We were lucky to catch up with Ricardo Trillos recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ricardo , appreciate you joining us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

It’s all about the little things for me. Showing appreciation can be as simple as an unexpected gift, an extra chocolate bar and a special discount. For us Customers mean the soul of the business and many of them have turned into great friends throughout the years and I believe it’s because the little things we do for them or how we show our appreciation than the relationship turns from a simple sale to a friends’s conversation with chocolates.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My first chocolate truffle was made around 2006-2007 as a fun way to used a block of chocolate I received from a family member (6 lbs) so I decided to turned it into something I would like and eat myself. I got intrigued by the fact of creating indulgent reactions in people when they have chocolate in front of them.

Years passed by and after a lot of training and education Cao Chocolates was opened in March 2009 after being laid off of my accounting job turning my hobby into a business.

We have dedicated to educate our consumers about craft chocolate since day one. At the beginnings was experimenting with cacao nibs and visit some farms who led me to decide to start the first Bean to Bar chocolate business in Miami, Florida using fine cacao beans from several countries like Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Honduras, Tanzania among others.

Chocolate is not candy, I will say that until the day I die and since we decided to go the hardest route which was making our own chocolate that involves a lot of processes from visiting farms, receiving and selecting cacao beans, roasting, winnowing (removing cocoa nibs from shell) then making chocolate with our melangeurs, tempering, creating all confections and packaging. I found since the early days the need to help people fall in love with the craftsmanship of chocolate making.

The Chocolate Sommelier was born back then. yes, nobody else was hosting chocolate tastings locally by that time and we were already hosting over 250 attendees per month at our shop between Wednesday and Thursday nights. The name was out and was also invited to host private events and pairings with fine brands of scotch, bourbon and cigars.
It was March 2020 when I made the decision to transition and pivot with the pandemic forgetting about retail (which was dead at the moment) and relocating efforts for other income streams.

Find a solution in every problem – Being born in Latin America (Venezuela) we know how to deal with economy challenges, find opportunities where others can only see problems and always move forward no matter external circumstances. This was my motto during covid days with some worries about uncertain future but willing to turn it into opportunities.

We became an online solution for our corporate clients – I have a strong Human Resources background and combined that expertise with my chocolate sommelier experience and created virtual events for small business to Fortune 500 companies. In a little over three years we’ve had over 22.000 attendees virtually and overall expertise of over 45.000 attendees combined virtual and in person now bringing this In person chocolate experiences to clients in every part of the country. Today we focus on corporate events, private events, corporate orders, retail partners and online order without a retail location.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I can’t address this enough to start ups or growing businesses to make sure a business is exactly like a marriage. In my case my business partner is also my life partner which is my wife Anelith Ortega. for those who know us they can testify we are quite a combination. I can be the dreamer for certain things and she can be for others while the other person is there to bring dreams to ground and make them happen.
Of course it is not easy for a family business to leave any problem behind the business door and not bring it home but once you understand that a marriage is a life partnership will make It easy on the business side,
Throughout the years many times had the opportunity to partner up with others but time proved my gut feelings of keeping it between my wife and I which share same motivations and goals.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During covid times we have the best three years in business so far and I believe it was because we were not giving up, we worked a lot, I mean a lot but every day we could see light at the end of the tunnel that was taking us into the direction we wanted to go.
Today I proudly can say that when I have to decide I take less time than before thanks to the speed we were changing and adapting to customer needs during the pandemic.
Never be afraid to change something you are not happy within your organization and the sooner you can do it the better for your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.caochocolates.com
• Instagram: @caochocolates
• Facebook: facebook.com/caochocolates
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ricardotrillos
• Twitter: @caochocolates
• Youtube: youtube.com/caochocolates
• Yelp: yelp.com/caochocolates