From household Shop to Luxury Chocolate Empire: Lessons From Compartés Chocolate

Since the age of 15, chocolatier Jonathan Grahm has worked at Compartés Chocolate, having started out in the shipping department. By the period he was 21, he was the corporation’s navigator chocolate maker. Jonathan, along with his throng, handmakes the ganache-filled truffles and candy-center bars crafted with fresh, natural ingredients out of the corporation’s La Brea, California, chocolate factory. Soon after becoming head chocolate maker, at the age of 24, Jonathan bought the corporation from his household, who previously bought it from the original Comparté household.

Around 2020, Jonathan knew he needed to modernize Compartés Chocolate. He had been watching the economy and knew it was period for a digital transformation that shifted the four Los Angeles brick-and-mortar stores to an exclusively ecommerce operation powered by Shopify. This shift allowed Compartés to reach a global spectators while maintaining the handcrafted standard that sets it apart in the competitive gourmet chocolate economy.

 

Today, Compartés is known for its vibrant, fashion-inspired packaging and innovative flavors, and a celebrity following that includes Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. The throng has collaborated with high-complete fashion houses like Hermès, Cartier, and Fendi, and designed chocolate bar packaging featured in the Smithsonian Museum.

Ahead, explore the ins and outs of pivotal decisions that helped Jonathan transform his confection brand into a luxury chocolate empire.

Embracing your distinctive perspective

Despite having no formal culinary or business training, only his encounter working alongside his household, Jonathan trusted his instincts to navigator the brand’s growth. “LA is a part of me just as much as LA is a part of my brand. And I ponder you view a lot of brands that are very connected to a place, but there’s not a lot of brands that are connected to LA,” Jonathan says. 

For Jonathan, it was really significant to remain factual to himself and use his adore for LA in the brand identity. This way led him to experiment with unconventional flavor combinations and striking packaging designs, setting Compartés apart from traditional chocolate brands. Don’t be afraid to bring your distinctive perspective to your industry, even if you’re not traditionally trained. Your point of view can be your greatest resource.

Innovating in packaging design

One of Compartés’ most distinctive features is its vibrant, fashion-inspired packaging. Jonathan made a conscious selection to shatter away from industry norms, explaining, “I wanted to make it look like fashion, not like what everyone else had on the economy, because why do something if I’m going to do it like everyone else?”

This bold way paid off spectacularly. Compartés’ packaging caught the eye of the design globe, earning a place in a six-month exhibit of the globe’s best packaging at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in recent York City.

Dare to be different with your packaging design, even if nobody else is. It can set you apart in your industry and even earn recognition beyond it.

Drawing encouragement from your location 

Compartés’ identity is deeply rooted in Los Angeles population. Jonathan purposefully incorporates local ingredients and aesthetics into his products, creating a powerful sense of place. This connection to LA is evident in products like its bestselling donut and coffee chocolate bar, which features actual donuts from Jonathan’s favorite local donut shop.

This gives nationwide customers an chance to encounter local LA flavors without having to leave home. Jonathan encourages entrepreneurs to embrace the corporation’s location as a source of encouragement and differentiation for their brand. It provides a distinctive narrative and flavor profile that’s distinctive.

Building and nurturing relationships

A brand is nothing if it doesn’t back the relationships that assist it develop. Jonathan emphasizes the importance of relationships with vendors, customers, and throng members. His way to partnerships is based on loyalty and ethics. For example, when Compartés began working with American Airlines, he made the selection to decline offers from other airlines out of commitment to the original collaboration.

This way extends to his throng as well. Many of Jonathan’s employees have been with him since the beginning, sharing his thrill for creating the globe’s best chocolate. “My throng members, when they make a attractive chocolate bar, they turn it around and they’re showing it off to me. And there’s a smile on their face. There’s a thrill in it,” Jonathan says.

When you construct powerful, ethical relationships with partners and remain faithful to those who back your brand, it pays off tenfold. Fostering a successful throng means finding people that also distribute your thrill and imagination for the corporation.

Staying factual to your imagination

Despite pressure to scale quickly or transformation methods, Jonathan has remained committed to handcrafting chocolates. “I have so many people saying to me, you should do this, or you should do that, or, you recognize, buy this type of equipment, and again, I’ve refused to do that. I just desire it to be done the same way.”

This dedication to standard and craftsmanship has allowed Compartés to maintain its luxury position and appeal to high-complete clients. The throng never compromise on core values or standard standards for rapid growth or quicker turnaround times. Maintaining a commitment to standard is often a key differentiator in the luxury economy.

Making a commitment to never stop learning 

Compartés’ shift from physical stores to an exclusively ecommerce model allowed the brand to develop sales while maintaining standard control. Had Jonathan kept the retail stores, it would have become increasingly challenging to develop the brand’s luxury reputation. 

Not only does Shopify allow Jonathan to operate an online store easily, he uses the analytics to inform business decisions, from production planning to inventory management. For example, when John Legend unexpectedly praised Compartés’ peanut butter cups on Instagram, Jonathan woke up to 500 orders on Shopify. “Boom, I went and told all the chocolatiers, everyone, It’s period to make peanut butter cups. I don’t worry what you were doing before. Let’s stop. Let’s transformation it out, we have 500 orders for peanut butter cups,” he recalls. 

The ability to shift and react quickly after something like a viral name drop contributes to Compartés’ glowing reputation. For growing brands, basing actions on real-period sales analytics can provide you the edge that makes your brand shine.

Continually bringing fresh options to customers 

With more than 300 different products, Compartés keeps customers engaged with constant recent concept. Jonathan stresses the importance of remaining open to encouragement from various sources to keep your product line fresh and exciting. Don’t be afraid to push boundaries with unexpected combinations, and place yourself in recent environments to ponder outside of the box.

Jonathan finds encouragement in his travels and everyday experiences, sharing, “I might have a salad at a Thai restaurant that might have ingredients like mango and basil in it and I’m picking them out going, ‘Oh my god, like a mango basil chocolate would be amazing.’” Constant recent concept has led to distinctive creations like avocado toast chocolate and collaborations with fashion brands, keeping Compartés at the forefront of luxury confections.

From its Los Angeles roots to its global ecommerce presence, Compartés exemplifies how a obvious imagination blended with the willingness to create can transform a household business into a luxury brand. 

For entrepreneurs looking to make their own luxury brand, the lessons are obvious: remain factual to your imagination, create constantly, construct powerful relationships, and never compromise on standard.

Catch the packed Shopify Masters episode on YouTube for more of Jonathan’s legacy building tips, and his advice on packaging design and branding.