S04.E18: Zoe's Chocolate Co

[fib]

Eh, i think a lot of the companies Marcus helps have pretty terrible branding before he works with them. Im. Not sure his marketing team are geniuses, but it is usually an improvement (this may be the exception).  

[ae2]

Waynesboro is a half hour from Gettysburg, and it doesn't seem to be along one of the main routes. I've never been there, but it doesn't seem like it would get a lot of through traffic. Maybe a small town can support a little chocolate shop, I don't know, but I'm genuinely curious where their business is coming from!

(And we learned during the episode that it wasn't online sales propping them up.)

Zoe's isn't competing with Hershey and Nestle and the like. They are competing with other higher end candy bars. The chocolate bars are $5-$7 a piece, which  would actually put them as some of the more expensive options at my local grocery store. I believe that's even a bit pricey for Whole Foods. But it's not completely out of the ballpark. 

Chocolate doesn't need a story. Not even for the first purchase. I'm not saying a story can't sell chocolate - look at the Endangered Species chocolate, Chocolove, et al. But 'telling your story' is Marcus's latest fascination. It has almost replaced People-Process-Product as the centerpoint of the show. And when he talks about telling your story, he means it literally. I completely understand why he wants to hear their story for the show, it's entertainment after all, but I think he goes too far when it comes to marketing and branding. 

(That said, it's his money, if he only wants to invest in businesses that have an interesting story to tell and are willing to make it the defining factor of their products, that's his prerogative.)

[Thrifty]

Maybe Nestle, Hershey, and Mars were off target, but again, there are bigger players in the fancy chocolate market.  I'm thinking particularly of Whitman's / Russel Stovers' and Lindt, which don't have quite the same ubiquity as those lower end chocolatiers, but still have plenty of market share.  Why buy from Zoe's instead of Russel Stovers, Lindt, or even any of the other thousand Mom and Pop candy operations?

[ClareWalks]

My issue with Zoe's branding before is that you would have no clue that they specialize in Greek flavors. Although Zoe is a Greek name, that name is not necessarily indicative that the chocolates are Greek. That said, Marcus wanted to beat people over the head with the Greekness, which is unnecessary. But something that indicates that the flavors are unique and inspired by Greece would be good.

[KHenry14]

The Greek don't have the immediate cache that the Dutch and Swiss do regarding chocolate. So tying them to a "Greek" brand seems strange. I mean, when I think of Greek foods lamb and grape leaves come to mind, not chocolate.

Secondly, if you insist  on Greek, instead of a church, the Parthenon could work instead. And why not go with a Mediterranean theme instead.  That wouldn't tie you white and light blue color scheme, plus it doesn't send mixed signals on what they are doing. 

[LennieBriscoe]

So I received  my Hazelnut Bars!

They were packed in styrofoam and dry ice.  BIG package for two candy bars! 

Anyway,  the bars are dark chocolate with plenty of evenly distributed whole hazelnuts.

My verdict: Pretty good,  but I prefer Ritter Sport's Whole Hazelnuts  version,  with milk chocolate. ?

Edited August 11, 2017 by LennieBriscoe

[Thrifty]

On 8/7/2017 at 8:35 PM, KHenry14 said:

The Greek don't have the immediate cache that the Dutch and Swiss do regarding chocolate. So tying them to a "Greek" brand seems strange. I mean, when I think of Greek foods lamb and grape leaves come to mind, not chocolate.

You forgot yogurt.  Greek yogurt came out of nowhere.  Five years ago I'd never heard of it.  Now it's everywhere.  It's getting harder to find yogurt that's NOT Greek.

[HunterHunted]

On 8/7/2017 at 8:31 AM, ae2 said:

Waynesboro is a half hour from Gettysburg, and it doesn't seem to be along one of the main routes. I've never been there, but it doesn't seem like it would get a lot of through traffic. Maybe a small town can support a little chocolate shop, I don't know, but I'm genuinely curious where their business is coming from!

(And we learned during the episode that it wasn't online sales propping them up.)

Zoe's isn't competing with Hershey and Nestle and the like. They are competing with other higher end candy bars. The chocolate bars are $5-$7 a piece, which  would actually put them as some of the more expensive options at my local grocery store. I believe that's even a bit pricey for Whole Foods. But it's not completely out of the ballpark. 

Chocolate doesn't need a story. Not even for the first purchase. I'm not saying a story can't sell chocolate - look at the Endangered Species chocolate, Chocolove, et al. But 'telling your story' is Marcus's latest fascination. It has almost replaced People-Process-Product as the centerpoint of the show. And when he talks about telling your story, he means it literally. I completely understand why he wants to hear their story for the show, it's entertainment after all, but I think he goes too far when it comes to marketing and branding. 

(That said, it's his money, if he only wants to invest in businesses that have an interesting story to tell and are willing to make it the defining factor of their products, that's his prerogative.)

At the price that Zoe is competing, chocolate absolutely has a story. I don't know if you're familiar with the Mast Brothers controversy. The original 4 part investigation is worth a read. Vosges is known as one of earliest commercial chocolatiers to do exotic flavors. The Mast brothers are known for their bean to bar ethos. Zoe can be chocolate company that does Mediterranean flavors.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhochman/2017/03/08/mast-brothers-shuttering-l-a-chocolate-factory-after-less-than-a-year/?s=trending#4fff64541365

[toodles]

I'm a travel agent.  I work with Norwegian a lot.  If I hear anything about Zoe' chocolate, I'll let you know.

[HunterHunted]

On 8/11/2017 at 6:40 AM, Thrifty said:

You forgot yogurt.  Greek yogurt came out of nowhere.  Five years ago I'd never heard of it.  Now it's everywhere.  It's getting harder to find yogurt that's NOT Greek.

It's funny because now Yoplait is selling this French style yogurt, Oui. French style yogurt is made in individual glass containers. My first experience with yogurt was from France, then American style, now Greek, and French style is now a trend again. Mediterranean spices and flavors are on trend. I think Zoe's might do good business with that.

[hatchetgirl]

On 8/11/2017 at 4:40 AM, Thrifty said:

You forgot yogurt.  Greek yogurt came out of nowhere.  Five years ago I'd never heard of it.  Now it's everywhere.  It's getting harder to find yogurt that's NOT Greek.

But what IS Greek yogurt? Is it just thicker? Sorry! I eat it all the time but when people ask me I say "um it's creamier?"

[Jamoche]

6 hours ago, hatchetgirl said:

But what IS Greek yogurt? Is it just thicker? Sorry! I eat it all the time but when people ask me I say "um it's creamier?"

Yeah, it's been strained. Before you could buy it, tzatziki recipes would have you buy the ordinary stuff and strain it in a coffee filter.

[hatchetgirl]

Aha, so it is thicker,  but also creamier. Thank you.