Fine chocolate micro-manufacturer hopes to profit from passion, good taste
Alan McClure is passionate about chocolate. He’s so passionate that he has made it his life’s work.
But his is not just any kind of chocolate. McClure makes gourmet single-source cacao products in his factory in the northeast corner of Columbia.
Patric Chocolate, the company he founded in 2006, strives to please the palate of the most discriminating chocolate connoisseur. This is not Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory with Oompa-Loompas churning out Wonka Bars by the hundreds of cases.
McClure prides himself on his micro-batch approach of handmade dark chocolate production. The bars, which sell for about $6 each, have been available locally since July.
“I strive to maintain the standards I set to ensure the best possible product,” McClure said. “And also so I can look back on my career with love and respect, knowing I did the best I could to offer true devotees of fine chocolate a wonderful experience.”
Seeking such a pinnacle of achievement might seem haughty to some. But McClure tempers his high ambitions with the sincerity of a dedicated artisan and the humble background of a faithful fan.
From MU’s Small Business Development Center Entrepreneur Archive
As a young boy, Alan McClure always liked chocolate, becoming quite familiar with the typical domestic commercial varieties found on candy shelves everywhere. But he really became a fan of fine chocolate in his early teens when his father brought home to St. Louis some dark French chocolate following a trip to Europe. That’s when Alan began to understand the depths of the gastronomic possibilities of his favorite confection.
A few years later, while pursuing religious studies at MU, Alan met a fellow student, Viviane Ducret from France, who later became his wife. They lived for a year in France where Alan informally initiated his study of chocolate making. He frequented the Lyon-based chocolate maker Bernachon, which served as one of his main inspirations and primary quencher of his chocolate cravings during the year abroad.
After his return to Columbia, Alan visited domestic producers’ facilities throughout the United States. He also collected and read authoritative books on the subject, developing an in-depth understanding of each stage of production. He learned lessons about sourcing cultivated cacao from the tropical venues of Mexico, Central America and South America, and Madagascar where farmers grow, ferment and dry the raw material. Then on to production techniques employed in chocolate manufacturing that involve roasting the beans; winnowing; separating the inert shell and germ from the raw chocolate or nib; grinding; mixing with sugar; refining (final grinding) and conching (intense, heated mixing); aging; tempering; and molding. He also learned that all these steps collectively take time, patience and love.
To learn even more, he began applying his newfound knowledge in the experimental laboratory of his home’s kitchen. Eventually. the experimental stage paved the way toward the ultimate step, establishing a factory and business. However, while he had become well versed in the complex production techniques of chocolate making, McClure still needed some practical business advice.
“One of the challenges that I faced was trying to figure out if I had enough money to do what I needed to do,” he said. “I didn’t want to get half way and run out of money, and I didn’t know if I needed a loan, and if so, the best way to go about applying for one.”
At that point, in the spring of 2006, McClure turned to Virginia Wilson, a Small Business Development Center counselor in Columbia with MU’s University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She helped her chocolate-maker client determine the level of financial resources he would need to secure a production facility, obtain equipment and procure a steady flow of raw inventory: the all-important cacao.
One of the tools she offered McClure was an electronic spreadsheet financial statement. He continues to use the computerized statement on a regular basis, frequently plugging in numbers to create a variety of possible business scenarios he can consider. Wilson also connected Alan with a foreign trade expert, who provided Alan with information on exporting to Europe.
“Virginia, with her obvious expertise in business, absolutely helped me to feel more confident in what I had been doing by allowing me to discuss all of the details of Patric Chocolate with her,” McClure said. “Additionally, she followed up with me vigilantly over the months that followed to make sure I was still doing well.”
Patric Chocolate
www.patric-chocolate.com
6601 Stephens Station Rd.
Columbia, MO 65202
(573) 814-7520