>chocolate makers and get some answers to your questions.
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>>I can understand your surprise. This is a new venture and I am not a
>>chocolate afficiando at this point. ...
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>What's given you an interest in starting up a chocolate store? Knowing what
>your focus and direction is would help a lot for me and other people to
>give you advice.
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>As to chocolatiers, the ones mentioned above are among some of the good
>starting points. Each of them is fairly well-known and widely distributed.
>Among quality chocolates, there are, roughly, 3 groups, the "premium
>consumer", the "high-end" and the "elite". In the first group are generally
>larger industrial companies that nonetheless produce first-rate chocolate,
>such as Ghirardelli, Callebaut, and recently, Lindt to a certain extent. In
>the second group are smaller companies, aiming for a more exclusive group
>of chocolate-lovers, but who may not necessarily be out to produce the best
>chocolate possible at any price. Now, this by no means implies that they're
>making compromises, or that their chocolate isn't great, it simply means
>that ultimate quality isn't necessarily the only priority for them.
>Companies like Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, and El Rey are arguably in this
>group. Finally, the third group represents chocolatiers who pursue the best
>chocolate with fanatical obsession and stop at nothing, regardless of cost.
>Cluizel is perhaps in this group (it must be said that he is decidedly
>larger and more commercially-oriented than anyone else in this class) along
>with other companies like Domori, Amedei, and Bonnat. Generally speaking, a
>premium consumer bar will be about $2.50/100g bar, a high-end $4.00/100g,
>and an elite $5.50/100g or more.
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>You have to be careful, though, because the target market segment doesn't
>have a direct relation to actual quality - in other words, there are
>"premium consumer" companies that tend to be better than specific "elite"
>companies. The other thing is that different companies have different
>signature flavours. For instance, Scharffen Berger and Valrhona are
>strongly fruity, Cluizel and Domori tend towards milder fruitiness mixed
>with spicy overtones, and Pralus is very, very dark and coffee-like.
>Valrhona and Cluizel are ultra-smooth, while Bonnat is rougher and more
>rustic. Etc. etc.
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>If I were starting out, I'd want to get a cross-section of different styles
>and market segments, without so many brands that it's overwhelming to the
>consumer or impossible to manage from a business perspective. A good
>selection might be Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, Cluizel, Guittard, El Rey,
>and Domori.
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>As to distributors, Van Rex (http://www.vanrex.com) distributes multiple
>brands including Valrhona and Guittard, Vintage Chocolates
>(http://www.echocolates.com) distributes several more, including Cluizel
>(they're the exclusive distributor for them, in fact), and Dairyland
>(http://www.dairylandusa.com) has others, including Domori. The easiest way
>to get a distributor list is usually to ask the manufacturer directly, from
>whom you can also generally get samples so you can evaluate them before
>taking on their line. Be aware that some distributors and manufacturers are
>easy to work with, while others can be difficult, or idiosyncratic. You'll
>find out as you go along who they are - generally people in the industry
>are all pretty familiar with the easy and the difficult companies.
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>That's a start - do let me know what your purpose and plans are and then I
>can direct you further.
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