FGC_10 Years

2009’S FASTE
Eric Bochner, president of Bochner Chocolates, stands in his southern Iowa City
manufacturing center in 2008.
Bochner Chocolates
Based in Iowa City
Established in 2003
427% growth
What we wrote then:
“The dirty secret of Bochner Chocolates is growing up, I never liked
chocolate. I never really enjoyed chocolate,” said Eric Bochner, president
of the chocolate manufacturing company. “It was only when
I went to Europe and got a chance to try European chocolate that I
began to like it.”
Bochner Chocolates was named the Fastest Growing Company
in the Corridor for 2009, with 427 percent growth from 2006-2008.
Bochner produces high-end chocolates at its factory at 1419 Waterfront
Drive in Iowa City and sells them at its retail store on the
Coralville strip. His newest venture, Chocolate Block, is a retail store
that sells the chocolates from his factory that don’t meet the company’s
high-quality standards, at a lower price. Mr. Bochner refers to
the discount chocolates as “selling champagne at beer prices.” The
Chocolate Block, which opened about a month ago, is located at
Pepperwood Plaza on Highway 6.
“It’s doing much better than I even expected, that’s for sure,” he
said. “The price point is lower, so you have to have more customers
come in to do a certain amount of business and we’ve been seeing a
huge influx of customers.”
The company also sells its chocolates to other retailers
and other venues, such as hotels. Additionally, it produces
products under license for other companies, including
a licensee of Hasbro.
All this comes after a year when Bochner had to shut
down for two months because of floods. The company was
forced to dismantle $6 million of equipment. It took 36
hours to take apart and 60 days to piece it back together.
But business is brisk once again. Since opening five
years ago, Bochner has doubled its manufacturing operation
and will need more room before long.
“We’ve had to increase the ability to make products,
we’ve had to increase our capacity to package products,
we’ve had to increase the variety of the products we package
and make, so I say our capabilities have expanded a
lot over the last five years,” Mr. Bochner said. “Our factory
here is definitely going to max out in the next year
or two. If we continue to grow even at reasonable rates
comparable to what we’ve been doing, this factory’s going
to max out and we’re already trying to envision what
we’re going to do next.”
What’s happened since:
Bochner Chocolates’ presence in the Corridor was short
but sweet.
Founded in 2003, the Iowa City chocolate manufacturer
increased its revenue between 2006 and 2008 by
427 percent, making it one of the 10 fastest companies
honored in the first decade of the CBJ’s Fastest Growing
Company competition.
“Growth on some level is natural because it’s either
grow or die,” Eric Bochner, president of Bochner Chocolates,
told the CBJ in 2009. “I’d say it’s been a natural
evolution of what our original vision of what our company,
what we, were going to do.”
In November 2012, Bissinger’s Handcrafted Chocolatier
of St. Louis acquired Bochner Chocolates for an
undisclosed amount, in part for access to the equipment
found at the company’s Iowa City facility, according to
news reports. That equipment, along with “several key
people,” relocated to St. Louis later that year, and founder
Eric Bochner assumed the position of senior vice president
of operations and private label sales, according to
trade publication Candy Industry.
“Combining our advanced technology model with
Bissinger’s extensive sales and distribution network will
elevate Bissinger’s to levels the company has never seen,”
Mr. Bochner said in a press release announcing the sale.
“I am very excited to be a part of the next chapter of
Bissinger’s long and distinguished history.”
Ken Kellerhals, Bissinger’s president, said the purchase
would help his company transform into a premier
boutique chocolatier with a national presence.
12 CBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies 10th Anniversary