When baruch Schaked was pondering retirement after more than 25
years in the handmade chocolate business, his son Edgar wanted to
talk him out of it.
"I thought, ‘That's a trade you don't throw
out, because chocolate is an art form,' " Edgar explains.
"So I asked my father if he wouldn't mind teaching me the
chocolate business and getting into business together."
But there was a catch-if they were going into business together,
it wouldn't be one store, but a chain of stores.
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So, once Baruch had sold his share of his Miami chocolate store
to his former partner and signed a non-compete agreement, Edgar set
out to start their new business.
"I moved to Orlando to open a store, not knowing anyone,
and in two weeks I had rented a store and made a lease. I came
[home], my father taught me everything, and I moved back up here.
So I started completely from scratch," Edgar says. "I
knew if I could start a business on my own, at the age of 24, in a
city I didn't know and make it work, I could replicate the same
thing anywhere."
While franchising is still in the works, the Schakolad Chocolate
Factory, with stores now in Orlando, Florida; the Bahamas; and
Israel got more than $500,000 in 2000 sales and has grown about 30
percent each year since its start six years ago.
Edgar's chocolate has gratified corporate clients, including
Disney, as well as passersby lured by the sight of Schakolad
employees handmaking chocolates, from bite-sized pieces to
specialty items in such shapes as houses, basketballs and
swans.
Edgar, now 30, is also spreading the word about the
"wonders of chocolate," one of which is phenol, the same
heart-healthy chemical found in red wine. But he's quick to
point out that not all chocolate is created equal: "You can
get chocolate with a lot of hydrogenated fat that is absolutely,
incredibly bad for you." It turns out, like Edgar's
business, the healthiest chocolate is made from scratch, too.
Contact Source
- Schakolad Chocolate Factory, 480 N. Orlando Ave., #131,
Winter Park, FL 32789, www.schakolad.com