Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephani Whitney.
Hi Stephani, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My partner and I purchased The Chocolate Company in September 2022 and learned from the previous owners how to do absolutely everything. Everything in those early days was fun and also difficult but so incredibly worth it. We learned the careful dipping of truffles, the rolling of apples in the creamy caramel, the process of making fudge where you can mix it but not too much and not too little. The whole process was very fun. It kept us on our toes! Coming from an entirely different background, Stephani and Stephanie learned how to make everything The Chocolate Company makes today and then some! We used to purchase seafoam and toffee from another chocolate company but we figured out how to make it ourselves and it was such a delightful experience. We had the fire department visit us a time or two, but we figured out how to make it all. 🙂
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a smooth road because we make this process fun together. Stephani and Stephanie have definitely had some struggles but this is the fun part of life. If we fail, we fail but learn from those failures. We have thrown out our mistakes or put them in our half off bin, but ultimately, I think we have found that our product is superior to many others in our market. This makes us proud to keep doing what we do.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Stephx2, LLC?
We are Stephani and Stephanie, two women entrepreneurs who love to create delicious chocolate and make people happy. We are a small operation. We produce in small batches. We specify in making things better all the time. We don’t cut corners, we try to find a better way to make things, not a cheaper way (which is sometimes to our detriment). We have taste tested different nuts only to find that we are not able to go to some of the discount stores for nuts. We have to have the nuts that are of high quality. Our caramel production feels like an art. You have to feel it to know how to make it to perfection. We love our products and truly try to improve them constantly. What are we most proud of? That we want to make a superior product and not cut corners… making the best caramel to go on our apples, in our chocolate confections, and beyond. And we love coming up with new ideas, new recipes. It’s fun to try new things.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love central oregon! We are two native Oregonians. One from the Eugene area and one from the Portland area, coming into central Oregon where we love exploring always! We are avid hikers, runners, mountain bikers, snow skiers and just overall nature lovers! It’s such an incredible thing to live where you love to live. No need for escape because we truly live in a wonderland here! Nothing not to love here in our opinion!!
Pricing:
- Caramel Apples are $8 for plain, $9 for fancy
- chocolate is per pound pricing
- Caramel Corn with almonds and pecans $12 for a bag
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thechocolatecompanies.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thechocolatecompanyllc
