Chocolate elegance: Monroe chocolatier hopes shop grows from simple beginnings

MONROE — Mike Turner starts with the biggest bar of chocolate you've ever seen.

He chisels away at it, chipping off a fist-sized piece that will be warmed to a glossy liquid, then cooled and poured into molds — the start of chocolate truffle shells.

Turner, clad in a white apron, moves easily from one stage of the process to the next. He's a pro, the president of Redrim Chocolates.

But there's no industrial kitchen, no aproned workers with an assembly-line task, no storefront with display cases and cash registers.

There's just Turner in the kitchen of his suburban home in Monroe.

Redrim Chocolates is a home-based business, like more than half of the small businesses in the U.S., according to data from the federal Small Business Administration. It's just Turner, his girlfriend and business partner, and a freezer full of ganache.

And a whole lot of chocolate truffles.

“It's a chocolate that can be enjoyed daily,” says Turner. And he's not just calling for a more indulgent lifestyle.

The ingredients that go into Redrim's eight truffles are high in antioxidants and come with infusions of pomegranate, green tea, acai berry and goji berry.

Then there's the wine. Zinfadel, cabernet, merlot and a sweet port are used to make four of the company's truffles. In accordance with state regulation of online sales, the alcohol in the wine is cooked away so the chocolates contain less than 1 percent alcohol.

Redrim products are sold exclusively online at www.redrimchocolates.com.

Turner doesn't plan for his business to be home-based for long; he's looking at securing commercial space in Woodinville near the Seattle area's wine mecca. After that, a retail location might be a next step.

“Down the road, what I visualize is a location that's kind of like a wine bar, a coffee bar and a chocolate retail location all kind of in one spot,” he said.

At that point, Turner's self-funded approach to running a small business might need revision. His day-job in sales has helped support the company's growth in its infant stages. But once Redrim acquires a brick-and-mortar presence, he anticipates more capital might be necessary.

The ultimate goal for Turner and his partner is to work for themselves — no matter how long it takes to build the company.

“We decided early on we'd never stop. We'll just keep going with it,” he said.



Read Amy Rolph's small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.