Latest / Unlocking Huntington Beach / HB's Bean-to-Bar Chocolatier: Bella Sophia's Story (Ep. 18)

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HB's Bean-to-Bar Chocolatier: Bella Sophia's Story (Ep. 18) · Unlocking Huntington Beach

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: And we're back with another episode of Unlocking Huntington Beach.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: What's going on?
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: My name is Laine Stone, and we have an amazing special episode for you today.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_03: We're sitting with the people, the folks of Bella Sophia Chocolates, and I want them to give a quick little intro and we'll kick off a little interview here.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Lane.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having us.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Stephanie Schaefer, and I'm here with my husband, Jim Schaefer.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_03: Stephanie and Jim are with us with Bella Sophia.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_03: And if you guys haven't seen their chocolates, they're absolutely beautiful.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_03: You should be following them on Instagram.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_03: And we'll have a link in the show notes for their profile.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_03: But take a look, we'll look at their photos, look at their video, order their chocolates because they are local to Huntington Beach, and we're gonna get into that a little bit.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh can we start off with how the name came about?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh our daughter is Isabella Sophia Schaefer, and we love her name so much that we called our shop Bella Sophia Chocolates.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: It sounds perfect, by the way.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, kids are the greatest gift, and you know, thinking out my name that I wanted, I wanted it to like stick, be catchy, be something amazing.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I was thinking, you know, what better gift that I already had was Bella's name.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we have that now.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: And you guys are approaching 10 years of chocolateering.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Is that is that right?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_03: We are.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: We actually are.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what people don't realize is that there's two types of like chocolateering kind of, you know, one is being a chocolate maker and and one is being a chocolateer.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we do both.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: When when we started 10 years ago, we didn't realize there was a division of like you either or.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: So we started out learning from a few uh chocolate makers um how to source the cacao from South America, you know, from organic.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to do all organic, you know.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so you source it and you have to learn to ferment it, and you have to learn how to grind it and winnow it, and you know, all the fun stuff.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's kind of a science.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like you have to be able to do all of this stuff to create from bean to bar, from a tree to the chocolate that you eat, you know.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then being a chocolatier comes in strong for us because that means manipulating the chocolate in the ways that that make it milk or or dark, you know, and how dark do you want it?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: How organic do you want it, you know?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And people deserve to have like the ultimate organic like chocolate in, you know.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I love the art part of it.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: So everything that you'll see that I do is hand painted just by me.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And Jim and I together make the chocolate, you know, and I do the um fillings that you'll see.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So everything is from scratch, from uh the sea salt caramel, you know, we source local stuff, you know, when we're gonna use a cream in that.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I always source organic when it's possible.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: And um I'm really hearing it's like three different things.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's like chocolate making, it's chocolateering, and it's artistry.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: So that's that's really cool.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: But take me back to 10 years ago.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what are your backgrounds and what got you into the field of chocolate making, chocolateering, and being chocolate artists?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that's the amazing part.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I started doing sports therapy uh with athletes, so Olympic athletes, pro athletes.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, gosh, when I was 16.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I my first Olympic Games were the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And growing up in that world, everybody's really healthy, really fit.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: They care about what goes into their mouth, you know, their bodies are like a temple.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I saw that they ate a lot of protein bars, drank a lot of protein drinks, and and they weren't having anything fun.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when I would travel with them across the world, European chocolates are like the best.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: They're smooth, they're creamy.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: You wonder, like, how what are they doing over there that we're not here, you know?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And we all love chocolates.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I was out to create something that they would find fascinating with the art, something that they would be able to eat and not, you know, not enjoy it.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so I would have, you know, listening to them of like, oh, I need nuts for today, and this is how much I need.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: I need beet powder or whatever it is.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so I would create little bits of bars and you know, give it to them and tell them, it's okay.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing in this, you know, that isn't good for you.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I made sure everything that went into my product was done by the two of us only so we can control like every aspect of it.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then my athletes were my first taste testers, and you know, a lot of dark chocolate went into that, you know, and we stayed away from a little bit more of the sweeters like whites and milks, you know.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but the art is something I really wanted to do really young.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I finally got to do everything like cooking art.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Cooking art, you know.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, it's like something that comes out of like love.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And every single day, I work about 18 hours every day.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: I paint and I create, you know, the fillings, because everything I do, even from my vanilla bean extract, I make myself.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So nothing is bad in my.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: I was reading the Tahitian vanilla bean extract.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, yeah, I'm reading that.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: And or and I try always to grab, you know, if I can locally source things, some of it, you know, you have to get from abroad.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: And and so I do do that, and I make sure that we can trace back all the soil it's grown in, you know.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: I want to make sure that everybody gets to enjoy something that's unique, you know, and and something that's special because, you know, and better for you than what's on the shelves in the markets.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I I think a while back, years ago, it was created that way, but times change and and a lot of things grow really fast, you know.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And Jim and I chose to just have one place to work out of.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's because it's only the two of us, and we create everything that you see, you know, on our shelf.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And um so we just don't skimp on any ingredients, you know.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: If it's not available, we don't create that exact chocolate, you know, until we can get it.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: So that's the best way to do it.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_03: Almost like farm the table, really.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_03: Like, right in the chocolate space.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's exactly the same way.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, we don't want, we don't need to skimp on on any ingredients.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: So when we're um creating, we make sure we can have that, you know, whether it's vanilla beans or that cacao, we'll wait, you know.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And recently we've had to wait for products coming abroad, and we do.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: We wait and we say it's not available.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and and just recently, our shipment of cacao didn't show up.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: No, and and right before the biggest holiday, you know.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so what you have to do is pivot.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: You in this world, you have to learn to pivot or you die in business.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_03: In a way, it might build demand too, of like, hey, I can't get what I want, but I Right.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And and what I did, uh, I created brittle.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'd never ever made it, you know.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: I have a severe nut allergy, so I can't really enjoy that.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: But everyone around me wants nutted items.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I created a line of brittles, you know, macadamia, pistachio, peanut brittle.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's a big thing in the Midwest, the South, you know, um, but not really around here.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: But when it was available, people wanted it.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it became the new branch of Bella Sophia chocolates.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something I can ship in the hot summer because you can't ship chocolates really.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, even with dry ice, it's really hot everywhere else and here now.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like the the more the higher quality the chocolate, the easier it melts, is what it seems like to me.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if that's true or not.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing in it that will hold its stability in the uh 70 and above, you know.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we've tried everything from shipping in the foil to the the packs that are meant for hot weather, and it doesn't, I mean, we can't ship to Arizona, but the Arizona people come to us, you know.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's excellent.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then when winter comes, it we ship out.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's an everyday occurrence, you know.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: But we are creating things that we can ship out and they can enjoy, and then they look forward to like chocolate in the winter, you know.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: But uh our locals around here, um, we do curbside now, you know.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they still, and that's how we got through our pandemic years.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I want to talk about that a little bit later, too, about the the shift in the during the pandemic years, too.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: But Jim, what's what's your background and how did you get it?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_04: How did I get involved in this?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I've always loved chocolate, especially since we went to Europe and fell in love with the you know, the your the European chocolates.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_03: No, specifically where is it?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: France, Belgium, like when I think of chocolate, that's the two places that I think.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: But as are there other areas that we don't know about in Europe that really specialize in chocolate?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_04: I I love French.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_04: I think we lean more towards the French.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: Um, just because of the flavorings and how how it looks and how it tastes.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_04: But um, yeah, we've been to Denmark and and Sweden and Norway and all those places.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_04: But I I tend to like France best.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_04: I sorry, continue.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, so yeah, if we um I forget what the question was.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_04: What was your background?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_04: How'd you get into it?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_04: I've been um I've been in education.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_04: So I was in education for a while and during uh pandemic, we just took a little shift and decided to um create our chocolates because during that time we were making chocolates, but it was like um like as a side job.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_04: It was like we take one or two corporate orders here and there.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_04: Uh we were invited to go to the Emmys.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_04: So we were at the Emmys, which was really fantastic and fun.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_04: Got to meet um Jack Pipin.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_04: Um that was really, really great to do.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_04: Um so then um during that time, then we said, hey, this might be a good opportunity for us to open up uh a brick and mortar place.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_04: So so we did that and and had a great time.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_04: Uh love meeting.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_04: I worked the store by myself uh because uh Steph here was making all the chocolates.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_04: So one had to sell, one had to make.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_04: So and then at nighttime I'd go back in and help her make the chocolates.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but yeah, just meeting all the locals and talking with them and uh educating them on chocolate and what chocolate is, because most people don't know chocolate actually grows on tree.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: So how how tough was that decision in 2020 when did you guys shift from basically part-time to full-time?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: Uh or did it come naturally and you just you just knew at that point in time it's the right thing to do?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know what it was for us, we didn't know like the rest of the world that it wouldn't be the two weeks, you know.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: We were taking two weeks of like vacation time, and you know, um, where we live, the the pool was closed, so we couldn't really lounge with everyone out there.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we were sitting there, and and for me, my my mind just goes all the time into like overdrive and shifting and pivoting.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I was thinking, like, after the first week, um, what if it goes on longer?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I always need to know how am I gonna feed the dog?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: How am I gonna feed the child, you know, how are we gonna keep the roof over our head?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: And we just I went on to my Instagram and I created a page that said, you know, hashtag local Huntington Beach, uh wine and chocolate parties, wine and cheese pairing parties.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I waited and I waited, and I stared at my phone for about an hour, and I was like, come on, people are, you know, you want chocolate, you know.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it was one order that came through.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: A local gal lived up the road, and she said, you know, will I have to see you?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Of course not.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, swipe your card right here.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: And she did, and she ordered gift boxes from us that were for wine that she had at her home.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: She wanted me to pair from champagne to reds to whites, you know, and have it shipped to her girlfriends across Huntington Beach.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: So we sent 14 designer boxes to her friends.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And um, she called and said, you know, they had a great time.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: They they were on their computer Skyping their wine party together, and it became a thing online from her Instagram to my Instagram to Jim's Instagram, and people start calling us, hey, do you have any more of those wine pairing boxes?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it then became where it was bigger than we thought it would be, and it grew.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: People wanted something that was comforting to them, something that they weren't able to just go and grab off the empty shelves anymore, you know.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so we were doing uh parties, birthday parties, uh graduation, car graduation parties, you know, and we were just creating.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And where we live is directly across from Pacific City.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: So Jim would run down, they would pop their trunk, literally, it was a little bit weird, but they would pop their trunk, he would put it in, shut it, they would take off.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because they were, you know, paying online, and it was just an ones.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a drug deal.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was so amazing, like everybody in Huntington Beach supporting like the small mom and pop literally thing.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And they came out and they wanted more, and they wanted to see us succeed, you know.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: But when it came time and and the party was over, you know, at almost 18 months, two years, it had grown to something bigger than we'd ever expected.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we had to decide like, do we go back to the life?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I think I did sports massage for 40 years at that point.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I had just reached a 40 year mark, and it was hard.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Those people were my family.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: I seen them from when they were just small athletes to now they're having kids.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was full circle at 40 years, and all Olympics and all professional athletes, and they were good to me.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: So in turn, I had a hard time trying to do both.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I did try, but having a storefront, it's a lot of work.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta fill the shelves daily.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: You have rent, you have overhead, you have yeah.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and then to have to take hours away of the other job that they you have to give 100%.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: They deserve it, these athletes.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And when I realized I had to choose, I had to choose what was best for our family, you know, for growth.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, as hard as that decision was, I had to say goodbye to my athletes.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: But in turn, my athletes have been my number one supporters.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, they're still buying chocolates from me.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: They're still my greatest taste testers, you know, they still um think highly of us.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: And and there was nothing hard about that, you know, of they get to stay family like it's supposed to be.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: As you alluded to earlier, these athletes, they're top of their class, elite as elite can get.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: They are and they they think about everything that goes into their body, from food to supplements to even chocolate.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: So when they know that the ingredients are organic and where they're sourced, that it's just a better thing that they're putting into their bodies to still have that sweetness at the end of the day.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's also the reason why I see here that you guys were 2025 Serge City USA Foodie Award nominees.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: We were which is an awesome thing.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_03: How did that feel when you heard about it?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh You know, it was so amazing.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was fun.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and the the visit Huntington Beach, that team is so amazing.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like they do everything in their power to make every business around here like number one.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you feel like number one, but so does the next guy in the beer place, you know.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they have been so amazing.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: And when they have like these big contests, even just to be nominated means like you've got to a point of where people recognize your brand and recognize what you stand for, you know, and that's pretty amazing.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was really fun.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: You guys have done like the the the award, the TV and movie award stuff before.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, the the actors come up and they say it's just an honor to be nominated.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: It truly is just an honor to be nominated.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because not not everyone gets to have that, you know.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: But for us and and being so small business-wise, we were like just proud of the hard work it takes.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because I don't think people realize like to make a product that's good for you, you know, and fun.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um and beautiful.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you're an artist.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_03: You really are an artist, and that's one thing that you guys need to see.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_03: If you've seen these high the high heels, how did that come about?
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: And and uh have you had to do how many high heels have you had to do so?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, you know, I love Louis Vuitton, you know, I love the red soles.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Every girl should have a pair, you know.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of my customers were like, I wish I could have a red shoe.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, you can, and I'm gonna make you one in chocolate.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I, yes, and you can eat it.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: So what we start, a lot of the women were like getting them as gifts, you know.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: We do a lot of weddings, a lot of bridal showers.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: I make a uh Loubuton white heel for the bride, you know, and then they usually pick their colors for the the gals, and um no one wants to eat it.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm like, come on, I mean, it's meant for you to enjoy like today.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I we tell them put a couple uh balls of ice cream in there, pour some hot syrup, and smash it, you know, like a table smash.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: And and so that's what people are starting to do, you know.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: And but my my shoe, I I love to make it, and I just started making the little birkins, the little purses, you know.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um, those ones are hard for anyone to have, you know.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: And they're really expensive.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I make the mini Kelly.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: I make it so everyone can afford a purse.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_03: You can enjoy the look of it and the taste of it.
• 18:15
  unknown: Okay.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um I'm gonna play a little game.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: Little game.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's called this or that.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: And it's gonna be two seconds, probably.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: But like I want to know your take as a chocolate maker, as a chocolatier, as an artist.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_03: If I was to say dark chocolate or milk chocolate.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Dark.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: Dark.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: Both dark.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_03: Well, this will probably answer the next question.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: Sweet or bitter.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_04: Uh-huh.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_04: Bitter.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_04: Um I think a little bit sweeter with the dark.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_03: So like uh when it comes to dark chocolate, there's like percentages, right?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like how does that work for somebody that just sees a percentage on the label?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't usually make 100%.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's really cooking chocolate.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's like really strong and bitter.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: People here in the United States, we're used to like um I I would guess like, say, the toll house chocolate chips, those are like a bitter sweet.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so people aren't used to like such a raw chocolate.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: So we try to roast our cacao to where they can enjoy that flavor they're used to.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And occasionally, we have people who want the 100%, so we we create that.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's not even for me.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's really strong.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like you want to bake with it brownies, you know.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_03: But that seems really strong.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_03: So for Jim, like when you say a little sweet with the dark, then you're probably like in the 64, 65, 67 percent.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_04: Perfect.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's right up my alley too.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um flavored chocolates or unflavored chocolates?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: Like so like flavor.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Flavor?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Flavor.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sea salt, caramel.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sea salt and caramel, wow.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um local sourcing or global sourcing?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Both.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh, we locally source like the creams that I'll use.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I use that in just my caramel.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we like to try to go down into Temecula and get from like the farm because that's where it's going to be the freshest, you know, and not sitting there.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: We don't use raw, but we use pasteurized.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then for our global, a lot of the products that we want to make for everyone here can't get here.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh vanilla beans, you can source them here, but you want to make sure you're getting from an organic source, you know.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we do that, and then um the cacao can't grow here, you know.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to source that from overseas because it's grown in a climate, it's grown in a different uh region of our world that can sustain that, you know.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: We just don't have that kind of weather here.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, maybe now we do it and so warm.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: But we just try to get sources of things that I want you guys to try, you know.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um we um make a lot of like the fruits that are available yearly, like for summer, you know, we'll do like blueberries.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: We source from Maine because they have the biggest and the sweetest blueberries, you know.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we try to get from an organic farm over there.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: And um the other big one that we've been doing lately, it's always been sea salt caramel.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: I make everything from scratch, you know.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I only make when I know we're gonna sell, you know, so we don't make it way ahead of time.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: We make everything like daily.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: So everything that you get today, I made this morning for you.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so and I think like to at the end, we'll do a little live opening of what was made for us so that way the camera can see it.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: That'll be so fun to do.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I had my shoe.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_03: No, you're fine.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: Go to the Instagram page if you want to see the shoe, right?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's on the page.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: I definitely recommend that you do that.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_03: They're beautiful, beautiful chocolates.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: I want to play like not necessarily another game, but ask an interesting question.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: If you had to explain Belisophia chocolate.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Without using the word chocolate, how would you do it?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: How would you say it?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: What would you say?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Velvety.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Smooth.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_03: Original.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Original.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Artsy.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Artistic.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Artsy.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Artistic.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: What are you guys' what is there like something you like really love and specialize in?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like I know you mentioned you can you can do it for an individual throwing a party or a onesie twosie or corporate events or award shows.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: It sounds like you do from like one piece to a million, I guess.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_03: So like what is there something like that you guys love and crave or your bread and butter?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we love uh from one piece to the thousand pieces.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: We do um a lot of hotel orders, you know.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of the people, because we're lucky to live within four or five different hotels here, and a lot of our customers um that know us, they call us and we deliver right to their hotel room.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so um weddings are really big because they want something that's not a cupcake, not a cake.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we've done uh chocolate towers.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: So if they choose to do that instead of like a cake, you know, for us it's really great because we get to be as creative as we want.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and people genuinely love what it is that comes out of my own head of like art, you know.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: They can they tell me their colors and I put it in there and then do my own spin.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's always gonna be abstract, you know.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not great at like drawing faces, but I can splatter chocolate art, you know, and that's basically what they get, you know, and I I love it.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: I the more the merrier, you know, and corporate orders are one of our number one things as well.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: So big companies like to sp uh spoil their working, you know, people and they they want to give them that something that's not a box of chocolates from you know the grocery.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: They want something that was created by a local family, they want something that's tasty, something that's pretty, you know.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so we um we do rely on a lot of that.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna look at my team.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: Is that true?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: Is that yep?
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, everyone says that's true.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: That's cool.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um before we go into the live tasting here, I think one of the things you mentioned earlier was that the support of the locals, and I think that's one thing that's really cool about Huntington Beach is like we're Huntington Beach is really known for local supporting locals.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: So if there's locals that are watching this right now or listening to this right now, that maybe aren't aware of Bella Sophia chocolates and want to support Bella Sophia Chocolates, what's the best way for them to be able to support you?
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um ordering online.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: We do everything from the new Uber Direct, which goes from our door to your front door.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's all a local thing that just started.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we do online curbside pickup.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um and basically on my Instagram, Bella Sophia Chocolates, we I post daily, like we have contests to give away shoes, you know, we we give away boxes, and during the holidays, we we have different things for people to win, you know, and keeping it fun.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, our local community, we want all of our businesses to thrive and do well.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: No one wants to see any business fail.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: So our community is probably one of the few that I know about that helps bring a business up and keep it up, you know.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we've been really fortunate.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: We've been here 37 years and and it's probably the best thing we've ever done was move to this community, you know?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but yeah, I I love this community.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: And me too.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why we have this show in particular.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: But I want to I this is kind of like an on the spot thing that I was just thinking about.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I it's kind of me wanting to support Philosophia Chocolates, but also get people to try it.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: Is there some sort of like game that we can play or something where like they DM, I don't know, unlocking HB to you, and like the first five people that do it, I I'll cover the first five shoes or something like that.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_03: Or even better.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, even better.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay Yes, let's do that.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: And also, we've created Lanestone 20.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: So all of your viewers, anybody also in your other world of real estate, can use that for an 20% off discount on everything.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's already live.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's already live.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's just a small token of thank you.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, let's do a contest.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: How about the first, I guess, okay.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_03: The first five people to say that put Lanestone 20 will get a free shoe to their order.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: You got it.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: And then build me.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um but let's bring in the chocolate and let's do the the live opening here.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, look at that.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of our most popular boxes to do.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: So you're can you want to walk me through?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's a 16-piece tower.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_04: Um, there's four levels of four pieces of chocolates.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_04: Um, if you take off the ribbon there, there's a little tab off to the side.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right here.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so take the ribbon off.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then lift the lid, and then you can open this.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_03: I'm trying to be gentle.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_03: It looks so beautiful.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_03: And then you take the top lid off.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_03: Take the top lid off.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: And then Whoa.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_03: Now if you hold on, before I do this, I gotta show this.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_03: So beautiful.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_04: And then what I do is I like to hold the top, like the little rim right there, and then take the little um.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, so I hold this like this or let me go, yeah, and then uh open it up sideways.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_04: Oh there we go.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_04: And it opens up for different levels there.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's my favorite box.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: It is probably our number one requested box, is the 16 piece.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_03: This is gorgeous.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_03: Is that amazing?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_03: This is amazing.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_03: I love how it's labeled too, so I know.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: So you know what you're hearing.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: So you know what you're eating.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_03: Unbelievable.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: I tried, uh, you know, when I create for somebody who's asking me for like a special order, I like to know them a little bit so I can like feel what I'm gonna paint.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: And because it's all abstract.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: And when I saw, you know, your special news, everything went into the blues, you know.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I told Jim, I'm like, oh man, they're all blue, but that was my point.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: So there you go.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: That is amazing.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so if somebody wants a box like this, or like maybe it's a gift if you're a business owner or something like that, what do these usually run price-wise?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, those ones, I think the 16 is like 72, I believe.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: It's a great gift.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_03: They're beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if you use Lane Stone 20, Lane Stone 20.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, remember, remember if you lose Lane Stone 20, you get 20% off.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_03: And then the first five people to use Lane Stone 20 will get a free shoe with their orders, so that'll be really cool.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, is there anything else you want to mention before we sign off?
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: No, just thank you so much for having us.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this is amazing.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: This is what it's all about.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_03: Huntington Beach locals helping Huntington Beach locals and piloting different things.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I gotta thank Erica on our team too because I know Erica's getting a fresh shoe.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, there you go.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_03: There you go.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_03: Erica's a fresh shoe.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for introducing me to Villa S of Feed Chocolate.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_03: I'm now a customer for live, so I appreciate it.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: We appreciate you guys.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_03: All right, bye for now.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_03: We'll see you on the next one.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.