Oser Communications Group

1 5 December 2017 SNACKING NEWS The Untold Story of Manhattan's Oldest Chocolate House For nearly 100 years, Li-Lac Chocolates has been handcrafting gourmet, small batch chocolate and confections in New York City using the same old-world cook- ing methods and time-honored recipes. Since 1923 — when French-trained founder George Demetrious made and sold his chocolate out of the original Christopher Street location — Li-Lac has built a loving, loyal following which ap- preciates the company's obsession with quality, freshness, and adherence to treas- ured traditions over fleeting trends. Over the past six years, however, current owners Anthony Cirone, Chris Taylor and Mas- ter Chocolatier Anwar Khoder have taken Man- hattan's oldest chocolate house to grand new heights. With one of the largest selections of fresh, gourmet chocolate in the country — over 120 unique items — and a growing roster of locations, the brand is poised to remain a New York favorite for generations to come. Anthony Cirone's relationship with Li- Lac began as so many others have: with an emotional connection to the chocolate. He was a Global Brand Director at Unilever for 13 years, and as a West Village resi- dent, a frequent patron of the Christopher Street store. Cirone had always dreamed of owning his own business, so when his interest in corporate life waned, he began looking for a company he believed in enough to purchase. At wit's end after five years of searching, he decided to write his favorite chocolate company a letter inquir- ing if it was for sale. He received no an- swer, and it would be another two and a half years before he made any progress, but in 2011 he finally purchased Li-Lac with the mission of making it an iconic New York brand. His contributions have been dramatic, from refreshing the brand- ing to opening three new locations with plans for additional New York City expan- sion. When Cirone arrived, he found that Li- Lac's Master Chocolatier, Anwar Khoder, was the glue holding everything together. Khoder had originally come to the U.S. from Lebanon to study computer program- ming, but when the economy crashed in the late 1980s, his job as a Yellow Cab driver wasn't enough to support his educa- tion. In 1989, a family member got him a job at Li-Lac as a favor, and he fell in love with the company immediately. He climbed the ranks swiftly and used his nat- ural affinity for business to make signifi- cant contributions to the efficiency of the operation. When the candy maker at the time could no longer keep up, Khoder took over, adding chocolatier to his growing list of titles, and becoming fiercely protective of the original recipes. He ran the retail ef- forts and candy making under numerous owners, ensuring that Li-Lac's Old World standards and processes were upheld. When Cirone came into the picture, he rec- ognized Khoder's value and dedication, and made him part owner. Khoder's only condition was that Cirone leave the orig- inal recipes un- touched and continue crafting in small batches by hand. The team has since grown Li-Lac to five locations: West Vil- lage, Greenwich Vil- lage, Chelsea Market, Grand Central Mar- ket, and the Sunset Park Industry City fac- tory/store. The factory is a buzzing chocolate wonderland where glass win- dows allow visitors to watch Li-Lac candy being made using techniques unchanged for nearly a century. From here, the choco- late is delivered daily to Li-Lac's other re- tail locations, ensuring that the product is uncommonly fresh. The front entrance of the factory is lined with gift boxes, sea- sonal treats and year-round mainstays like the popular New York-themed pieces, the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Build- ing, to name a few. A glass display show- cases classics including salted caramels, butter crunch, marzipan acorns, cream pat- ties, coconut clusters, glace orange peels and French mints. Aside from the visible treats at the counter, what most people aren't aware of is the sheer number of unique items available for purchase – more than 120, which is one of the largest selections in the country. And as Khoder will happily divulge, the secret to his high- quality chocolate is comparatively high levels of real cocoa and cocoa butter in the recipe. PB&J Bars, Chocolate Oreos, non- pareils, Molasses Crunch and legendary fudge are just some of the other options, all handmade fresh to order, and com- pletely kosher. Past the display and into the factory, two original, thick marble slabs transported from the Christo- pher Street loca- tion are still used daily for candy creation. Here, h a n d m a d e ganache is mixed and pounded with a wooden beater to soften it, while marzipan is rolled into acorn shapes using an antique wooden ap- paratus. Large copper kettles like the ones George Demetrious used in the 1920s are still employed to painstakingly cook fudge. Hidden in a safe is Demetrious' original notebook containing his hand- written recipes. A team of 20 passionate employees can be found at different sta- tions squeezing nonpareils into shape, fill- ing custom molds, sprinkling salt onto fresh caramels, hand-wrapping orders, and guiding fillings through the conveyor belt chocolate coating machine that runs the length of the front window. Li-Lac also has a large selection of spe- cialty molds, including some antiques that date back to the company's origins. The collection offers options tailored to a vast array of hobbies and interests, from choco- late lipstick to full chess sets, animals, cars, letters, numbers and more. They can produce pocket-sized treats all the way up to life-size renditions of holiday favorites like turkeys and champagne bottles. n Low-Sugar and GMO-Free Top Factors in Food Purchase Decisions Nearly half of consumers report that "low sugar or sugar-free" and "free from GMO ingredients" are very or ex- tremely important factors when decid- ing which food or beverage product to eat or drink. These factors top the list, just ahead of factors such as low salt, or- ganic, low fat or fortified with vitamins or minerals. Market research company GfK asked 23,000 consumers online in 17 countries how important certain factors are, from a given list, when deciding what to eat or drink. Nearly half (48 percent) report that products being low in sugar or sugar free is "extremely" or "very" important to them, and an equal number say the same for products being free from genetically modified (GMO) ingredients. Low-sodium or low-salt products came third highest, with 45 percent. And fourth place was a tie between organic products, low-fat or no-fat products, and products that are fortified with vitamins or minerals. These all came equal with 44 percent of consumers rating these as very or extremely important when mak- ing their decision on what to eat or drink. The most selective food and drink shop- pers are those aged 30-39 years old. This group nearly always has the highest per- centage rating factors as "very" or "ex- tremely" important. Also of note is that products which are organic, fortified with vitamins or miner- als, pre- or pro-biotic or gluten free are more important among people aged under 40 years old than among those aged 40 plus. People from high income households set consistently higher importance on all the factors, compared to the lower income households. Among high income households, the most important factors are GMO free (55 percent), low sugar or sugar free (54 percent) and low sodium or low salt (52 percent). Among low-income house- holds, GMO free and low sugar or sugar free are also the top two, but mentioned by a significantly lower percentage (44 per- cent and 43 percent respectively). And the third most important factor for this group is a tie between organic products and prod- ucts fortified with vitamins or minerals (41 percent). Gender makes next to no difference in how people rate the decision factors. Men are very slightly more likely than women to place importance on local products, for- tified products, pre- or pro-biotic and gluten free, but the difference in each case is only three percentage points. n

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