LULUBEE ARTISANAL CHOCOLATES
SMALL business GAYLENE STEINBACH, OWNER OF LULUBEE ARTISANAL CHOCOLATES
Connector
LULUBEE CHOCOLATES SUPPORTS LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES Lincoln’s Lulubee Artisanal Chocolates owes its growth to the passion of its owner, Gaylene Steinbach, and its outreach to other local businesses. Steinbach first caught the chocolate-making bug from her mother, and her passion grew from living in different countries and learning about local flavors. A former dental hygienist, Steinbach found that many of her skills transferred over — highly-detailed work and science — plus, chocolate making allows her to tap into her creative side. Over the next few years Lulubee Artisanal Chocolates will focus on increasing community outreach and partnering with other local small businesses. “I want to increase the number of offerings we have and to grow within our community, reaching out to the community and other small local businesses to form connections,” Steinbach said. Bonbons are the shop’s specialty. Lulubee also makes chocolate bars, turtles, caramels, toffee, and it recently expanded into flavored caramels. Steinbach hopes to expand into different kinds of chocolate bars, some of them made by the company and others imported from around the world.
Supporting Local Businesses When possible, Lulubee uses ingredients from local suppliers. For example, pecans come from Twin Springs Pecans. The shop also uses products from nearby wineries as ingredients. “One area where we have strong desire and a presence is working with other businesses,” Steinbach said. Lulubee has put logos on chocolates for companies like A Novel Idea Bookstore, Capitol View Winery & Vineyards, Farmers Mutual, Lovestruck Events, and Spectrum. It makes custom chocolate pieces for Bavvy and Talent+, and it is working with other companies to provide customized gift sets companies can give to their partners and employees. “My intention is to create a really beautiful tasting experience,” Steinbach said. “I want to explore other avenues of chocolate that I can expand my lineup.” The company’s best form of promotion is social media. “Almost everything we’ve done up to this point has been very organic through social media,” Steinbach said. “[Social media] is such an everchanging world it has been a full-time job to learn how to navigate that.”
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