Collaboration for Chocolate Makers: Teaming Up with Other Chocolate Makers
by David Nilsen
Welcome back to Collaboration for Chocolate Makers, my new series in which we talk about how and why craft chocolate makers should we working with other businesses to expand their customer base, increase their revenue, and tell their story.
Today we’re going to talk about an opportunity for collaboration that I think is wildly underutilized in craft chocolate: Craft chocolate makers collaborating on products with other craft chocolate makers.
In craft beer, we see prolific collaboration between breweries. In addition to some of the benefits we’ve discussed previously, collabs between breweries build camaraderie and prevent some of the uncomfortable realities of both competing for customers in a crowded market. All of those benefits exist for craft chocolate makers working together as well. Let’s look at some additional benefits.
Benefits
Sharing Knowledge
Working with another craft chocolate maker allows you both to share institutional knowledge and learn from each other! You’ve figured out how to make delicious chocolate on your equipment, but someone else might do things slightly differently. Collaborating on a project allows makers to see how others do things, share tips and tricks, and go home with some new ideas.
Expanding Customer Base
One of the biggest benefits we’ve discussed for any kind of collab is about gaining access to another company’s customer base. This is especially valuable here because people can order your bars anywhere. If they find out about you because you collaborated with one of their favorite makers, they can immediately order your chocolate as well. And because they’re existing craft chocolate fans, the initial education component is likely already taken care of.
Shared Storytelling
In artisan food and beverage, fandom and curiosity are driven as much or more by a company’s story as they are by its products themselves. People who are dedicated fans of your chocolate company obviously love your chocolate, but the fact that you make good chocolate should be a given. Those folks are fans because they have connected with your brand story and with the individual stories you continue to tell. When you collaborate with another chocolate company, you are now bringing those stories together. Think of it as expanding your chocolate’s cinematic universe.
The Craft Chocolate Difference
Collaboration cements to your audience part of what makes craft chocolate different. Collaborations are about camaraderie, creativity, and doing business differently. They’re about creating amazing flavor experiences and focusing on something beyond just the bottom line. Make no mistake, collabs can definitely help your bottom line for all the reasons I’ve already shared, but that’s not all they’re about. They flaunt the way capitalism is usually expected to work, and reaffirm that a rising craft chocolate tide will lift all boats.
Let’s look at some examples of craft chocolate collaborations.
Possible Collaborations Between Chocolate Makers
1 Concept, Separate Bars
This is probably the easiest collab you could do with another maker. In this case, you both make the same bar concept in your own separate factories and then market and/or sell them together. This one is for the craft chocolate nerds; who wouldn’t want to buy a pack of two of their favorite makers both making the same origin/percentage bar, highlighting the impact of the maker?
Shared Work
In this case, the collab partners make a single bar together in which both provide some of the base ingredient: perhaps a blend of cacao origins, or the same origin in which you both roast a portion of the beans.
Inclusions
Here one maker provides the cacao and the other provides one or more inclusions.
Cultural collabs
This is a variation on the one above, but with a little more intention. If one or both collab partners have a strong cultural identity with unique culinary traditions, or a geographical location with unique local produce, why not have one or both provide one or more inclusion ingredients unique to their culture or location? Think of it as culinary cultural exchange. This can really help with the storytelling side of collaboration.
Other Ideas
Instead of coming up with an idea from scratch, why not release a special collab variant of an existing bar from one of the makers?
Who says this can only be between two makers? Why not three or five or every maker in your state, for example?
Sometimes collaborations are collabs in name only. Two makers might agree to share branding on a bar even though it was made entirely at one factory with that maker’s ingredients. Even if the only collab component was the idea, it can still work, though there are fewer storytelling opportunities.
If the collab is a success, consider making it an annual release!
Near and Far
You aren’t necessarily bound by location when choosing a collab partner, though it can certainly help.
Local
Working with a chocolate maker in your geographical area is going to be the easiest option, and potentially allow for the most ongoing collaboration throughout the course of making a bar.
Travel
You can absolutely travel to a collab partner’s location (or vice versa) no matter where they are, though this will of course come with travel expenses. Also, you’ll have to either stay for the duration of the chocolate-making process across several days, or only be there for part of it.
Ship
You can always ship the agreed upon ingredients to your collab partner (or vice versa) and just do all the creative planning remotely!
Occasions for Collabs
Just Because
There doesn’t have to be a special occasion to justify a collab. You can do one just because. A special occasion might make marketing and storytelling easier, but you can do a collab whenever the fancy strikes.
Anniversaries
Is one chocolate maker coming up on a business anniversary? What better way to celebrate than with industry friends through a collaboration!
Charitable Causes
Collabs can be a great way to support a cause you care about. Not only do you get to talk about the cause in the labeling and marketing of the bar, but you can also donate a portion of sales to the cause.
Chocolate Festivals
If you’re going to be tabling at a craft chocolate fest, why not collab with another maker for an exclusive bar that will only be sold at the festival? This can be with one or more makers who can’t be present, or with one or more other makers at the fest. The exclusivity will likely guarantee you won’t be taking any home with you.
Local or Regional Events
Does your town or a local institution host an annual festival of some kind? Why not make a collab bar with another maker in your area to market along with the festival?
Things to Consider
So, how do you guarantee success when collaborating with another craft chocolate maker? Here are some things to keep in mind.
Reach Out
Contact your prospective collab partner, pitch the idea, and explain the mutual benefits (you can even share this series with them!)
Make Sure Values Align
As discussed throughout this series, your name and branding will be shared with your collab partner, so make sure you feel good about your collab partner’s reputation for quality chocolate-making and ethical practices.
Plan Everything
When you decide to cross a bridge when you get to it, the chances of that bridge getting burned go up considerably. Do not leave any room for misunderstanding in a collaboration.
A few things to make sure you agree on as early as possible:
What will the recipe will be and what ingredients will be needed?
Who’s ordering/providing the different ingredients?
Which facility will host the collab?
Who’s designing the labels and what will those labels look like?
Who’s paying for what?
Who will host the release event?
How will marketing work?
Maximize benefits
That last point above is an important one. Collaborations continue after the product is released, and you want to get the most out of the collaboration as possible. Decide on what photography, videos, and written copy will be needed for marketing, how that division of labor will be handled, and how it will be shared on social media. You can also consider involving local media and industry outlets, which might need to be done in advance to time with the release.
Post Mortem
After the collab has run its course, get together with your collab partner(s) to discuss what went well, what didn’t, what was learned, and what can be improved next time.
Finally…
Please do this. Please collaborate with other craft chocolate makers, and tell me about it when you do. I want this to catch on. It is such a fun part of craft beer culture and I think it has so much promise for the craft chocolate space as well.
Collaboration for Chocolate Makers series
Podcast Episodes
Why Do It, and General Considerations
Collaborating with Beverage Alcohol Producers
Collaborating with Other Craft Chocolate Makers
Creative Collaborations to Consider (coming soon)
Blog Posts
Why It’s Worth It, and Things To Consider
Collaborating with Beverage Alcohol Producers, and Drinks-Based Collabs
Chocolate-Based Collabs with Beverage Alcohol Producers
Collaborating with Other Craft Chocolate Makers (you’re reading it!)
Creative Collaborations to Consider (coming soon)