The inside story: we literally wrap happy thoughts into every single one of our chocolate truffle Cubze. And, we do it one at a time by hand. WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE THE PROCESS IN ACTION. Each Cubze is wrapped in a colorful foil like a miniature gift. As you open each Cubze you’ll find an extra-large chocolate truffle and an inspirational thought about happiness. While savoring the chocolate you can enjoy the happy thought … Continue reading Wrapping Happiness into Every Truffle Cubze

Teachers, classroom aids, tutors, school nurses, bus drivers and so many more put great effort into making the school year a positive experience for our children. So, why not recognize their efforts with a token of your appreciation that they (and their families) will really enjoy. Our signature truffle Cubze are far more fun than a coffee mug and certainly tastier than a gift card. We can say from personal experience that our children’s teachers … Continue reading Gifts for Teachers, Coaches, Tutors and….

Customers and retail partners have told us that each of our truffle Cubze is like a “gift within a gift…” because of the little witty thoughts about happiness wrapped into each piece. After hearing these thoughts (time and again), we were inspired to create our holiday gift collection this year. The windowed chocolate gift collections highlight the shimmering foiled truffle Cubze inside each gold box and come with festive seasonal bows. To be accurate, should … Continue reading Gifts within Gifts!

A behind the scenes photo of our photo session! We’ve been working on some new packaging for our gift collections. Based on customer comments, we’re introducing some new gift boxes that really showcase the colorfully foiled chocolate truffle Cubze inside. As one person put it, “you’re showing off all the little gift packages inside the gift box. What’s better than that!” Keep an eye out for the new packaging “debut” on our online store this … Continue reading Behind the Scenes Look: New Packaging

“For the month of June, join the National Confectioners Association in enjoying the authentic, fun treats that chocolate and candy companies have been producing for more than 100 years. National Candy Month is a moment to focus on the companies and individuals who make the treats many Americans enjoy throughout the year,” said John Downs, president and CEO of the National Confectioners Association. Celebrate National Candy Month with something unique like our chocolate truffle Cubze … Continue reading June Is National Candy Month: “Share Some Chocolate Happiness!”

We are excited to announce that we are going to focus on increasing the number of retail outlets that sell our unique chocolate truffle Cubze. In the coming months, we plan to put our resources into increasing awareness of the Cubze (with the inspirational happiness sentiments) and expanding distribution to shops throughout New England through our wholesale program.   At the same time, we are a little melancholy as we will be closing our Acton … Continue reading Changing Our Business Model to Expand Wholesale Distribution of Truffle Cubze

Moms do so much for us. They spend their days with our happiness in mind. This year give mom a special treat that she will enjoy and remember! Some gift ideas from the team at The Happy Chocolatier: An elegant gift box of our chocolate truffle Cubze. With happiness inspiration wrapped into each piece, it is like two gifts in one! A solid chocolate jewel box filled with milk and dark chocolate sea salt caramels. … Continue reading Share Some Chocolate Happiness with Mom

Big day approaching? In all likelihood, you, your family and friends have most of the wedding planning taken care of, so now you can move on to some of the fun details….like how to incorporate chocolate into the celebrations! The team at The Happy Chocolatier has compiled a Top 10 list that gives you some great ideas for how to include chocolate as favors for wedding or shower guests, thank you gifts, or as a … Continue reading Top 10 Chocolate Favors for Weddings and Showers – Part I

In our previous blog post, the team at The Happy Chocolatier gave you the first half of our Top 10 chocolate favors for weddings and showers. Here we’ll give you the low down on the second half of our ideas to incorporate chocolate into any of your celebrations. They’ll bring a little happiness to everyone sharing in your joy! 6) Seashells, Starfish and Sand dollars – For those planning a summery seaside wedding, our assortment … Continue reading Top 10 Chocolate Favors for Weddings and Showers – Part II

Chocolate bunnies have been part of the Easter tradition for a very long time. This year, we at The Happy Chocolatier will again add another element to the Easter chocolate and candy tradition: feeding those less fortunate. Parents fill Easter baskets with chocolate bunnies and other treats every year. Easter Sunday is a time of joy as Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It is also a time of celebration and fun for children as … Continue reading Filling Easter Baskets & Feeding Those Less Fortunate

Every spring chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs arrive in shops announcing the coming of Easter. But why? In pre-Christian pagan times, spring was celebrated by giving thanks to the ancient goddess of fertility Eostre—from which “Easter” derived its name. Since the rabbit was recognized as a symbol of fertility and new life, it became associated with the rituals of Easter and spring. According to the National Confectioner’s Association, Whitman’s Chocolates was one of the first … Continue reading So why IS chocolate part of the Easter tradition?

One might assume that, as chocolatiers, we would instantly propose our fine chocolates. While we think great chocolate – especially dark chocolate – is a close second for many reasons, the best gift may be to “give happiness.” This Valentine’s Day consider giving your sweetie the simple gift of happiness. To do this, you must be happy. And to be happy, you must be joyful, appreciative and positive. Be thankful for your sweetheart, family and … Continue reading What’s the Best Gift for Valentine’s Day? It’s Not Just Chocolate….

As we do for many of The Happy Chocolatier major holidays, we support a local charity. Again this year we will be donating a portion of sales from Saturday December 9, to Beacon Santa. This is our 6th year of supporting the work of Beacon Santa. It is another way for The Happy Chocolatier to spread some happiness. Come in to make your purchases for Christmas on December 9, and help us help those less … Continue reading A Day of Merriment to Support Beacon Santa

Many of the shops in Acton Woods Plaza on 340 Great Road, including The Happy Chocolatier, are hosting a fun early bird sale on Saturday November 18th. The participating shops are opening early at 6:30 and offering special discounts until 10:00. We call it PJ Day — it’s early, so just roll out of bed and come have some fun! At The Happy Chocolatier, our special offer will work as follows: from 6:30 to 7:30 … Continue reading Special Early Bird Sale on November 18th from 6:30 to 10:00 AM

Our signature chocolate truffle Cubze have been featured on Mom Blog Society in the holiday gift guide. They truly love the little bits of inspirational happiness wisdom in each Cubze! It’s noted the truffle Cubze are two gifts in one: delicious chocolate and the happy wisdom. Check it out by visiting their website .

It shouldn’t be a stressful experience… Giving gifts is a perfect way to show appreciation to customers, clients, referral sources and employees. A quality business gift provides a memorable means of making contact or staying in touch. This is the time of year when many businesses start the “fire drill” of figuring out what the company’s corporate gift program will entail for year end. It can be a very simple process. Here are four steps … Continue reading Holiday Business Gift Planning: 4 Easy Steps

A recent column from INC. Magazine provided a “scientific” view of what made people happy. It is an entertaining read: “9 Daily Habits of the Happiest People You Know According to Science.” While we don’t necessarily concur or embrace all of them, several did resonate with us at The Happy Chocolatier: #5 They give their time and money away. We think volunteerism and donating to good causes does indeed make one happy. In our experience … Continue reading Habits of Happy People – A Perspective

Businesses have reasons throughout the year to express thanks to business associates. Yet, generally businesses only send or give gifts at the end of the year. Why? This seems like a disconnect. There are many reasons to give chocolates at various times during the year. Here are some ideas from our customers: A professional services firm sends a box of chocolates along with a thank you note to clients who have recently completed a project. … Continue reading Why Do Businesses Only Give Gifts at Year-End?

Everyone loves a great ice cream buffet in the summer. So in the winter and early spring when everyone’s cooped up inside and wishing for summer, why not surprise employees with a chocolate buffet? Choose some chocolates, spread them out in a common area and let employees enjoy. Or, surprise employees by placing small chocolate selections on each employee’s desk. These are both great low cost ways of spreading some cheer at the office or … Continue reading Why Not Host a Chocolate Buffet at the Office in the Early Spring?

A Box of Chocolates is A Great Way to Stand Out Every holiday season business gifts are sent and received. Generally they are appreciated. However, if you really want to stand out from the crowd, you should give business gifts throughout the year. We all get busy with projects and deadlines, and often miss an opportunity to mark some milestone. Celebrating something that may have been mentioned in passing can show your clients, customers and … Continue reading Corporate Gifts Aren’t Just for the Holiday Season

Based on statistics from the Small Business Administration, The Happy Chocolatier is in the 50 percent of businesses that make it this far. Yes, half of all small start-up businesses don’t make it to year five. We are proud that our simple idea has matured into an established business in our community. It hasn’t been easy. There have been many challenges – some we should have anticipated and some we couldn’t have imagined. We’ve reached … Continue reading Celebrating Five Years of Spreading Chocolate Happiness…Despite the Odds

Many times a well-known brand signifies quality. However, a nationally branded product is ubiquitous – available at all types of outlets from department stores to warehouse clubs. These products by virtue of their wide-spread availability aren’t particularly special. If you want a truly memorable gift that demonstrates how much you care about your relationship, then searching out a unique gift is something to think about. There are many choices for local, hand-crafted or artisanal gifts. … Continue reading Corporate Gift Choices: Unique is better than Ubiquitous

It doesn’t have to be a stressful experience Giving gifts is a perfect way to show appreciation to customers, clients, referral sources and employees. A quality business gift provides a memorable means of making contact or staying in touch. This is the time of year when many businesses start the “fire drill” of figuring out what the company’s corporate gift program will entail for year end. It can be a very simple process. Here are … Continue reading Corporate Holiday Gift Planning: 4 Simple Steps

In New England, the leaves are just starting to fall. But if you are giving corporate business gifts this holiday season to clients, customers or employees, now is the time to start planning. Beginning the process early results in less pain and stress when December rolls around. Now is the time to develop a budget, compile lists and research a proven partner to handle the development and delivery of gifts comes December (or even late … Continue reading Why Think About Corporate Gifts Now? Avoid Pain Later!

You rack your brain trying to figure out what to get your mom for Mother’s Day– you do this in between running errands, picking up the kids, making dinner, running to a school event meeting, dropping off other kids, and doing the work at night that you didn’t finish at work. Now it’s Friday, May 8th and you’re still stuck…what to do? As a busy mom myself, I’ve been thinking about this. What would I … Continue reading Mother’s Day: Chocolate? Flowers? What do moms really want?

When we think about Easter, we think bunnies, kids and, of course, chocolate. Each year at The Happy Chocolatier we try to do something fun for the kids prior to Easter. This year, in keeping with our mission to support our local community, we have decided to host a kids event that will support Household Goods (formerly HGRM), a fantastic organization located here in Acton. The event will take place on Saturday, March 21 from … Continue reading Giving back…and having fun doing it!

Every Valentine’s Day, chocolate becomes part of the romantic holiday. Why? Is it because of all the health benefits of chocolate? Is it because it is simply satisfying? Or, is it just the tradition of it all? I think the tradition angle wins out. Chocolate has been referred to as “the food of the gods” since the time of the Aztec Indians. In fact the Aztec ruler, Montezuma believed chocolate was an aphrodisiac. Christopher Columbus … Continue reading Why Chocolate for Valentine’s Day?

I’ve always liked dark chocolate. To quote my son, “it’s chocolatey-er.” Elsevier Connect, the news site for scientific publisher Elsevier, has put together an excellent compilation of facts and a great infographic taken from journal articles that address the scientifically-based benefits of dark chocolate. Some examples: Chocolate has flavanols a subgroup of plant-derived compounds called flavonoids that have a positive affect on lowering of blood pressure. Chocolate has theobromine which can suppress coughing. Chocolate has … Continue reading Dark Chocolate Really Is Good For You…Scientific Studies Say So

We are taking the celebration of National Candy Month as an opportunity to re-visit The Happy Chocolatier blog. As we think about National Candy Month, two key things come to mind: Moderation At The Happy Chocolatier, we advocate chocolate as part of one’s diet. However, we stress that moderation is critical. It is okay to have a treat. Several studies have noted that a little treat doesn’t hurt and in some cases – with dark … Continue reading June is National Candy Month

Every Valentine’s Day, chocolate becomes part of the romantic holiday. At The Happy Chocolatier we’ve started a new tradition. This is our third year of making a donation to the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women. Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States? We support this fight against heart disease. So, while dark chocolate is noted to have health benefits, this program from The … Continue reading Give Sweets to Your Sweetie and Help The American Heart Association

  Ever had that tasteless watery brown stuff some folks pass off as hot chocolate. Technically speaking it is “hot” and does contain “some chocolate.” But, it certainly isn’t rich, creamy and really chocolatey. So, when customers at our store in Acton asked us for a hot chocolate, I began thinking through formulations. First, I decided on what I didn’t want: anything that one could just mix into water or some dry cocoa sugar mix … Continue reading The Best Hot Chocolate Ever….Comes From Cubze!

We are happy that despite some challenges and mistakes, The Happy Chocolatier has indeed reached the milestone of making it through year two. Almost 90% of start-up businesses don’t make it to through the second year of business. Well, we are making headway thanks to our dedicated team, loyal customers and support from our local community. And, of course, our products are darn good! The Happy Chocolatier team continues to deliver on our mission: To … Continue reading Year Two in the Chocolate Business – Still Happy

When we opened The Happy Chocolatier in October 2011, little did we know the month is one of chocolate celebrations. So, we are happy to add our anniversary to the many chocolate holidays in October. It appears there are plenty of opportunities (or excuses) to come to The Happy Chocolatier to enjoy some chocolate in this month. And, the best reason to come into The Happy Chocolatier in this month of chocolate celebrations: As part … Continue reading October – The Month of Chocolate Celebrations: The perfect month for The Happy Chocolatier to celebrate its 2nd Anniversary and give back to the Acton Food Pantry

This time of year chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs arrive in shops announcing the coming of Easter and (hopefully) spring. But why? Chocolate Easter Bunnies In pre-Christian pagan times, spring was celebrated by giving thanks to the ancient goddess of fertility Eostre—from which “Easter” derived its name. Since the rabbit was recognized as a symbol of fertility and new life, it became associated with the rituals of Easter and spring. According to the National Confectioner’s … Continue reading Chocolate and Easter…a Tradition

Every Valentine’s Day, chocolate becomes part of the romantic holiday. Why? Is it because of all the health benefits of chocolate? Is it because it is simply satisfying? Or, is it just the tradition of it all…. I think the tradition angle wins out. Chocolate has been referred to as “the food of the gods” since the time of the Aztec Indians. In fact the Aztec ruler, Montezuma believed chocolate was an aphrodisiac. Christopher Columbus … Continue reading So Why Do We Give Chocolate for Valentine’s Day?

This October marked the one year anniversary of the public launch of The Happy Chocolatier. It seems just a short time ago that we were developing our signature Cubze and writing the business case for The Happy Chocolatier. Now, a year later, we have a lot under our belt – not simply the extra few pounds, but the valuable learning from our mistakes and successes. This first year has been a great learning experience. As … Continue reading One Year In The Chocolate Business – Are We Still Happy?

Well, after a summer hiatus I’m back at it. I recently came across an interesting piece entitled, “Candy Love,” published in The Manufacturing Confectioner. What caught my eye was one of the comments on candy and happiness. The article points out that countries with the highest per capita candy consumption rank the highest on the Global Happiness Index. While industry trade people are generally making the case for the benefits of their products, I thought … Continue reading Is Candy Getting a Bad Rap?

Despite all the extra noise and confusion of having our kids home and out of school each day, we should take pause and consider all the happiness our children bring to us. Summer vacations and family outings are excellent times to take notice and enjoy our kids. While doing this, we can consider all the ways that our kids are happy and hope some of it rubs off on us as parents. There was recently … Continue reading It’s Summer. Enjoy the Kids and Savor the Happiness They Bring.

The best Father’s Day gift doesn’t come on that one Sunday in June. Rather, it is a gift that comes in little bits throughout the year. At least is does for me. My children provide an incredible amount of joy day in and day out – many times just small things or passing comments: a simple hug, high five or “I love you dad,” working alongside me in the yard, building a model together, watching … Continue reading The Best Father’s Day Gift

As we approach Mother’s Day, I muse about the happiness moms bring to us throughout our lives. But I am also curious as to what makes moms happy about being mothers. Some of my thoughts on how moms make us happy: Kisses and bedtime stories Band-Aids and TLC for banged up body parts Cupcakes, brownies and other special homemade treats made for birthdays or “just because” Encouragement after losing the “big game” or not getting … Continue reading Moms, What Makes You Happy?

This week is National Administrative Professionals Week and Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of the holiday. According to Wikipedia, the most popular ways to recognize administrative professionals are chocolate, lunch, flowers, gift cards and even professional development courses. This week presents us with an opportunity to do a least a little something to recognize those who enable our organizations to run so smoothly. Many times the tireless work of these people is taken for granted … Continue reading Recognizing Those Who Make Our Businesses Run Smoothly

With the help of my wonderful team at The Happy Chocolatier, we are heading into the busy Easter chocolate rush. I would be remiss if I didn’t publicly thank my entire team for their hard work and willingness to learn many new things as we prepared for the Easter season. Without them there wouldn’t be a Happy Chocolatier. While we are busy helping customers find chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, and build Easter baskets, I pause … Continue reading The True Meaning of the Easter & Passover Season

As we finalize our preparations for Easter at The Happy Chocolatier – creating many different types of Easter baskets, dipping chocolate Easter treats, bagging jelly beans and stocking the shelves with a variety of chocolate bunnies – I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite Easter candy factoids: – About 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced every year – Milk chocolate Easter bunnies are clearly the preference over dark…65% and … Continue reading Fun Facts About Easter Treats!

When I was a kid, I didn’t know anyone with nut allergies. As an adult I hadn’t thought too much about it other than occasionally hearing that a friend’s child had an issue with nuts. Since I have opened The Happy Chocolatier I must admit that I am amazed by the number of customers who have come in looking for nut-free chocolates and candies. My own son was recently diagnosed with tree nut allergies – … Continue reading The Need for Nut-Free: What’s Going On?

As I started to plan for Easter for The Happy Chocolatier, my wife and I had an interesting conversation. Do most people buy a pre-made basket or do they have a special basket that is re-used every Easter and simply filled with new chocolate and candy treats? I grew up in a household where a new basket showed up each year. My wife, on the other hand, had the same basket that was used throughout … Continue reading An ongoing debate: Buy an Easter basket or buy the contents and re-use the same basket every year?

I just read an article from Inc. titled, “Happiness Makes Your Brain Work Better” by Jessica Stillman. The premise of the article is that happiness drives success. As an entrepreneur who recently launched a chocolate business, I would have to agree with the article premise. I have been told that successful entrepreneurs have “an irrational exuberance” about what they do. I know I do – heck, I opened a business in a down economy. And, … Continue reading Happiness = Success? Yes!

Okay, so this is a bit of a made up holiday like Sweetest Day. And, yes if you Google “happy day” you’ll find quite a few version. However, World Happy Day is linked to a really interesting movie, Happy. Simply, it is a movie about happiness. More specifically, it is a feature length documentary that takes viewers on a trek across five continents in search of the keys to happiness. Through interviews and telling the … Continue reading Did You Know? February 11, 2012 is World Happy Day!

Every Valentine’s Day, chocolate becomes part of the romantic holiday. Why? Is it because of all the health benefits of chocolate? Is it because it is simply satisfying? Or, is it just the tradition of it all…. I think the tradition angle wins out. Chocolate has been referred to as “the food of the gods” since the time of the Aztec Indians. In fact the Aztec ruler, Montezuma believed chocolate was an aphrodisiac. Christopher Columbus … Continue reading So Why Do We Give Chocolate for Valentine’s Day?

The Happy Chocolatier and SuzySaid.com/Acton recently conducted a survey of women and found that: – nearly 75 percent want to have flowers or chocolates delivered at home rather than at work – more than 80 percent will share chocolates with loved ones (i.e. you and the kids) as opposed to hoarding the treats for themselves So send those chocolates and flowers home and then you can enjoy them, too!

Our friends at Didriks, a high-end tableware, glassware and home furnishings store based in Cambridge, MA,  visited The Happy Chocolatier and took some great photos of our store and interviewed us for their blog, Dinner Series. Check out the high quality outdoor furniture, tableware and bamboo offerings on the Didrik’s site as well.  They also took some photos of our Fudge Cubze on the store’s great looking tableware. An excerpt from the Dinner Series blog: … Continue reading On Chocolate for Didrik’s Dinner Series

In December – while I was busy getting through our very first Christmas season at The Happy Chocolatier – Andy Smith posted an article “Chasing Happiness: You’re Doing It Wrong” on Huffington Post. I just had time to read it. His thesis is that many people’s understanding of happiness is misaligned with what really drives happiness. Thus, many look in the wrong places for happiness. Or, as I have found many think happiness is a state … Continue reading “Chasing Happiness: You’re Doing It Wrong” – On Huffington Post Healthy Living

One of our customers, a dear friend, shared these photos with us at The Happy Chocolatier. She brought a whole new meaning to recycling by using the colorful foil from our Fudge Cubze for some truly wonderful origami. It was especially satisfying to see what would normally be thrown into the trash transformed into artwork that has spread some happiness.   What would you do with the foil or happiness statements from Fudge Cubze to … Continue reading Fudge Cubze Art – Bringing a Whole New Meaning to Recycled Art!

New Englanders have had a love affair with ice cream since colonial days. Ice cream was introduced to the United States by Quaker colonists who brought their ice cream recipes with them. Confectioners sold ice cream at their shops in New York and other cities during the colonial era. Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson were known to have regularly eaten and served ice cream. My family eats ice cream year round. Supermarkets sell … Continue reading New Englanders Eat More Ice Cream than Any Other Region in the Country!

We are in the thick of our first holiday season at The Happy Chocolatier. On a good day, this is a crazy time for anyone in the chocolate retail business. Chocolates to box, mail orders to ship, corporate gifts to pack, baskets to make and much more. Several months ago, The Happy Chocolatier and Fudge Cubze were only ideas. We’ve created a business and a product in a very short period of time. “The first … Continue reading Our First Holiday Season

As we head into the holiday season of parties and gift giving, I was speaking with my children about the importance of expressing thanks to others. Not simply, the quick “thanks” on the way out the door after a party at someone’s home or a quick “thanks for the gift” to a relative. But, something more – a phone call or better yet a hand-written note (or possibly a nice picture from the little ones).  … Continue reading Saying Thank You

In the short time that we have been open for business, we’ve had some really creative ideas from our customers. Several times now we’ve had customers ask us to bundle certain items (e.g. a hand-pulled candy cane bowed onto a gift box or a chocolate foiled Nutcracker bowed to a tower of gift boxes) and the results were some really attractive gifts. One customer had a particularly interesting idea. The customer was responsible for Human … Continue reading Great Ideas from Customers

Thanksgiving weekend, I think our newspaper weighed in at 10 pounds. It was chuck full of circulars and ads featuring gifts for the holidays. Now, I am in the business of gift giving as The Happy Chocolatier. However, I remind myself that this season is about much more than buying and giving gifts. It is about “why” we give gifts and “who” we give them to. The season is about family and friends, and recognizing … Continue reading It’s Not Just About the Gifts

I love the Christmas season. There are many things about the season that make me happy. The music. The smell of Christmas trees. The festive decorations around town. The aroma of fresh baked cookies and treats. Good times with family and friends. And, of course, chocolate treats. But, what I enjoy most of all is that despite all the hustle and bustle of the season and the economic challenges for many, this is a time … Continue reading The Christmas Season Brings Happiness in Many Forms

I recently came across The Happiness Project in a Forbes article. It started as a book by Gretchen Rubin and has grown into a blog, newsletter and movement. Happiness Project groups have popped up around the country. As The Happy Chocolatier, I found her thoughts relevant and entertaining.  I started The Happy Chocolatier in order to follow a dream and bring a bit of happiness to others in the process.  As I began to read … Continue reading Thoughts on The Happiness Project

I came across a blog that noted November was the most depressing month of the year for many reasons including: – It is getting colder – The green is gone from the trees – The grass is brown – Daylight is diminished I prefer to think of Thanksgiving when I think about November. Both the capital “T” Thanksgiving, as in the wonderful holiday with friends and family, and the time of year when many volunteer … Continue reading November – Depressing? Not really.

The other day I Googled the word “happiness” and found numerous self-help sites. I didn’t realize there were so many people in search of happiness and, as a result, in need of some self-help. As I perused these sites, many pitched books, lifestyles, and ways of thinking, which would enable one to achieve a state of happiness.  I was frankly surprised to see the common theme of happiness being a state at which one hopes … Continue reading Little Bits of Happiness Along One’s Journey in Life

I’ve come across article after article stating the obvious, like these in the Baltimore Sun and Insight. The economic downturn has negatively impacted the happiness of the general population. I’ve experienced this first-hand working with many executives who were “down-sized” as companies reduced their overhead costs. After leaving my job of 14 years when my company shrank its workforce, I had a choice to make – be unhappy or push back. I decided to create … Continue reading Happiness and the Economic Downturn

For me Halloween is all about the chocolate. I was never a fan of sugary sweets, but always loved chocolate. Well, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. One of my favorite Halloween stories is about taking my older son trick-or-treating around the neighborhood several years ago. We were just a few houses away from our home and our nice neighbor offered a basket full of sugary gummy candies.  My son looked up with … Continue reading My Favorite Chocolate Halloween Story

At our store Grand Opening in Acton, MA, we invited customers to share happiness statements with us. We hope to use some of them in our Fudge Cubze and offered to give the winner a large box of them. I assumed that those providing thoughts on happiness would be mostly adults. Was I ever wrong; the most profound of the statements were from kids and teens, such as: – Happiness is not a reward, it’s … Continue reading Happiness statements from kids and teens – truly inspirational!

Several folks have asked me, “Why cover the fudge in chocolate?” and “Why hand foil each piece?”  Well, being a big fan of chocolate and having sampled many types over the years, I decided that something was missing with traditional fudge. I enjoyed fudge, but never did like the presentation or the fact that many were really sugary and overly sweet.  I wanted to take fudge up a notch and decided that two critical areas … Continue reading Why Fudge Covered in Chocolate?

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 15, we host the Grand Opening celebration at our store in Acton. We wouldn’t be hosting this grand opening, if it were not for our excellent team of contractors, including: – Howard Davis Carpentry, Howard & team, General Contractor – Quintela Painting Company, Antonio Quintela & team – Perry Plumbing, Gary Corey & sons – McLeod Electric, Bill Morehouse & team Not only are these men really great at what they do, … Continue reading Truly, The Happy Chocolatier

Well, for me there has always been a tacit link between chocolate and happiness. Hence, the company name, The Happy Chocolatier. Chocolate makes me happy. Chocolate makes anyone I give it to happy. As I explored developing and launching my line of chocolates, Fudge Cubze, I decided that integrating happiness into the process was important. Fudge Cubze are really two treats in one – an excellent chocolate treat (if I do say so myself) and … Continue reading Why “Chocolate, Happiness and Other Musings?”