It was a mellow crowd at the reception put on by Retail Confectioners International on September 24th, 2009, but it was a good chance for Aaron and Karl of Intrigue Chocolates Co. to make some new acquaintances and get to know some old friends better. (And Dad always said never pass up free food!) RCI is an association of small and large confectionery companies that support each other, share ideas, and provide continuing education for its members. While the International aspect was represented, there were also lots of local people and it was nice to finally be at an event where we could really get to talk, instead of just waving at each other from our respective tables.
Those locals included members of another professional association: the Northwest Chocolatiers Guild, a valuable resource for we little “artisan chocolatiers”. It’s great to be doing what we love and do best, but it can be a pretty big pond for little fish, and support from others in the same boat is an invaluable resource. These folks are a group of hand-dipped, family recipes, no-preservatives makers of fine chocolates. Our kind of folks. It was a real morale-booster to hang out with other chocolate-makers who are working hard to hang on to quality, using fresh ingredients in small batches. The NWCG is comprised of chocolatiers located in Washington, and assures that consumers are receiving hand-crafted quality confections. They also offer candy-making classes to the public and information about chocolate candy-making at their website: NWChocolatiersGuild.com