Wrapping Happiness into Every Truffle Cubze

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 you found inside. You might even save the tiny thought and tape it to your mobile phone for inspiration. Chocolate and happiness all in one!

Take S’Mores Up a Notch

With fall comes s’mores: graham crackers and toasted marshmallows and chocolate. Mmm. Brings back memories of childhood (well, maybe a few more recent memories as an adult, too).

We took our s’mores up a notch to make them a really special dessert experience. We replaced the generic, run-of-the-mill chocolate bars with truffle Cubze. We just sliced the individial Cubze in two and then sandwiched the pieces with the toasted marshmallow between the graham crackers. Quite excellent! To make the experience even better…our guests were able to enjoy the inspirational thoughts about happiness that were wrapped into each piece. Some guests even took their witty little happy thoughts home with them for future inspiration and as a memory of our fun time together. 

We gave our guests a choice of dark chocolate: mint, orange, raspberry, sea salt or the original. For the milk chocolate lovers we offered: cappuccino, peanut butter and cookie. These were certainly delicious and memorable desserts. Give it a try!

Gifts within Gifts!

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 we refer to the holiday boxed collection as “gifts within gifts within gifts?”

We think the elegant presentation + fine chocolate truffles + inspirational happiness sentiments will make for truly unique and memorable gifts for friends, family and business associates this holiday season.

Behind the Scenes Look: New Packaging

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 fall and in a retailer near you. If you want to see our truffle Cubze at a retailer local to you, email us or tell the retailer to contact us. We really do want to spread chocolate happiness with our happiness filled truffle Cubze!

June Is National Candy Month: “Share Some Chocolate Happiness!”

“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 wrapped with happiness wisdom inside. One treat for the palate and one for the soul!

Changing Our Business Model to Expand Wholesale Distribution of Truffle Cubze

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 retail shop. We are very thankful for the community support and many kind words over the last six years. It was a wonderful experience to be part of the Acton community.

Not to worry, you can still get our truffle Cubze by visiting one of the retailers listed on our “Where to Find Us” page:  www.thehappychocolatier.com/where-to-find-us/, or you may order direct from us through www.thehappychocolatier.com and by calling (978) 429-8485. In Acton, there are several retailers who are selling the Cubze – both individually and in gift collections.

For business gift programs and special events like weddings, showers, birthdays, etc. please email us at info@thehappychocolatier.com to discuss your needs.

A Day of Merriment to Support Beacon Santa

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 fortunate this holiday season.

The Acton Boxborough High School Madrigal Singers and Santa will be at the plaza from 11:00 to 12:00 to add to the fun!

The Beacon Santa Fund is a nonprofit organization administered through GateHouse Media New England, the Beacon’s parent company. Since 1965, Beacon Santa has helped families having trouble making ends meet provide holiday gifts for their children. Originally started through The Beacon, the fund now helps families in Acton, Bedford, Boxborough, Billerica, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Maynard, Stow, Tewksbury, Westford and Wilmington.

Special Early Bird Sale on November 18th from 6:30 to 10:00 AM

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 AM, get 20% discount, from 7:30 to 8:30 get 15% discount, from 9:30 to 10:00 get 10% discount. The offer applies to in stock items only and cannot be combined with other offers.

The Happy Chocolatier will be offering samples of some our special chocolates — it’s never to early in the day for a good piece of chocolate!

Truffle Cubze Featured on Mom Blog Society

Chocolate Truffle Cubze

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 .

Holiday Business Gift Planning: 4 Easy Steps

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 to get you started:

  1. Determine the budget and gift recipient list
    Start with the budget. When determining a budget, evaluate the size of your list of recipients and plan for quality. Sending a cheap gift tells the recipients you don’t really appreciate them. A budget will also help focus the types of gifts you consider. No sense looking at a particular item if it is beyond your budget. Some smaller companies will work with you to develop a spending plan and possibly segment the recipient list by size of client/customer and provide you a customized spending proposal.
  2. Research: look online AND poll your network
    The Internet is helpful and a great start. However, word of mouth is even better. Poll your network (business associates and family) and find out what company others may have used. Ask about their service experience. Ask about the feedback from recipients. Better yet, look around town and find a local supplier that isn’t just some anonymous online Web site. Like anything else, word of mouth is the most meaningful recommendation. If the gift you choose is a food product like chocolate or cheese, be sure to check out customer comments about the quality of the company’s offerings.
  3. Choose a partner that provides value-added services
    Make your life easy by choosing a corporate gift partner that not only provides quality gifts, but also provides additional time-saving services for you:
    – Utilizing your recipient list in the way you wish to provide it (e.g. print or spreadsheet) vs. how it fits into their online system
    – Developing custom gift selections to meet varying budgets linked to different segments of your gift list
    – Personalizing your gifts through inclusion of your greeting card, business card or marketing materials
  4. Ask who will work on your order
    You want to be confident that your order will be handled professionally and with attention to detail. If you can’t get the name of a key contact (i.e. not customer service), then move on. If the contact name you are given is the business owner, then you should feel confident placing the order. It is critical to have a contact person who will be responsible for ensuring that your order is completed on time and that each gift is packaged with care.

Follow these four simple steps and you will choose a partner that will make you and your corporate gift program a success. In the holiday season, you want to hear kudos from your customers or clients, not complaints about the quality of the gifts.