We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eder Valle a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Eder, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Preface: When I was little my dad would bring us apple swans and as kids we would be amazed by it. (Apple swans, literally apples carved into swans). Fast forward several years later, it was mothers day and i didn’t get my mom anything, so in a panic i went to Edible arrangements and bought a dozen chocolate covered strawberries, they came in a fancy box and before i knew it i had spent over 40 dollars for 12 chocolate covered strawberries. I was hold up, wait a minute…..I went to the local grocery store and spent 8 dollars for a box of strawberries and some choco-maker (microwaveable chocolate). I thought to myself, wow I can’t believe i spent 40 dollars on something i could of made for 8 dollars. I thought about fruit and how my dad use to make apple swans for us, i didn’t remember how to make them so i went on youtube. Once I finished watching the how to carve apple swans videos, the next video was, “How to carve melons”, i was in awe about the beauty of these intricate carving designs that i decided to practice this. I figured if I could create and emotional connection with our client and pair them with chocolate covered strawberries we would have a unique emotional product.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Artesan Fruit is a proud Madison-based business, owned by Eder Valle, a talented Mexican-American scientist and UW Alum. Our mission is to celebrate diversity through delicious artistry, and we’re committed to uplifting our community.

Satisfy your sweet tooth with our signature chocolate-covered strawberries! These delightful desserts are not only decadent but also crafted with natural ingredients, making them a somewhat healthy treat that everyone will love. Choose from white, milk, or dark chocolate dipping and drizzle for the perfect touch!

Eder’s artistic creations are crowd-pleasers, beautifully crafted to add a touch of elegance to any occasion. Personalization is at the heart of what we do—Eder will collaborate with you to develop designs that fit your budget, occasion, and audience perfectly.

Artesan Fruit creates edible interactive art pieces, we take the freshest watermelons and carve them into business logos, names, or intricate floral patterns. We then pair them with chocolate covered strawberries which can also be color customized. Our designs are limitless, personal and will elevate any event.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When we initially started our business our focus was on creating fruit tablescapes (tables of only fruit) for weddings and special events. We went to four or five wedding expos and we had a lot of positive feedback, a lot of people would go “ooh” and “ahh” we thought we had a hit!

However, we did not acquire any clients. I ran some numbers and realized that our cost were too high. I realized i had to pivot, so i decided to focus on only creating centerpieces, intricate watermelon designs with business logos, Our business was still suffering…… I was selling these centerpieces for $40, no one would buy them……….. i was failing……. luckily.
Luckily i went to an entrepreneur event where I met a experienced chef, she told me that i was too cheap!!
I was like, look lady if no one is buying at $40 dollars why would anyone buy at a higher price??
I had nothing to lose at this point, so raised the price to $140 dollars, before you know it I had my first sale at $140 per centerpiece. I had bookings with Hotels and Catering companies!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Once Covid hit, all sales dropped…. no more events.

Thats when we introduced custom fruit bouquets, smaller personalized designs and our sales for this year are finally back o normal.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://artesanfruit.com/about-us
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artesanfruit/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/shorts/rtPQmh_CY6E?si=82bVLJo4xn44x0GP