Rocky Mountain Chocolate

Source: Food and Drink Digital

Date :07/01/2008 04:39:13

In 1981, Frank E. Crail opened his first Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store. Today that company has 323 franchise locations around he world

Written by Ian Armitage and Produced by Pat Harlow

Incorporated in 1982, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is an international franchiser, confectionery manufacturer and retail operator in the US, Canada and, remarkably, the UAE.

The company typically produces around 300 premium chocolate candies and other confectionery products and revenues are derived from three principal sources – sales to franchisees; the collection of initial franchise fees and royalties from franchisees’ sales; and sales at company-owned stores.

Rocky Mountain’s co-founder Mr. Franklin E. Crail created the first Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store in May 1981, and he tells ExecUS more about the extraordinary products it markets: “We sell many varieties of clusters, caramels, creams, mints and truffles,” he says. “During the Christmas, Easter and Valentine's Day holiday seasons, we may make as many as 100 additional items.”

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory continually strives to offer new confectionery products in order to maintain the excitement and appeal of its products.

One man’s dream

66 year-old Crail has served as President and a Director of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory since 1982, and he was elected Chairman of the Board in March 1986. Prior to founding the company, he was co-founder and president of CNI Data Processing, Inc, a software firm which developed automated billing systems for the cable television industry. “I wanted to settle down and create a family business,” Frank explains. “I think I’ve done much more than that!”

Frank’s originally modest ambition was to raise his family in a quiet, small town environment. He didn’t have a plan to support this, so when he eventually settled on Durango, Colorado, he canvassed the town’s local residents and merchants to figure out the best way to achieve his dream. “Looking back, I had a choice between opening either a car wash or a chocolate shop,” he chuckles. “I definitely think I made the right choice.”

Today, his original shop still stands, with its smells tempting and titillating tourists and locals eager to experience a wealth of chocolaty treats on display. From that single store emerged the need for a 53,000 square foot factory located on the town’s outskirts, built to supply hundreds of franchised stores throughout the United States and the world.

Memoable Trademarks

What has helped the company to succeed over the years? Well first, it has “a quality product,” says Frank. “Without quality, customers won’t stay around long. We also have a great marketing advantage with our unique in-store candy making demonstrations. Customers can smell caramel or fudge bubbling in a traditional copper kettle on a gas-fired stove and can’t resist coming in and having a look.”

Customers can watch the cook spin a skewered apple in the hot caramel, or watch fudge being made before their eyes. That’s what people remember most about the whole Rocky Mountain experience.

Uniquely, approximately 40 percent of the products sold at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory stores are prepared on the premises.

“Another famous trademark of ours is the unusually large portions of chocolate on display,” adds Frank. He also credits the growing number of independent franchise operators that bought into his concept. “They are the ones that really make this company a success,” he says.

The company’s growth comes from franchises. So what makes a desirable franchise location? “We currently establish Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory stores in four primary environments: factory outlet malls, tourist areas, regional malls and street fronts,” explains Frank. “Each of these environments has a number of attractive features, including high levels of foot traffic.

“This is how we grow and I can’t recall a single instance over the last 26 years that people didn’t want to get into their own business,” he adds. “I think everybody would like to own a chocolate store. And we provide that business opportunity.” Typically, although not exclusively, Rocky Mountain targets individuals with ambitions similar to those that Frank had when he opened his first store all those years ago. “They simply want to run a family business, in a community their families can grow and flourish,” he exclaims.

Truly unique

When you visit Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, you are struck down by the number of classic treats you can choose from. There is literally everything! From the delightful caramel-covered apples (some stores feature over 30 varieties) to fudge being made fresh every day using the marble slab, you are spoilt for choice.

Rocky Mountain really does appeal to your desire to have a ‘treat’. Crail also points out that the range encompasses a variety of fruits, nuts, pretzels and cookies which are “dipped by hand in pots of melted chocolate.”

The company’s signature piece is the Bear – a paw-sized creation – consisting of chewy caramel and roasted nuts, with a heavy coating of chocolate. Other pieces include favorites like nut clusters, butter creams, exotic flavored truffles, toffee and a king-sized peanut butter cup (dubbed the “Bucket”).

To cater for the healthy eaters out there, Rocky Mountain also has a line of sugar-free and no-sugar-added candies.

“In addition,” continues Frank, “Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory shops are a unique blend of the traditional and contemporary.”

Sweet Opportunity

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory offers an appealing opportunity; this is confirmed by the high number of existing franchisees seeking to expand and purchase stock in the company. "We offer a product that everyone loves, one that brings smiles to faces, spreads goodwill and happiness wherever we are found," says Frank. "I can't think of many other people that can boast that."

A great deal has happened over the years. Frank never imagined that things would have turned out so well. “I didn’t think the business would turn out how it has – that really wasn’t the intention. I was simply hoping to open a family business. I was living in San Diego at the time and wanted to start a family in a smaller town. We moved to Durango Colorado, and I looked around for a business to buy so I could become part of the community. I didn’t find anything, so ended up starting Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory with a couple of partners. It all took off from there.”

According to Frank, Rocky Mountain is well placed for future expansion. “We have a great advantage. We typically grow by 20 to 25 percent per year and we think that will continue. We plan on opening up 35-40 units, and will always look to try to find franchise opportunities in really good, solid locations where the economics make sense. We help give local communities access to great chocolate and that has been vital to our success. We hope that will continue.”

His goal for the future is to grow the brand into one of the top brands in the US, and it is already the largest retail chocolate company in the US as measured by the number of retail units.