ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Sept. 2, 2009 — Ah, the perennial back-to-school essay topic, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation." For some lucky kids across the USA, the answer this year is delicious: helping to develop a line of handmade gourmet chocolate fudge truffles.
A fledgling artisanal chocolatier is growing quickly, thanks in part to feedback from kids. Albuquerque-based NYDC Chocolate's recently launched line of Cocopotamus dark chocolate fudge features a unique combination of handmade truffles, whimsical names and colorful packaging. Feedback from taste-testers, including a crucial panel of kids, has helped. "A lot of the inspiration came from NYDC," says NYDC Chocolate CEO Maxwell Sinclair, referring to the award-winning dessert cafes co-founded in 1995 with his wife, Master Chocolatier Ally Sinclair. "The rest has come from feedback." As parents, the Sinclairs knew it would be important to include children in their chocolate research.
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Young taste-testers were enthusiastic about both the look and flavor of the all-natural Cocopotamus chocolate fudge. "The kids were so open to trying new flavors," says Ally Sinclair. "They even loved our 'Sumos Never Sleep,' made with Japanese matcha green tea."
"I will spend my allowance to buy this fudge!" declared one 8-year-old girl from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The smallest taste-tester, a 3-year-old boy from Lake Oswego, Oregon, had his brothers convey a heartfelt request for "more 'Lemon Shiver!'"
A New York father recently received Cocopotamus truffles as a gift. An experienced dad, he immediately conceived of a fun game to entertain his children and their cousins. The assignment? "Read each Cocopotamus package cover to cover, taste 4 different truffle balls per kid per day, and give feedback on both the chocolates as well as the packaging. No surprise … all 8 volunteered … you should have seen the excitement," he says, adding that he "should have captured it on video." The children were excited to become taste-testers and the chocolate event created great excitement. "Long story short … unanimous, they loved it!," he reports.
Overall, the biggest hits with kids so far? Cocopotamus' "Cupcake" fudge, creamy "Hang Loose" coconut fudge, zingy "Lemon Shiver," and "Santa's Addiction" peppermint fudge.
"Cocopotamus is my new go-to website for gift-giving," says customer Gail Turnmire, an enthusiastic fan who discovered the brand this summer and sent a selection of Cocopotamus chocolates to young relatives in Houston, Texas. "Everyone loved the chocolates. I knew they would love the flavors and I was right – they devoured them! The kids were really delighted with Cocopotamus." Turnmire, who works for Albuquerque The Magazine, adds: "This chocolate is so unique, it's just perfect."
The 18 flavors of dark chocolate Cocopotamus fudge truffles are sold at http://www.cocopotamus.com, and at retail stores in New Mexico in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The chocolate will soon be sold at stores in Wyoming, Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Contact: Ally Sinclair, Cocopotamus by NYDC Chocolate, http://www.cocopotamus.com, 505-301-1633, Email
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