Forum Activity for @Ian Thomson

allergy free chocolates

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

we really don't need to go to so much detail just an estimate that sounds feasible.

We have concentrated on vegan and allergen free as they are very combinable and broaden our horizon.

I believe the market is a lot larger than you think and their are people out there , research suggests 7 to 10 % of children suffer from allergies, the most common being milk egg soy and nuts.. their are plenty of vegan chocolates out there but still few holiday goodies.. vegans tend to love nuts and thats why it is hard to find chocolates that dont say may contain traces of nuts.

as i said to our competition they do seem to be doing well at least in other countries, Moo Free is an example that started in the uk, now supplies to 12 different countries, they started for the same reason as i, but just for vegans, in 2010.. four years later they are selling in all leading retail outlets an amount of 65 000 easter eggs and their numbers are doubling each year.. they also do slabs and chocolate bars.. their is also a very popular vegan chocolate producecr in berlin and their products are flying off the shelves..

Why don't big retailers stock vegan chocolate?

This i cant understand.. dont they know that vegan people eat chocolate too?

One might say that they believe the market isn't big enough, but if i walk into any big retailer i will be able to buy vegan yogurt. this i find strange for two reasons

eat soya yogurt target vegans

soya yogurt is perishable so must be sold fast..

vegans eat chocolate too and chocolate is not as fragile as yogurt..

and with regards to price we do compete against brands that dont mind using nuts, which most people can eat and taste nice.. and vegan and allergy children would not experience a chocolate easter and christmass in the same quantity or any other chocolate quantity for that matter solely because of price.. if you take the average kid and how much chocolate he eats and a vegan kid you will see a big difference in quantity.. and we believe this is because of the price..

our products would be a 23g bar and a 150 gram bar as well as easter and xmass goodies..

we are not wanting to go from been to bar, but will be making the product out of cocoa powder and butter..

I have started a little bit backwards i know , but thats because i am not able to find out how much everything will cost, i must rely on the product prices of my competition..

i do not have to give a business plan but an oral pitch outlining some of the most important numbers

thank you very much for the comments so far i will be sharing it with my group... its so nice to get a point of veiw from someone in the business of chocolate.

thanks

ian

allergy free chocolates

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Hey guys

I am researching a project for first year at uni and was wondering if i could get a little help ..

we were asked to pitch a business idea in front of investors( classmates) and since it was just easter and i could not find a vegan easter egg anywhere in berlin( vegan capital of germany) without nuts, as my son has allergies to milk and nuts.. in fact the only vegan egg i could find did have traces of nuts but costed 7 euros per 100g.. that was way too much

so...

i decided to open a vegan allergen free chocolate factory producing relatively affordable products for children..

question?

1....how much could it roughly cost to set up a factory to produce milk chocolate on a relatively medium to large scale.. so just machinery , not as big as kit kat but enough to cover a vegan market and to ship to major cities in germany

2.... i have a 23g minni bar i am hoping to sell at 60 cents wholesale price what could i reasonable expect the costs in producing this minni bar would be? largest reasonable profit margin possable

thanks so much for taking the time to help me as i have searched the web and it feels like i bit off a bit more than i can chew.. also if anyone does want to make nut free dairy free chocolate... there does seem to be a huge gap in the market here in germany..

thanks again

Ian

updated by @Ian Thomson: 04/10/15 08:24:34PM