Eric Heinbockel
Cherry Hill, NJ (USA)
Role(s):
Founder/Owner/Principal
Chocomize
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Startup
Location:
Cherry Hill
Industry:
Food Service/Restaurant
Year Founded:
2009
Number Employees:
1-10 people
Business Stage:
Growth (profitable)
Entity Type:
Limited Liability Company
Description:
(URL removed) is the first co-creation/mass customization chocolate company in the United States. Chocomize gives customers the opportunity to build their own custom, premium Belgian chocolate bar. First customers choose their base Belgian chocolate (dark, milk or white) and then add up to 5 ingredients from a selection of over 100. Ingredients range from fruits and nuts to crystallized rose petals, 23 karat gold flakes and even beef jerky. There are 300million combinations possible. (URL removed) takes advantage of the steadily growing premium chocolate market, the explosion of devoted foodies and the burgeoning concept of co-creation.
The concept of Chocomize has been growing rapidly in the 15months since our launch. Chocomize has been, and continues to be featured in the largest media outlets in the country including O, The Oprah Magazine, (URL removed), NYTimes, WSJ, BusinessWeek, The View and many more.
Chocomize has been cash flow positive since March 2010 and demand during the 2010 holiday season and 2011 Valentine's Day rush exceeded our production capacity. Interest in our made to order product was so great that we could no longer guarantee that orders placed after Dec 5 would arrive in time for Christmas. As a result we are looking for a partner to help us to grow to meet the ever increasing demand and capture these peak seasons. Chocomize was founded by three recent college grads ('08,'09) who met while studying at Columbia University.