Make Mine Chocolate

Chocolate! The mere word quickly conjures up images of truffles, Hershey bars, M&Ms, hot cocoa, Devil's food cake, brownies, and books, baubles, and body wash. Wait a minute! Books, baubles, and body wash? They don't have anything to do with chocolate. Or do they?

Whether it's milk, bittersweet, or white chocolate (which some believe isn't really chocolate), Americans love the seductive delights of cocoa to the tune of about $13 billion a year in retail sales, according to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association. When it comes to desserts and sweets, chocolate rates as America's favorite flavor.

Further justification for satisfying our chocolate cravings comes from recent re-search indicating that it's actually good for you. Eating chocolate stimulates endorphins that enhance moods, and it contains antioxidants with disease-fighting properties.

Vendors have also come up with new ways to expand our chocolate horizons. While the standard chocolate bar or bunny might be primarily a mass market item, there's a wide range of specialty chocolates that are an excellent fit for the specialty retailer.

Their unique selling points include unusual flavors (from lavender to wasabi), handmade designs, and attractive packaging. There are brands that highlight cocoas from different regions, much like varieties of coffee and wine; some are organic, others are from fair-trade producers.

There are also gourmet chocolate food products to consider. Hot chocolate is quickly gaining in popularity.; it now has a repertoire as varied and sophisticated as coffee and tea, with flavors ranging from raspberry and peppermint to cinnamon and vanilla. In addition, chocolate fondue is enjoying a resurgence as a party dessert or for romantic tête-à-têtes.

All this is good news for gift retailers looking to generate sales in the early part of the new year, because two of the biggest holiday candy sales seasons occur within the year's first four months: Valentine's Day and Easter. What's Valentine's Day without heart-shaped boxes filled with truffles and other gourmet chocolates? Or Easter without that chocolate bunny and eggs nestled in a basket? And don't forget moms on their day and dads on theirs.

Beyond the delights of eating chocolate, products that smell like chocolate, are the color of chocolate, and tell stories about chocolate offer pleasure for the other senses. For instance, the fragrance industry has found a way to imbue home fragrancing products, especially candles, with cocoa's rich aroma. It's a great way to stimulate those mood-enhancing endorphins without taking on additional calories. And when that fragrance is combined with chocolate's anti-aging antioxidants in bath and body scrubs and lotions, you have a chocoholic's dream bath.

To further enrich the chocolate experience for the intellectual chocoholic, there are a number of beautifully illustrated books devoted to the bean's rich history, as well as trivia and recipes. Kids, too, can read all about it in books created just for them.

Chocolate brown is still a dominant fashion color, and you'll find it in an array of home decor accents such as pillows and throws, as well as fashion accessories including bracelets, totes, and scarves.

Starting with Valentine's Day, romance the pleasures of all things chocolate with creatively cross-merchandised displays combining traditional sweets with other chocolate-themed products. Play off the rich color as well as the flavor and fragrance. Just remember, don't keep your displays static. Mix things up, move them around. Include appropriate greeting cards and other stationery products. Change your chocolate merchandise to suit each holiday, and then roll it into your year-round offerings. It'll keep those chocoholics coming back again and again for more of their favorite flavor.