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East Idaho newsmakers is brought to you by the Bank of Commerce your bank of a lifetime This Is East Idaho newsmakers with Nate Eden welcome to East Idaho newsmakers you know if you've lived in East Idaho for any amount of time chances are you have had of Florence's chocolate they are delicious they are known around the world and today we're talking with I guess we could call you the man behind Florence's I am that Bryan man way his mother and your father to originally started the chocolate shop and now it's become so well known across East Idaho thanks for coming in to chat with us thank you for having me let's start at the beginning how did Florence's chocolates begin in Rexburg well my dad actually used to be in construction he was in the construction business he used to build truck trusses and with his brother and so my mom actually used to make the candy in her home and so much like many of your mother's you know they make a little treats for Christmas and and so she started making chocolates and basically the neighbors said these are so good why don't you go into business so that we can buy them all the time you know for gifts and presents for our family or for business and so my dad decided since he was in the construction business that was when in the Carter years when there was you know double great interest interest rates double figure and so the construction business was kind of struggling at that time and so he decided to take his business knowledge and they took her talent of making candy making and and combine the two and and started a business and so so he quit construction cold turkey they did he did and just hoping that what in fact when they went to the bank to get their first loan they gave us a 50-50 chance of of survival so so we've made it now for 37 years so we started our they started back in 1981 in Rexburg in Rexburg so did they actually get a storefront yes actually my dad had acquired the building basically it was an inheritance from his his parents and so they kind of took that building that's kind of why we're a little bit at an out in Nally way there in Rexburg so it's it's not real visible from from the street and that's reason why it's because they inherited it and so it was able they are able to to get their business off the ground because they didn't have to pay rent or anything like that and so it was a good opportunity for them to be able to get into something and build a start a business they actually have a brick and mortar store yes I would imagine trying to make a living 100 percent off of candy would would be a somewhat of a challenge maybe not back in 1981 but maybe today with online venues and all sorts of things how did they do those first few years was it successful it was it was challenging for them just because it was just those two so my dad did the business end of it and my mom was trying to roll the candies make cook the can well actually my dad was the cook then my mom would roll them and she would dip the chocolates and and so she they were kind of the main thing so by the time Christmas got done there was only about two flavors on the people in the case that the customers could choose from because it just you know they they had a hard time keeping up with the demand through Christmas but you know eventually they hired and you know they built up their business they were able to hire on other people and other dippers and and so they were able to make it work but you know it was tough just like any business starting out and word just spread and we're just bread yes that's that was probably your main vehicle to get people yes and that and that still basically is because people try the candy and and they realize that it's a little bit of a you know different candy from the other chocolate factories because you know we use only quality ingredients and my parents actually when they started it they went all over the world to find the you know the best chocolate they wanted a good chocolate one without wax I know that sounds a little weird but some people do add wax to their chocolate so that has a higher melting temperature so they can actually keep it in the stores and without it melting and so they didn't want to put wax in their chocolates they didn't want to put preservatives in their chocolates and basically my mother got the recipe she made some up with her mother's you know and also from recipe books and that kind of stuff and then they just kind of tweaked them and and made them their own recipes and so there's there is something different about them that that makes it better and maybe is it that they're not wax yeah we tend on the East Coast they tend to use a little bit of a darker milk chocolate they kind of mix the milk and the dark chocolate together here on the west coast they tend to like the milk your chocolate and so ours is a is a little more sweet and in milk here and then also you know the difference with our centers is a lot of the chocolate companies will use water in the recipe and a water-based recipe and ours is cream based and you'll notice that some of them will have grain you know sugar granules and that kind of thing in them and we wanted our steuby smooth and creamy and with a good chocolate so so if you don't need them they could go bad which is kind of a good thing of a fresh fruit right yes that's kind of it's a good thing and it's a bad thing because we find that a lot of people you know a lot of the some of the people you know stash them in their drawers or something like that and then pull them out you know a month or two later and find that they're that they're not very good so we we tend that we tried to tell the people to eat within two weeks the product that we have because it is perishable and and it doesn't last very long you got to eat it while it's good so so your mom and dad launched this shop within a few years it takes off they're able to start hiring still in the same building today yes when did you as children get involved or was this something you grew up with your I I grew up with it I basically we started in 1981 and I was 14 years old at the time and so basically we didn't get paid well my dad was was one of those tougher customers and he would just say you know if you want if you want to eat if you want a roof over your heads yeah you work for the family business and you make it work and so you know all of the children basically have worked in the candy shop at some point in time throughout the years did you get unlimited candy we did quite a bit as it shows so yeah that was kind of our pay and and that was worth it because we enjoyed eating it reminded us of Christmas moment when my mom used to make it in the house and she used to make us our own little box for Christmas and so that was kind of a little treat for Christmas so oh that's cool years ago I when I was working as a reporter at ki DK I went up to the chocolate shop to Florence's and your mom I did a story and I was surprised to see that these chocolates really aren't run through a machine or anything I mean these were women that were dipping them in chocolate and doing little swirls and and then grabbing stuff out of but I mean this is all very handcrafted is that still how it is today um it's changed a little bit just because we've had to keep up with the demand we currently sell through 8 Deseret book stores and so plus our own little store there and plus online and so it's been a challenge so we have been in you know adding equipment along the way we still do hand dipping all the dark is done by hand dipping actually by an employee that's been there for 35 years and what's the process in doing that in hand dipping yeah basically the way that it it starts out is we cook it in in a copper kettle and that's to kind of keep the temperature even for the candy and once it's cooked then we put it into a cream beater where it's cooled so it's like water jacketed and then it will cool the fondant is what we call it and after its cooled then we it stirs around just like your snow plows out there on the street and and it makes us like if we're doing orange will add actual orange rind we'll add at the actual orange juice from the orange and then the coloring you know and the flavoring to add to that and so then it stirs and it comes out just kind of like play-doh so that's how the kind of the consistency that it comes out as and then once that's done then the there's we have a kitchen help which is which will basically roll the candy in their hands so if they roll them into little balls which is the center of the chocolate once they're rolled into little balls and they put a bottom on it which is just a little swath of chocolate the top of it and basically that just adds strength so when it gets dipped then when you pull the chocolate off it doesn't all come out at the bottom so so and basically she just puts that bottom in the in the palm of her hand and she just coats it with with her chocolate in her hand and and then does the little sign on the paper and on the top of the chocolate so it's quite a process and but she they work fast they do I was surprised at how fast that's not taken an hour so yeah I think they do I think there's like 365 chocolates on a tray and they can usually do that within about thirty minutes I believe so so they can do they do a good job we've had good employees throughout the years that's really what's helped the business is good employees and good help what's your top seller it kind of depends if you like creams if you're like nuts and caramels if you're kind of a nut in caramel type person turtle and caramels are the top sellers and toffee and then if you're if you like the creams the orange cream Irish mint and generally haystack are the top six sellers and cherry cordials those are those are kind of our our main sellers we also have two others that are kind of unique to our business and that's the princess Michelle which is a buttercream Center dipped in chocolate and then rolled in toasted coconut and then almond hand roll which is kind of the same thing only with almond so that's kind of our specialties wasn't your mom's favorite the Irishman she loved the Irish mint and she actually kind of just depended on the day but she we lots of chocolate in her family so she liked the dark chocolate though she was a dark chocolate fan she'd always tried to convince customers to try the dark chocolate I think she told me during that interview I'll have to watch that every day after lunch she'd have a dark Irish mint but you're right probably changes based on the day yeah and she liked dark caramels we all have about six favorite so we kind of just rotate through though now she was she was pretty involved in the business up until the the later years of her life yes was that was that difficult for her to kind of step away and realize that um it was a challenge in fact it was challenging just for our business but cuz she actually you know started out with Alzheimer's and that's kind of what you know was that was the demise of her but I saw up until that point you know she was she was the voice in the the face of the business and you know people actually enjoyed coming in to the store just to talk with Florence and so you know that was a main issue and and when you know she started getting dementia you know we noticed that there were some mistakes on orders and calls and that kind of stuff and and so it was very difficult and she still had enough mind to know that there was something wrong but but she didn't know how to let go and so it was and it was difficult because everybody came in to see Florence and that and and we missed that now there's other people watching in the same scenario that have parents that are starting to get dementia and Alzheimer's and whatnot how did you guys you know approached her about that because it's got to be somewhat of a difficult conversation and then it's kind of helped transition her to to her new stage it was kind of progressive it was you know first of all it was you know we had to take the keys away from her with her car which took away our independence which was very difficult and then as she was in her home by herself because my father had passed away in 2010 you know then we had to move her into a home and she wasn't really ready for that yet and but didn't realize that there was enough going on you know up here that that she needed to needed the help and so after she went in the home then we started noticing it in the business and we we kind of tried to move her into untrain the clusters and and she would kind of get the nuts confused and and so it was kind of a difficult time for her just because she was always so involved and so active and and vivacious and the and so was hard for her to accept that coming on so she passed away about a year ago actually was in April mm April April of 16 of 16 so nearly two years ago not just just last year oh okay I'm sorry in 2017 April 2017 Wow what's the story originally called mom's candy kitchen yes and that actually was how they started it and actually the logo first when it first came out was her face on the side much like you know you see on sees you have that lady's face and then the way that they came up with her logo was is actually her signature so the logo that we now currently have is her actual signature but they started out as moms candy kitchen and they wholesale or resell dunder Florence's exquisite candies and since I kind of took over I kind of have you know we're still mom's candy kitchen but we've kind of gone to Florence's because what used to confuse people having the two different names and some would refer to it as mom's candy kitchen some would refer to as Florence's and so it confused a lot of people and so you know we're still incorporated in her mom's candy kitchen but we we mainly use Florence's exquisite candies now and so that's kind of kind of the story behind that all right we're gonna take a 15-second break when we come back I want to talk about what's next for the business how you handling the growth of online and new ventures so we'll be right back with Brian man away at the Bank of Commerce we understand the hard work determination and sacrifice it takes to run a successful business that's why we're here every step of the way to help make your dreams come true the Bank of Commerce your bank of a lifetime thanks for being with us today here on East Idaho newsmakers we're talking with Brian Manwaring he is part of the Florence's chocolate Florence's exquisite candies I guess that's the official name are you the CEO I am I'm kind of you know you do an Armour The Electrician and fix the equipment we do it all we talked before the break your parents launched this this store in 1981 and so it's been a success online ventures weren't around back in 1981 how have you kind of gone through that new and exploding industry um it's been a challenge for us mainly because I'm not real technically savvy and so it's difficult to try to find somebody that we'll stick with you and stays with you and helps you brand your name which is which is what we've been working on most people that order online have lived here and tried them or tried them elsewhere and want to order is that way yeah and so it's a lot of people's kids you know that grew up with it and then they move you know away with their own families and and then the order online and that and then like it like we mentioned in the first of the interview a lot of its word-of-mouth and so they'll they'll tell their friends and sometimes they'll ship them for further friends you know during holidays and and during birthdays and that kind of thing and so you know just slowly steadily grows you know each year online so before we started taping you were saying that Christmas is is your busiest time of year how much production do you have to wrap up for the holidays we do 30% of our business in the month of December so it is our busiest season for the year 30% for the year yes for the whole year and so it's a very important time in fact without Christmas we probably you know probably wouldn't be worth worth doing so Christmas is our biggest season Valentine's of course is our next busiest holiday we're a very seasonal business and so e're a very gift oriented we do still have customers that you know come in regularly and we're very appreciative of of the customers have been with us over the years but but the online situation or segment currently right now we're trying to brand give ourselves a little bit more of a brand for online sales we're trying to come up with different colors and packaging that can help you know move that forward and so that's actually what we're currently working on right now is working on our online presence and so that's that's our focus for this year being so fresh do you find that there's obstacles as far as making sure the product gets there out the door on time so that people don't get old chocolate it's it's a challenge and especially during the summer months just because you know of the heat we do have styrofoam packing that we put it in with ice packs sometimes it makes it and some it's kind of risky in the Sun time and sometimes it doesn't it just depends if it gets left on the doorstep or something in 100-degree heat generally it doesn't make it through but but that we actually like doing orders online just because it goes straight from our business to the customer and so we know it's going to be fresh and we know that they're going to get it in good condition for the most part you know with exception is sometimes with the summer issues but but that's kind of why we're trying to promote that a little bit more in our business so that we can go directly from our business to the customer I would imagine that this is a challenge every restaurant or food owner faces the the rising and falling prices of butter and sugar and chocolate a few years ago it wasn't chocolate at like an all-time high chocolates been crazy and and and the thing is is is it's it's never gone down it seems like you know each year our contract price goes up so we we do sign a contract with a with a company back east and actually our our chocolate is a Swiss formulated recipe but it's made here in the States and so you know we contract for a year out and try to keep the cost down and we actually just changed this year we used to get them in 50-pound boxes ten pound slabs in the box and now we have to get it by the pallet in bulk so that so it kind of drops the price and and tries to keep us you know competitive in our pricing so where do you proceed the business Florence's in ten or fifteen or twenty years what's next well as I've mentioned before Deseret book we sell through them we currently have or supply eight of their stores there's six in Idaho and then there's two outside of Idaho so we have Logan Utah and then also we just barely picked up this year or last year keep forgetting we're in a new year but we picked up Oregon which is Lake Oswego so we're now selling to them so so slowly we kind of as they remodel stores then they usually include our chocolates because it's a good impulse item for their customers and so they find it really works well with her what they're sewing of their books so we hope to continue that relationship and hopefully build on that relationship I believe currently they have like 40 or more stores you know currently and so you know we're only at eight so I think there's some potential there but like I say this year our focus is mainly going to be on our online presence and and kind of building a brand and a look and a type of box that people recognize and so that's really what our focus will be on this year do you ever introduce temporary flavors items we kind of occasionally do we stick with the ones that we know because it's it's tough to kind of get a new piece out there and people tend to have their favorites that they like to stick with and unless it really blows their socks off generally they they stick with with what they enjoy and what they like we've tried different types of chocolates where we add cayenne pepper and and different items like that that add a little bit of heat to the chocolate and and it it you know it's it's fun for the customer but they don't necessarily you know here in Rexburg it's just a little bit different palate or if you go back east or if you go you know on the west coast or something you know they're they're kind of more into that type of a thing where they're ginger and and that kind of thing but we find here just in Rexburg and also on the west coast that the people just like you know if they want an orange cream they get an orange cream if they want mint they get their mint and they know it's going to be good and and generally they don't sway from that we probably will try that a little bit in the future my focus has really been trying to just keep up with the demand getting in equipment that helps us produce and and keep up with that demand but generally with our mix of chocolates generally there's something there that that everybody enjoys and likes and and so that's what we've stuck with what would your advice be for small business owners out there that might be starting a business maybe in the food industry or just starting a business in general you know with any business there's risk and I I think you need to make sure that you have the used calculated risk not just you go oh it's risky and so therefore I'm going to take it I actually started two businesses B you know just kind of in the middle of the candy store I did a custard shop and also a pretzel shop and it was difficult to kind of get it going and so I I kind of had to go back to our core business because my focus kind of got lost and so I guess one of my pieces of advice would be to stay focused on on what you do best and number one and then kind of with those new businesses what I did learn is that like if you're opening a pretzel shop or you know whatever it might be you have to understand how many of those pretzels you've got to sell to make any money I mean if you're only selling at a dollar ninety-nine for your particular item you've got to sell a lot of of those items and so put put a pen to the paper and and and make sure that that that it's something that's going to work and also make it make it your passion if it's something you're passionate about like it was with my parents like I say that it may be a little rocky for the first few years but eventually it kind of builds momentum and and you know it can take off so I are you planning to have grandchildren and great-grandchildren continue on the family business you know it's interesting night all my kids have kind of moved on so right now it's kind of just me I'm kind of hoping somebody will will take an interest interest in it so that you know eventually I can retire the chocolate they're not so sure that they enjoy you know the work that goes behind it though yeah well it's been interesting Tonya with you Brian I appreciate you coming in and you've been influenced this has been a big supporter of East Idaho News when it comes to feel-good Friday and things like that offering their products for us to give away and many of you have entered the contest they're like oh most popular contest with a box of chocolates people people love them because they are so good go over to the Florence's website if you haven't checked out their selection you can get them there or stop in at the store on in Rexburg or as you mentioned the Deseret bookstores in the area I think I've seen them in all of them in the yes in Idaho yeah Brian man weary thanks so much of Florence's chocolate stand thank you for watching have a good week East Idaho newsmakers is brought to you by the Bank of Commerce 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