Owner, Vosges Haut-Chocolat
www.vosgeschocolate.com

Katrina Markoff will be one of our featured speakers at Ladies Who Launch LIVE in Chicago, taking place on May 10.
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As any self-respecting chocolate addict knows, there is chocolate, and then there is Vosges chocolate.

The internationally lauded Vosges Haut-Chocolat was launched in 1998 by world traveler and Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute alumnus Katrina Markoff. Inspired by the diverse flavors she sampled during her travels as well as a deep passion for bringing cultures together, Katrina bravely went where no chocolatier had gone before: She began blending premium chocolate with Mexican ancho chili, Japanese wasabi, Indian curry, paprika, roots, flowers, and other staples of indigenous cultures to create her first line of exotic truffles. She wrapped them in elegant purple packages, got a small business loan, opened up a shop in Chicago, and Vosges Haut-Chocolat was born.

Today, Vosges is 50 employees strong with stores in Chicago, Las Vegas, and New York City (with Japan on the way) and brings in $12 million a year. Katrina was the recipient of Bon Appetit’s Food Artisan of the Year Award and was selected as one of the top 35 Culinary Artists by Food & Wine magazine.

Here’s how this culinary daredevil rose to the heights of chocolate chic, one to-die-for flavor at a time …

What we learned from Katrina: “Hire really good people who are smarter than you are. You don’t want to be spending your time teaching people and you don’t need more people like yourself. Don’t be scared to work with people who know more than you do—it’s the best thing you can do.”

Money for Chocolate

“I got started using $15,000 of my own money and grew really slowly and organically out of my house. In two years I had a good enough history to get a loan for $250,000 and I kept growing from there.”

Find Your Flavor

“Ten years ago there weren’t any fancy chocolate companies—nobody was putting curry and wasabi in their recipes. That definitely helped. If you can be unique and fill a niche, that can be key.”

Beyond the Bar

“Everything is based on an experience I’ve had with a certain culture or musician or artist or architect—every product has a lot of meaning. Some people just see a fancy, expensive chocolate, but once you read the story behind it, it has a strong, renegade, save-the-world voice. I came from my heart and made it about the things that are important to me and that’s what resonates. Be genuine and true to yourself at all costs because people are attracted to passion, and passion speaks louder than anything.”

How Vosges Came Into Vogue

“I always made sure the craftsmanship of my product was super high-end: I used regal colors, created luxurious textures, gathered unique flavors from all over the world, gave it a chic feminine vibe, and mixed it all in with my cause. We also sought out strategic partnerships with brands that would bring us into the lifestyle category, like Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and Nota Bene, an upscale destination review guidebook.”

You Are Who You Sell To

“We just recently started using brokers and distributors, which is kind of late in the game for a company our size. We grew by going to shows and getting buyers one by one because I really wanted to control where we were seen. Costco has been asking for our products for a long time and we keep saying no. Maybe in a couple of years, but right now I’m focused on the first tier of specialty food stores.”

The Green Chocolate Factory

“We’re building a green manufacturing facility that will use renewable energy. We’re also coming out with more and more organic products and 90 percent of what we purchase will either be made from some percentage of recycled material or renewable resources. ‘Sustainable luxury’ is the phrase that encapsulates what we’re trying to do.”

Girls Give Back

“Women are about nurturing and giving, so to really enjoy our work it has to have more meaning. This is why putting social causes into our products is so popular with women entrepreneurs. It’s good for business too, because people like to know their money is going to a higher cause.”

Learn From Those Around You …

“I’ve always been fascinated by luxury brands. My mom was really into silverware and antiques and taught me to look closely at details and to understand why certain things are so valuable. So I get marketing and branding, but I’m not a great businessperson or financier—I rely on other people to help and guide with that.”

… But Always Follow Your Intuition

“It was year four, and we had the store in Chicago but we weren’t profitable yet, and I had the instinct to open a store in New York. I didn’t tell my accountant because I knew she’d say no! But I got a $68,000 loan and opened a store in SoHo that is now our largest—it’s almost doubled in size. There will always be naysayers and I understand that—we weren’t profitable, it made no sense, the rent was $20,000 a month and we were only paying $5,000 in Chicago, but I just felt it was right. Going to New York is what made us an international brand. We got press in London and Japan. It was pivotal.”

Sell Your Story

“We’ve never advertised because I think it’s cheesy. I hate to say that, but it’s better to get people genuinely interested in writing articles for you. We had such strong word of mouth and the story was so unique that it got people interested.”

Stay On Course

“In the beginning I was making $14,000 a year and kept thinking, ‘How long am I going to be living on pretzels?’ But if there’s something in you that wants to change the world it can drive you for a long time. My passion for making a difference is still what keeps me going when things get hard.”

What’s Next?

“After I finish my green manufacturing facility I want to raise money and start buying rainforest land. There’s a lot of deforestation going on that jeopardizes, among other things, chocolate and cocoa. I want to lease the land to the farmers so they have consistent revenue streams. Then I want to set up agriculture exchange programs with schools all over the world to educate people, including the farmers, on how to better cultivate cacao. There will also be an eco-resort aspect that’ll help fund the crops for the farmers. The resorts will be in these beautiful, exotic places and people can come and learn about the land and the culture, and eat the foods that are cultivated on the land around them. So, that’s what’s next!”

This Featured Lady was profiled by Jen Sincero, an author, columnist, and Ladies Who Launch leader based in Venice, CA.