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Price and perfection
How much are we willing to pay to enjoy the perfect pralines and chocolates that we soooo love?How do we set limits? Luxury things should cost more, but how much more before we say - no thank you?How much do we need and at what price are we willing to pay to fulfill our chocolate desires?How are pralines / filled chocolates sold on average: per piece, per gram, per pound...QUESTIONS, questions filling my head...I am working on a project together with a chocolate artist and we are trying to determine where price and product match the consumers needs/wants...Any ideas, tips or other are welcome!Have a delicious day!
Pralines seem to be in the $1-2 range most of the time. Bars in $4-10 range, with a brand like Amedei in the kabillion range - though they are one of my favorites so my choc fridge always has one or two bars. It really does depend, there are high quality brands which don't move me (Varlhona & Cluizel, for example) despite a reasonable price point of $5-6. Shoppingwise, I generally buy some pralines and more bars; bars last longer so more bang for your buck. But I also buy chocolate while traveling, so I have to be mindful of shelf life.I think starting out you should price on the lower end and move up as quality increases, nothing irritates me more than a newbie charging experienced chocolatier prices. I tend to cross them off of my buying list permanently if the chocolate isn't strong enough, why should I subsidize their learning curve more than is appropriate? I'm not paying for potential, I'm paying for their current level of ability. At some point, its just gouging. I'm not against trying a new chocolatier multiple times to see if their flavor profile and skill (or my preferences) has changed, but not if they are pricing above their station. I'm willing to pay a pretty penny for my chocolate, so its a value and customer respect issue for me.
I'm only interested n chocolate bars not pralines, truffles, or other types of chocolate, but I think that some principles still apply. For me, the bottom line is that if a chocolate bar is good enough then I'll pay to eat it. I may not be able to have it very often, but that makes it an even more special treat. I hate being ripped off, and paying a lot of money for chocolate the I don't like. I'll only do that once, and then warn others not to get burned. I've developed a "Value Index" that is subjective and based on my preferences. I developed a formula from empirical data of bars I've tasted so far that gives a number with an index that is a ratio of my Rating (=My enjoyment) to the price. My favorite bar is Amedei Chuao, but it's so expensive that it's Value Index is very low. As in all things about chocolate "your mileage will vary". Value Index.pdf
My experience has been that low-end and mainstream chocolates are usually sold by weight. High end chocolates are usually sold by the piece (though retail boxed collections may still be described by weight).