Small Business Spotlight: Jacques Torres Chocolate in NYC

Source: Me

Jacques Torres (aka “Mr. Chocolate”) is a local chocolatier in New York City who opened his chocolate “factory” and first store in 2000, twenty-five years ago! Happy Anniversary!

I first met Chef Jacques when I did a stint as CMO at The French Culinary Institute back in the day and he was the Dean of the Pastry Program. He was, and is, instantly impressive and I have been in awe at how his “local” business has grown and evolved through the years.

And yes his chocolates are amazing, but so are his hot and frozen cocoa drinks and chocolate chip cookies! Famous!

But what really stands his business apart, IMHO, are his holiday chocolate figures that come in small, medium, and large sizes. Large figures! Huge! We are talking Turkeys for Thanksgiving, Santas for Christmas, and Bunnies for Easter (pictured above).

I remember years ago first surprising my husband with a large chocolate Turkey for Thanksgiving … he was shocked at the size and the festiveness of it all. It’s now our tradition that lives on almost every holiday, including this past Easter where we got a large gold chocolate Bunny (again, pictured above).

In fact, I bought a bunch of chocolate figures to decorate our table, knowing that we’d be entertaining for the holiday. We wanted something fun, festive, and unique … a treat for everyone’s eyes that perhaps they’d never seen before. Jacques Torres did not disappoint once again.

Buying the lot was such an experience. When I went to his small shop in Manhattan, I was literally on the phone with my husband, who was out of town, as I picked out the pieces we wanted for our centerpiece with the store associate helping me arrange them onsite! It was a total shopping party, in a way that only a small local business can do. I’ll never forget it.

A great example of the power of small business, the power of leveraging your expertise, and the power of building customer service relationships at the local level. We come back year over year over year, and many times in between.

It’s a one-of-a-kind small business that can never be replicated on a mass scale, at least from my POV. Many have said that it’s much easier for small businesses to develop local relationships, and this is a good example of that … it should inspire businesses of all sizes to do the same.

What’s your experience? JIM