Chocolate Debrands

Posted onDecember 17, 2011 - 7:12 am by Admin | 0 Comments

PERSONAL

Married to Timothy Beere with DeBrand Chocolatier (photographer, architectural/interior designer, Secretary Treasurer), Three Daughters – Niki (20), Jasmine (17), Audree (15)

My hobby has always been business. From the time I was a young girl in elementary school; I was making things and selling them.

My favorite subject throughout school was art which explains why I so love to create things. Our chocolates and packaging have become my art form.

Born near Fort Wayne and grew up in Fort Wayne. I was the youngest of 7 children. In fact, 20 years younger than my oldest brother and 9 years younger than my youngest brother. My mother had started a business around the time that I was born (thinking that her children were old enough to give her more time to do this) so I literally grew up in a family business that was run by my parents. This may have been part of what made starting a business seem quite natural to me.

PROFESSIONAL:

I started DeBrand in 1987 and it has grown slowly over the years to where it is today.

We cook/make all of our centers from scratch with many ingredients; all of which are the highest quality that we can find locally and from around the world. We use excellent chocolates from various locations and have artfully designed a specific look for every different piece.

We continuously look at ways to upgrade our packaging, keeping in mind that our chocolates are given as luxurious gifts.

Our stores are designed to represent our signature chocolate brown décor in a classic and contemporary fashion. At these shops, in addition to our chocolates, we serve ice cream sundaes, gelato, desserts, hot chocolates and other specialty? coffee drinks. We also host private parties.

We have 3 retail stores in Fort Wayne and a Mail Order division.

We sell chocolates (including custom Trump Chocolate Bars) to Donald Trump and many of the various Trump Properties. Our chocolates are purchased by people from all walks of life, from ordinary people to the Princess of Dubai. The economy has not hurt us because DeBrand is a very high-end luxury that is still affordable (compared to a luxury car, vacation, etc…). Plus, not many things can be purchased for $25, $50, or $100 that would be a high-end gift for an entire family or office to share.

A little over a year ago, I headed up the start of our new wholesale division. We now offer our chocolates to upscale boutiques, gourmet shops and other high-end retailers. We have developed some new products and packaging that were designed with this division in mind. However, these products are also sold through our retail stores and website (mail order).

What I do: Create, make improvements, motivate, conduct meetings, delegate and hold people accountable.

Favorite thing to do: Create products or business expansion plans and then see the finished result.

Pet Peeve: People not doing what they say they will do; sloppy behavior.

Most appreciate: Loyalty, hard work, ambition and logical thinking from staff. Also loyal customers who appreciate what we do and take personal pride in DeBrand like the chocolates are their chocolates.

My biggest strength: Never being satisfied with status quo.

My biggest weakness: Never being satisfied with status quo.

Business motto: The Golden Rule.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE: FAVORITES

Food: Of course, chocolate; I still eat it every day! Also, chips and salsa and spicy Italian food as well as light, well-seasoned dishes.

Movies: It’s Wonderful Life, Gone with the Wind, Chocolat, The Bucket List…

Charitable/Community Focus: DeBrand has been supportive of some needs in the community. Here are a few:
• Vera Bradley Classic supporting Breast Cancer
• Tapestry for Women supporting education through IPFW
• Turnstone supporting the mentally and physically disabled
• DeBrand Chocolate Extravaganza supporting the Family and Children Services
• Voices of Unity to help build and shape youth for the future
• A Hope Center supporting relationship and pregnancy resources
• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation supporting development of a cure and quality of life
• Riley Children’s Foundation supporting Riley Children’s Hospital

Color: Love both red and bright blue (depending on my mood). Maybe that means my favorite is purple.

Music: Upbeat-Contemporary, R & B, Jazz

Time off: Spending time with family. In addition to my husband and daughters, we have a great time with our extended family and we get together with brothers, sister, nieces/nephews, mom and all of our relatives that live in this area every week. We have one weekend per year when all of the families, including the ones who live in other parts of the country, get together.

Vacations: Each year I try to have a family vacation with our daughters as well as a vacation with just my husband.

Working out: My husband is very athletic and enjoys working out, but I don’t have that quality. I try to do 10 minutes per day because that is about as much as I can be committed to.

Big Picture Wish: World peace and appreciation of diversity and variety of cultures.

Take one bite of a DeBrand’s chocolate, and you will understand why they make the “it list” for chocolate-lovers, including many celebrities, across the United States. But what’s better than buying DeBrand? Getting it for free, of course! This aspect alone should make a DeBrand Tour a must when you plan a summer trip to Fort Wayne.

The 45-minute tour walks you through the chocolate making process by first showing participants a 15 minute video that gives background on the company and its chocolatiers.  After the video, tourists get a close up view of where and how the magic happens. The tour showcases three immaculate DeBrand’s chocolate kitchens. Participants look through windows as workers craft each chocolate individually. Spoiler Alert: this is the best part of the tour because you get FREE samples of their world-renowned chocolate!

As the tour concludes, the sweet rewards keep coming! Tourists receive a $5 off certificate that is good for any DeBrand purchase of $10 or more made the same day as the tour.


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