Community Highlights: Meet Dan Friedman of Chocolate Innovations

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Friedman.

Hi Dan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In 2017 I retired from a finance career and opened a boutique chocolate shop staffed by people with disabilities. Everything we sold was also made by people with disabilities. Two years later we expanded into a larger space, started selling fresh juices, coffee, beer & wine and hosting live music and comedy. That store went out of business when Covid hit. We started making chocolate for wholesale accounts and this year started bottling our juices too.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Covid put us completely out of business and we had to start all over again. We lost everything but our recipes.

As you know, we’re big fans of Chocolate Innovations, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We make unique chocolate creations and fresh, natural juices for the wholesale market. Our products can be found at retail shops throughout the Southeast, and we recently added two stores in New England. Now food trucks are selling our juices and they are very popular.

Many of our products have a regional twist, such as Smoky Mountain Whiskey Crackers (R) which are topped with pecans cooked in Jack Daniels (R) Tennessee whiskey. Our first two fresh limeade flavors were watermelon and peach, both Southern favorites.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I often draw on my suppliers for helpful advice, and utilize my customers a lot for market research. I only add new products that people get really excited about.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: @chocolateinnovationsllc