The Need

Chocolate Monkey, a regional candy store chain, opened their first store in 2009.

Their vision was to offer the highest quality products along with the best customer service anywhere to achieve success and stand out in a crowded field. Within eight years, they built up their business into a chain of seven candy stores spread across the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Their branded product line included chocolates and large caramel apples. Although they were happy that the products they sold met their vision and quality standards, they wanted to further diversify their product line.

A Common Craving

As farm business owners, the Roses’ plate was more than full. They didn’t focus their attention on certain parts of the business that, generation after generation, seemed to be working just fine. One of those areas was the fudge sold in their store. The Roses were happy enough with their fudge sales from the six flavors they were buying wholesale and displaying pre-cut under domes.

Very early on when Chocolate Monkey had only one location, customers came into their store asking if they carried fudge. The owners were completely unfamiliar with fudge. As the request became more and more frequent, they decided to investigate the business of fudge and began researching options. During the investigation, they learned that fudge was a product that would be best to make fresh on-site. This seemed like a significant undertaking since they had absolutely no background with fudge and didn’t know what high-quality fudge should be.