chocoMe Magazin 7TH ISSUE DECEMBER 2014
CHOCOME WON THE Hungarian Quality Product Grand Prize® for the second time
From Exhibition to Exhibition Candied Peppermint Introducing russia Nemes confectionery in Nyíregyháza
chocome was awarded with the prestigious Hungarian Quality Product Grand Prize® During the Hungarian Quality Product Grand Prize® 2014’s competition, based on the proposal of the professional jury the Announcers Council awarded the chocoMe Raffinée product line with the Hungarian Quality Product Grand Prize® honourable title. Small and medium-sized enterprises working in the fields of chocolate-making and confectionery has been nominated in the past but chocoMe is the first company to be awarded twice during the event’s 17 year history. No other company has been able to accomplish this feat - in 2011 chocoMe ‘s chocolate bars were honoured with the award. Out of all the Grand Prize nominees only 66 was awarded by the Announcers Council.
The products of the awawrd-winning chocoMe Raffinée brand: - Raffinée sour cherry - Raffinée Piemonte hazelnut - Raffinée raspberry - Raffinée pecan - Raffinée almond with Voatsiperifery wild pepper
CLICK HERE IF YOU WISH TO VISIT THE SHOP
During the ceremony special prizes were also awarded, chocoMe was honoured with the Hungarian Journalists Association’s Economic Journalism Award for the company’s support and work in the development of the attitude change of the public toward the industry. “We are incredibly happy to be able to repeat this accomplishment, as it is a well-known fact that it’s harder to continuously meet a high standard than achieve it once. We are especially greatful for the Hungarian Quality Product Grand Prize® as it will boost sales on the domestic and international market as well” - said Gábor Mészáros, owner of chocoMe, chocolatier. During the company’s 4 years of operation this is the 22nd domestic and international award he received and his chocolate-creations are available in 20 countries to date. “It was an honour in itself that the event was held in the Parliament, it is an incredible experience every time to enter the building, especially to receice a recognition”. - added Gábor Mészáros. About the Hungarian Quality Product Grand Prize® The Hungarian Quality Product Grand Prize® honourable title is awarded to those products, services and economic bodies that are proven to be commited toward furthering the universal goal of creating quality products or providing quality service. During the last couple of years the evaluation system went through rapid extension and modernisation. Presently the Hungarian Quality Product Grand Prize® tendering system is the most prestigious rating system in the country. The only non-profession specific certifying recognition that can be achieved through a voluntary public tender from any area of economy.
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FROM EXHIBITION TO EXHIBITION - our travels in 2014 Yet again in 2014 we couldn't stand not to introduce ourselves in the most countries possible, make an appearance at as many exhibitions as we could. ‌if you are interested in our travel journual, here are some highlights. Copenhagen - Desigtrade - January
This exhibition is not really about chocolate but after years of positive feedback we thought our chocolate bars look good enough to show.
Stockholm - Formex - January
Traditionally this is an interior design expo, but as we produce beautyfully designed packages as well as delicious chocolate we thought we'll give it a try. And we were right, as they are already looking forward to seeing us next year.
Nuremberg - ISM - January
The biggest confectionery exhibition in Europe that we naturally attended with the help of our fantastic German partners.
Moscow - Prodexpo - Febuary
The biggest food industry expo in Russia that we already attended in 2013, and this year we also made the acquaintance of a lot of new trading partners. We can't wait for next year.
Stockholm - Liquorice Festival - March Liquorice is increadibly popular in the Scandinavian countries, so much so that they dedicate an event just for this delicacy. As of yet we don't have any creations made with it, but we are already experimenting with something special.
Moscow - Syrha - March
chocoMe was also an exhibitor on the SIRHA expo, where we were one of the sponsors of the Bocuse d'or Battle finals. Every finalist took home a gift basket of chocoMe products.
Prague - Wine and Delicates Fair - April
This was our first exhibition in the Czech Republic but we were already honoured with and award (best foreign product).
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Zurich - Salon du Chocolat - April 20 years ago a series of the world's largest chocolatethemed exhibitions began in Paris. Strangely, it only made it to Switzerland in 2012, where we took part in the first exhibition. Each year we sell more and more chocolate in the Alpine country – it seems the Swiss like the non-Swiss made chocolates as well. We are the only Hungarian exhibitors at every Salon du Chocolat event.
New York - Summer Fancy Food Show - June
The largest gourmet exhibition of the East Coast, where we participated for the second time.
Stokholm - Formex - August
The exhibition is slightly smaller than the one in January, but for us the same importance for the event, it also exhibited at the end of summer.
Helsinki - Forma & Furniture - August
With a lot of help from our Scandinavian partner we attended the Forma&Furniture exhibition in Helsinki, where the chocome chocolate bars and the RaffinĂŠe products proved to be a success once more!
London - Speciality Food Fair and Chocolate Festival September
This year we attended the festival with the help of the Foreign Trade Bureau, and got a special spot amongst the Hungarian products.
Moscow - World Food Moscow - September We participate in Moscow this year as the only Hungarian exhibitors at the largest food trade fair, the World Food Moscow event. Our success has been unbroken since last year, visitors continuously stormed our pavilion.
Canada - Opus - October On Tuesday, October 7, the private room at Opus on Prince Arthur, the restaurant globally recognized for its stunning wine program and cellar, as well as its clientele of Hollywood A-listers, provided the host venue for the intimate gathering of Toronto’s food and arts media.
Oslo - Bak- & Chokladfestivalen - October The largest exhibition booth was ours, 16 meter long! The chocoMe team was under constant invasion. The raspberry, hazelnut and the the pecan RaffinĂŠe was completely sold out already at the beginning of the event, despite of the fact that we prepared three pallets of chocolate... Maybe it was a pessimistic estimation?
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A lovely, green, fresh flavour and colour on our chocolates: the Crystallized spearmint Legends say the plant got it's name from the nymph Minthe who was turned into a spearmint by Persephone to protect her from Hades. Even the ancient Egyptians and Persians were aware of it's properties and were cultivating it for medicinal use at first. That's how it became one of the most popular medicinal herb and spice, and since antiquity was considered to be the symbol of wisdom. The spearmint stimulates blood circulation, has an antispasmodic effect, and it's main component is the oil: carvone. And how will this herb end up as a chocolate topping? People started making candied versions of edible flower petals and plants around the 13th century by simply cooking the flowers in sugar. At that time apothecaries sold these products. Then, approx. 200 years ago confectioners had this idea of making sweets with edible flowers. After many attempts and failures they achieved their goal, creating the foundations of a new industry. chocoMe purchases these wonderful delicacies from Toulouse in France, capital of the violet. The company's manual workers who could not have be substituted by machines since 1818, live and work according to the rhythm of the live flowers: transforming the rose, violet and jasmine petals, and the mint and verbena leaves into perfectly fine gastronomic delights. These plants do not tolerate any delays on their way to their sugar baths, the receipt of which is a highly guarded secret.
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Introducing Russia Conversation with Balázs Popescu, co-owner of chocoMe Russia
When and how did the cooperation start with chocoMe? chocoMe's introduction in Russia was held on September 13, 2013, and was in preparation for months. Sadly there are very few Hungarian food products on the market, despite the fact that we are talking about a market with a higher than average increase in solvent demand. Because of the lacking presence we have only tiny bits of information about how to get on the Russian market. Arranging logistics, licensing, food labeling, import regulations and customs, storage, searching for distribution channels and market research - we had to do all this ourselves in the months before the launch. I think that we are in possession of a knowledge that few small and medium-sized European enterprises could say they have. What did you do before chocoMe? Prior to this, and still today we were and are into land development, real estate, financial and engineering building management. It seemed very exciting to try myself in a completely different profession. I still consider the launch one of my biggest challenges to date and it is also the greatest adventure of my life putting the Russian company on the right track. How did you came in contact with chocoMe? When did you meet the brand for the first time?
I became aware of chocoMe shortly after it's launch. I read an article about Gábor Mészáros and of his just starting company in a business magazine around Christmas. Back then I had no idea that soon I'll be meeting him and we'll start on this big endeavour together. What was your first impression of the product? I never looked at food professionally before, I was a complete layman when I first got hold of a chocoMe bar. As I came to know the processes and the team behind the product my first impression was that everything was so thorough in every aspect of the brand.
What are unique features of the Russian market? Which are the most popular creations in the country? Nowdays I can say that I am invested in other export markets of chocoMe as well, so I have a broader view. The Russian market is completely differnt from any western market we know of. It's a general rule that every region has it's quircks. Moscow for example is a really tight, closed market, but Saint Petersburg is the polar oposite, welcoming and more open to foreign trade - we didn't had to travel 7-8000 kms within the borders to notice these differences. In general, the demand for gourmet food slowly but sensibly grows as months pass by, and not only in the circles of the privilege and the rich. How many employees do you have, who aids your work specifically? Our managing director Gábor Turóczi lives in Moscow. His name could sound familiar to many as he's PR consultant of chocoMe since the begining. What you may not know about him that from kindergarden to his university graduation he lived in Moscow, so he was a natural choice for the position of the managing director. He has a supporting team with him tending logistics, sales, storage and finance. And along with Gábor Mészáros we try to support him further from Hungary in any way we can. What are your main priorities, how does the season go? In one sentence looking for new partners and the "screening" of the ones we already have. After the first 4 month we had 30-35 partners, as of todaywe have approximatly 170 sales points. We welcome 2-4 new partners every week.Heti szinten 2-4. We are trying to put more and more emphasis on the education of our partners about the strong points and qualities of chocoMe, to make the act of sales a great experience for them all. At our most important partners we hold tastings, we provide them with marketing brochures, materials, we strive to set them up with the right sortiment of product for each of their profiles. We are proud to say that we became close friends with a lot of our partners in the last one and a half years. Are you preparing for any events this season? How was the exhibition in Moscow? From day one it is very important for us to attend the biggest expos and events in Russia with our brand, strong visibility is also important for our current and future partners, in the case of these events profitability is secondary. We attended the country's biggest B2C events the World Food Moscow, the ProdExpo, and the most important B2B expos like Taste of Moscow, Sirha and the Christmas Food Show. We recently learned that the Salon du Chocolat returns to Moscow after so many years. Attandance is must for any and all retailers and companies making premium chocolate. Which one is your favourite creation? I might have a couple, I turned out to be a chocoholic in that sense. I really like the hazelnut, raspberry and almond Raffinées, they have their own unique character. Same goes for the 100g bars, but as I am often at the manufactory Gábor rarely misses the opportunity to use me as a test subject for the products under development, and I can assure you some of the new products coming our way are already on my whishlist!
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Nemes confectionery in Nyíregyháza introducing Csilla Nemes , owner of the chocolate shop
We opened the Nemes Confectionary almost 7 years ago with the single purpose of making the highest quality sweets available for everyone in Nyíregyháza. We dreamed of a sophisticated, timeless little shop, where we can serve our customers in a friendly environment. As a specialized store we primarily sell chocolate bars, sweets, handmade confectionaries, teas, coffees, bags of candy and we also make gift baskets. In addition, we offer boxes of rare chocolate products, and cocoa for baking for housewives. I found the chocoMe chocolate bars not long after the launch of the shop via the internet, later my sister in law Csilla Pelle, who manages the Eden Confectionery shop in Szentedre brought the brand to my attention for a second time. Since then, our shelves are stocked with them at all times. Since I eat quite a lot of chocolate (an occupational hazard), I try to eat dark chocolate primarily, in those terms the raspyberry Raffinée stands closest to my heart from chocoMe's broad repertoire, as I just adore the harmonious taste of sour cherry with dark chocolate and the raw natural flavours of cocoa. At the end of last year we moved the store to a new location, so we can serve our customers every day of the week, into the evening. At the same time the number of our core customers also increased, so we are already looking forward to a lot of dear familiar faces in the buzzing crowd around the holidays. Amongst our products one can find many from the greatest chocolate makers from different countries, but we always try to keep in mind the tastes of the people of Nyíregyháza when stocking up the shop - we have a lot of very special flavours. I could mention the Belgian beer-filled chocolates, or the elderberry, poppy seed, tonka bean, lavender-flavored Hungarian products, or our chocolate bar from Madagascar with it's hand picked beans and 100% cocoa content. chocoMe's chocolate bars are extraordinarily beautiful therefore our customers choose by appearance at first. We try to order creations that complement each other and mutually enhance their visual appeal, and we also strive to create new and untried combinations as our returning customers love to try the new flavours. Perhaps the most populars are the ones with flower petals paired with red fruits. Originally I'm an interior decorator, but because of the shop I can't really find the time for those endeavors. Those ambitions stay at home furnishing it, tweaking it, keeping it pretty. In my free time I love to roam the antiques market, collecting, converting treasures I find.
Nemes Édességek Nyíregyházán Bemutatkozik Nemes Csilla, a csokoládébolt tulajdonosa
A Nemes Édességek Boltját közel 7 éve hoztuk létre azzal a céllal, hogy Nyíregyházán is elérhetővé váljanak a legmagasabb minőségű édességek mindenki számára. Egy igényes, időtálló üzletet álmodtunk meg, ahol barátságos környezetben tudjuk kiszolgálni vásárlóinkat. Szakboltként működünk, így elsősorban táblás csokoládékat, bonbonokat, kézműves édességeket, teákat, kávékat árusítunk, édességcsomagokat, kosarakat készítünk. A különleges dobozos termékek mellett a háziasszonyok számára is kínálunk csokoládét, kakaót sütéshez. A chocoMe táblás csokoládéira nem sokkal indulásuk után leltem az internet segítségével, majd Pelle Csilla sógornőm, aki a szentendrei Édeni Édességek Boltját vezeti hívta fel a figyelmemet ismét ezekre a termékekre. Azóta nem hiányozhatnak a polcainkról. Mivel viszonylag sok csokit eszem (szakmai ártalom), ezért igyekszem elsősorban étcsokoládékat fogyasztani, ízvilágban most a chocoMe csokik közül éppen a meggyes Raffinée áll hozzám közel, mert a savanykás meggy remek párosítása az étcsokoládénak és natúr kakaónak. Üzletünkkel a tavalyi év végén költöztünk új helyre, így a hét minden napján estig tudjuk fogadni a vásárlóinkat. Ezzel együtt törzsvásárlóink száma is megnövekedett, ezért nagyon várjuk már az év végi -Mikulás, Karácsony körüli- ajándék csomagolós, szaloncukor mérős, pörgős nagy nyüzsgést, akkor rengeteg kedves ismerős arccal találkozunk. Számos ország remek csokoládégyárának termékei fellelhetők nálunk, kínálatunkat igyekszünk a nyíregyházi emberek igényei szerint összeállítani, nagyon sok különleges ízesítésű csokoládénk van. Említhetem akár a belga sörrel töltött csokoládékat, vagy a bodzás, mákos, tonka babos, levendulás ízesítésű magyar termékeket, de ritkaság a válogatott madagascari kakaóbabból készült 100%-os kakaótartalmú étcsokink is. A chocoMe táblás csokoládéi gyönyörűek, éppen ezért első körben a látvány alapján választanak vásárlóink. Igyekszünk egyedi összeállításokat rendelni olyan feltétekkel, amik kiegészítik egymást, és az alapcsokoládét is, és szemet gyönyörködtetőek. Valamint törekszünk arra is, hogy új és új ízpárosításokat próbáljunk ki, mert visszatérő vásárlóink szívesen fogadják az új ízeket. Talán a piros gyümölcsök a legnépszerűbbek virágszirmokkal párosítva. Eredetileg lakberendező vagyok, ám a lakberendezésre elfoglaltságaim miatt kevés időt tudok fordítani. Marad a saját otthonunk folyamatos szépítgetése. Szabadidőben szívesen járom a régiség piacot, gyűjtögetek, átalakítok.
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Virágok és virágos Introducing csokoládék forgatagában
Éva Petrecz
A MEMBER OF THE PACKAGING TEAM How did you got into the chocoMe team? How long have you been working with the company? I came to chocoMe as a temp, but in August 2013 I was hired as a full time employee, as the increasing interest demanded a new permanent team member. What did you do before? Before that I worked in a furniture warehouse, as a cashier, and then I was at home on maternity leave with my youngest daughter who is now six years old. What is you position at chocoMe? I'm part of the team working on packaging, we put the chocolate bars in protective cellophane bags. It may sound boring, but it requires great care and precision, and as an experienced, close-knit team we pack up to 4000-4500 chocolate bars a day. Which was the most interesting creation you ever saw? For me the most peculiar creation is the poppy seeds with sour cherry on a white chocolate bar. Which creation is your personal favourite? The white chocolate-covered raspberry Raffinée (RF106), I find the taste of the fruit very refreshing. I can't get enough of it! Could you tell a bit more about yourself? Hobbies, family? I love to read, and to do embroidery, but I spend the majority of my free time with my two daughters. Both of them are in the age when they need a lot of attention, my eldest is 17 years old, and the youngest just started school, it is already apparent that she's also very clever!
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We wish all of our Customers and Partners a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Successful New Year, full of chocoMe chocolates. We wish you to have at least as much joy, success and recognition in 2015, than what we had this year. We would like to thank you that we could count on you this year, and we are confident that this next year will be no different, as chocoMe could not exist without you. The chocoMe employees - whose dedication to each bar makes it a true gift from the heart - they rest now, so they could make our chocolate masterpieces with renewed vigor next year.
Gábor Mészáros chocolatier
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chocoMe Kft. 1135 Budapest, Kisgรถmb utca 23. www.chocome.hu info@chocome.hu www.facebook.com/chocome.hu +361 789 5755