This weekend, South ‘n France turns six years old!  In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that we debuted our company at the 2006 Carolina Chocolate Festival.  In other ways, it seems like we’ve been making and selling bon bons forever.  Steve Jobs said in reference to his tenure at Apple:  “Each year has been so robust with problems and successes and learning experiences and human experiences that a year is a lifetime at Apple. So this has been ten lifetimes. ” 

We hear you, Steve.  It’s only been six years, but we feel like we’ve lived (and aged) at least a few decades (if not lifetimes) since launching South ‘n France.  Thankfully, we’re not yet as world-weary as “Toddlers and Tiaras” beauty pageant veteran, Eden Wood, who at the age of six (with 300 pageant wins already under her glitzy rhinestone-studded belt) announced her retirement on national TV.

As for us, we have no plans of retiring anytime soon.  In fact, like most six year olds, we’re enthusiastic about, well, most everything we’re involved in these days.  We’re finally on the verge of launching the packaging we’ve been working on for years.  Our newly forged partnership with Port City Java is coming into its own, as we plan to bring our product into multiple locations in New Hanover and Brunswick counties over the next few months. (Look for us at the 17th Street Port City Java in just a few weeks!)  Our website is about to get a facelift.  And, we’re planning our first real vacation (with both of us on vacation at once!) this summer.  As any small business owner will tell you, the ability to take a vacation is a true sign of success.

As for lessons, we’ve learned more than our fair share.  There should be advanced degrees for people who run small businesses–at the very least, an honorary PhD from the school of hard knocks.  In many ways, launching a small business was especially difficult for us because unlike most new companies (think hair salons or  daycares or restaurants or repair companies), we had no role model.  Perhaps that should have been our first clue.  No one was already out there making and selling nothing but hand-dipped chocolate bon bons via the internet.  Now we know why!

One of my favorite proverbs is “necessity breeds ingenuity.”  It’s how many of the most successful elements of our business were inspired.  For example, singing telegrams, Bon Bon Parties, our Cafe au Lait bon bon flavor and our now legendary Dinner and a Movie Nights, were all born out of pressing needs.  In our innocence (or some would say ‘ignorance’), we created new products and new business ideas that fanned the flames of our deeply held conviction:  the world needs our brand of sweetness and delight.

Indeed, looking at the world through the eyes of a young child (or a young business), is really quite refreshing.  Here is my case in point:  A 1st grade school teacher presented each child in her classroom with the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to finish the phrase.  Those six-year-olds responded with these incredible, instinctive gems:

Strike while the…bug is close. 
It’s always darkest before…Daylight Saving Time.
Never underestimate the… power of termites.
You can lead a horse to water… but how?
Don’t bite the hand that …looks dirty.
A miss is as good as a… Mr.
You can’t teach an old dog new… Math.
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll… stink in the morning.
The pen is mightier than the… pigs.
An idle mind is the… best way to relax.
Where there’s smoke there’s… pollution.
Happy the bride who… gets all the presents.
A penny saved is… not much.
Two’s company, three’s… the Musketeers.
Don’t put off till tomorrow what you… put on to go to bed.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and…you have to blow your nose.
There are none so blind as… Stevie Wonder.
Children should be seen and not…spanked or grounded.
If at first you don’t succeed… get new batteries.
A bird in the hand is going to… poop on you.
Better late than…pregnant!

For South ‘n France most things are happening later than we initially expected them to, but we still look forward to a future ‘pregnant’ with possibilities.  Thank you for your loyal support and encouragement over the past five years.  We look forward to growing up in the five that will follow….

In December, I shared some of the behind-the-scenes details around the making of our bon bon calendar.  Now that we’re approaching the month of February, I thought it was time to reveal a bit more about what goes into each month’s vignette.  Lately, I’ve been comparing myself to Barry, the Steve Carell character in Dinner for Schmucks who spends his free-time making intricate mouse dioramas.  Click here to see the wonderful examples and rest assured that the mice are not real animals!  As an aside, the movie Dinner for Schmucks (which neither Pascal nor I enjoyed) is a disappointing adaptation one of our favorite French comedies, Le Diner de Cons.

You have to be more than a little quirky to spend your time working on miniature projects.  And if you’re not willing to make everything yourself (as Barry purportedly does in the film), you’d better be prepared to spend a lot of time researching miniatures online.  Finding the right miniature bed, for example, is much harder than you might imagine.  A lot of dollhouse furniture is made in the Victorian style, which does not reflect our brand.  We felt our bon bons would want something more modern and fun.  After hours of searching, I found this vintage red bed (complete with heart accents) on the United Kingdom eBay site.  The actual “mattress” was an old piece of cardboard with a thin layer of patchwork fabric glued onto the cardboard to represent a bedspread.  The “photo” in the round frame on the bed’s headboard featured a Ken and Barbie-esque doll couple circa 1970’s.  In fact, the woman had a classic Farrah Fawcett hairdo. 

Despite needing some TLC and a few alterations, I knew this bed was the one.  When it finally made its way across the pond, I commissioned my mother to make a more luxurious bedpread for our bon bon boudoir.  I thought pink satin would be perfect for the February spread.  You can’t see it in the photo, but Mom even monogrammed the two little bon bon pillowcases! 

Next, we needed accessories.  What would make for a romantic bedroom scene?  Harlequin romances, of course!  I found two miniature replica romances that even have printed micro text on the inside.  I’ve haven’t gotten out a magnifying glass to read the text, but I bet its something suitably torrid.  I considered perfume bottles, Kleenex boxes, and other bedside accessories that didn’t make the grade.  In the end, we went with a classic Valentine’s Day combo:  flowers and lingerie.

Finding lingerie for bon bons is no easy feat.  What does a pleasingly plump bon bon wear in the bedroom?   Hosiery and high heels were out of the question, since bon bons don’t have legs. The ideal measurements for a woman may be the 36-24-36 hourglass shape, but the ideal porportions for a bon bon are a more rotund 1″ sphere.  In the end, I ordered a hot pink negligee and the black bra and panties that actually made it into the shot.  Our lady bon bon model is a saucy litle minx, isn’t she?  We replaced the “Ken and Barbie” photo with a small cutout of a bon bon couple to make the illusion of a bon bon bedroom complete.

With such a steamy bedroom scene in the photography studio, we knew things would heat up fast.  Naked bon bons and pink satin may be a sinfully decadent combination, but it’s also a messy one!  The chocolate stains the satin, which means once the bon bons made contact with the bedspread, they couldn’t be moved again.  That didn’t phase our photographer, Millie Holloman, who quickly captured the perfect shot for February (while lying on the floor in order to get the right perspective!).

For the past several months, Pascal has spent almost all of his time in the kitchen making of the many thousands of bon bons we need to keep up with the growing demand.  This year, he didn’t even see the 2012 Bon Bon Calendar until a week after it had shipped to the active customers on our mailing list.  February was the month that delighted him most.  But in typical French fashion, he exclaimed in mock alarm:  “Zare eez one ting missing from zees photo!  Where are zee cigarettes?”

Inside our South ‘n France 2012 Bon Bon Calendar, we made a pretty incredible offer:  send us a photo of our calendar hanging in your home or office and we’ll send you a $10 coupon toward any South ‘n France purchase!  Well, the photos have been pouring in, and we’re having a great time seeing how our little calendar looks on your refrigerators, in your your cubicles, and on your walls!   We know that images of our bon bons are already gracing the walls of an optometrist’s office, an architectural firm, a financial institution, and even a dentist’s office! 

But, you’ve made us hungry for more!  There is still time to email us your photo and take advantage of our special offer.  Want extra credit?  Send us a brief description of where the calendar hangs.  While we wait for more photos, we thought we’d share a collage that features a few of our January pin-ups.  Enjoy!

Our 2011-2012 Catalog and Calendar has been printed and posted and should be arriving in your mailbox any day now.  You may be seeing it for the first time, but I’ve been working on it for the past 11 months!  Of course, like any big project, I didn’t do it alone.  I had help from my family and friends.  It all started with the front cover:  I’m lucky to have a Mom who is a talented seamstress and knitter.  She’s quite accustomed to my crazy requests, so she didn’t bat an eye when I asked her to knit 7 miniature winter hats in colors that matched our bon bon foils.  Did you notice?  Each flavor and it’s signature color foil is represented.  From left to right they are:  Cafe au Lait, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cookies ‘n Creme, Coconut, Fudge Brownie, Peanut Buttah, and Pistachio.  Those little hats are so cute, don’t you think?  Mom did a fantastic job!

My dear friend, Millie Holloman, is the uber-talented photographer behind all of these gorgeous bon bon vignettes.  I arrived at her photography studio with boxes full of miniature props and materials that we would need during the shoot (an iron, tape, lots of bon bon “models”, knives, towels and more).   Millie spent most of the shoot lying on the floor in order to get the proper perspective on the world of bon bons, as I worked to prep each shot.

The final result may look effortless, but the process is anything but.  Our July centerfold, for example, is featured lying on a hammock.  The hammock sits on top of wheat grass (purchased by Pascal at Tidal Creek co-op).  It is supported by two bamboo chopsticks.  The problem?  Getting a rather plump bon bon to balance in the middle of the hammock without rolling off of the hammock and into the grass.  It took many failed attempts before we got the shot that finally ended up in our catalog.

Another challenging set-up proved to be our December shot of two bon bons sitting around a fireplace.  In this case, “the stockings were hung by the chimney with care” is a huge understatement!  The miniature garland for the fireplace coupled with the two custom-made stockings (did you notice Bon and Bon embroidered on each one?) proved too heavy to stick to the resin fireplace with any of the tapes we had in our supply kit.  I ended up chewing a piece of gum and sticking it into the back of the garland to get it to stay.  Even then, Millie had to work fast to catch a shot that didn’t include drooping garland!

Each month has its own story, its own unique details, and its own “inside messages”.  For example, take a close look at the December scene, and you’ll see a shopping bag from the famous Parisian department store, Galleries Lafayette.  In February, the books on the nightstand are Harlequin romances with actual miniscule text printed on each page!   March (an autobiographical month) features my favorite brand of bottled water, Volvic.  And,  April is a nod to two of my own nicknames–my girlfriends call me “Bon Bon”; my Mom has always called me “chick”.  The miniature vintage refrigerator for November and December 2012 was borrowed from my friend Matt. (It is a part of his extensive Hallmark ornament collection.)

As the year continues, I’ll share more behind the making of our calendar.  Meanwhile, we hope that you appreciate this gift from “our house to yours”.  Like our bon bons, it was a labor of love, made with plenty of thought, heart, humor, and personality. 

Thanks to you for being a part of the extended South ‘n France “family” and thanks to my immediate “family”– Pascal, Mom, Millie, Matt, my brother Chad, and the others–who played a role in making our calendar come to life! 

Since moving to Wilmington, Pascal and I spend most of our time working in the kitchen and the office (respectively) at South ‘n France.  But, every now and then, we take some time to enjoy an afternoon on the town.  One of our favorite excursions was a ride on the Cape Fear River.  A couple of years ago, I surprised Pascal with a private charter cruise and a very French picnic to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  Our captain took us down the river to explore a section of the Cape Fear River we had never seen.  It was a wonderful, relaxing afternoon.

Now, everyone can enjoy a lazy afternoon on the Cape Fear River at a wonderful price.  Join us for a very sweet tour of the Cape Fear River. We have joined forces with Wilmington Water Tours for a two-hour afternoon cruise. Climb onboard at 2:30 pm and enjoy sampling eight bon bon flavors (our seven signature flavors and our seasonal Pumpkin Bon Bon) while sipping some tasty champagne and being entertained by us. This two-hour cruise is $25.00 per person. We will also offer our 8-piece bon bon box at a deeply discounted price for interested customers. Call Wilmington Water Tours at 910-338-3134 to make your reservation. The cruise will depart from the Downtown Riverwalk (212 S. Water St- Between Orange & Ann Streets).

We’ll look foward to sailing with you!

For years, we have been making local deliveries with our bon bons.  Deliveries are one of the most rewarding and, sometimes, one of the most frustrating parts of our work.  You wouldn’t believe all of the hidden streets, unmarked houses, and crazy locations that exist in and around Wilmington! 

We could ship all of our bon bons, but local FedEx packages often spend a day or two in transit.  (They are often shipped from Wilmington to a warehouse in Charlotte; sorted and shipped back to Wilmington; and then put on trucks where they could ride around all day waiting delivery).  When we deliver locally, the bon bons go directly from our kitchen to the recipient. 

Our delivery territory is large–we have delivered to Hampstead, Carolina Beach, Wrighstville Beach, Leland, and once as far as Bald Head Island.  When you look at it from a dollars and cents perspective, it doen’t pay to spend the time, the gas, the miles, and the planning to make deliveries.  But, we do it all for a different kind of payoff–happy customers.  Earlier this summer, we completed a delivery that reminded us exactly why we offer this important service to our customers.

A new customer, who lives in Arkansas, found us online.  She wanted to know if we would deliver to New Hanover Regional Medical Center.  We replied that we could definitely deliver to NHRMC.  She then explained that her daughter-in-law had just delivered a baby 10 weeks early, without her husband.  He wasn’t able to be there because he is a Marine serving our country.  Our new customer wanted to give her daughter-in-law something delicious to eat (in lieu of flowers) because she hadn’t eaten in two days! 

Our new customer had also created a special message on her computer using her own graphic designs.  She wanted to know if we could print it and include it with the bon bon delivery.  (Again, the answer was: “Yes, of course!”) 

As fate would have it, I was the person who ended up making this particular delivery.  I went directly to the maternity ward to ensure the bon bons reached their final destination in a timely manner.  Come to find out, Rachel was in her room alone and couldn’t get out of bed.  So, with Rachel’s permission,  the receptionist agreed to let me go back to her room.   Upon meeting Rachel, I was honored to play not only delivery person, but also nurse’s aide to one brave mama!  (Rachel, who was in pain, had been waiting for a nurse and needed a little help–pronto.)  Her husband is a hero protecting our country, but I think the spouses of our military are just as strong and courageous as those who serve on the front line.  Imagine giving birth alone, in an emergency situation!

The next day, I received a lovely note from our newest fan in Arkansas:

“You went above and beyond for EXCELLENT customer service! Thank you for making a personal delivery to my daughter-in-law, Rachel, in the hospital. And, I certainly appreciate you printing my own special message and adding it to the package. Rachel just texted me and said she “snuck” a Bon Bon (a nurse said she could ’sneak one’ – she is still on liquids) and she said it was AWESOME! I think she’s hooked!

 My Very Best,

Coffee and chocolate are a classic flavor combination, so it’s only fitting that we have joined forces with Port City Java! Starting today, Monday August 1st, South ‘n France Bon Bons will be sold at the Barclay Commons Port City Java (2512 Independence Boulevard near Henry’s and Perry’s Emporium).

As if debuting our bon bons in the Barclay Commons Port City Java wasn’t reason enough to celebrate, we’ve got another special occasion coming up this week—Thursday, August 4th is National Chocolate Chip Day. To celebrate, Pascal and I will be onsite on Thursday morning (8/4) from 8 am-12 pm, giving away free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bon bons (1 per person) to the first 400 customers at the Barclay Commons Port City Java!

We love that Port City Java is committed to featuring locally made products in its stores, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to be one of their local vendors. For years, our customers in Wilmington have been asking for a venue where they can buy a quick taste of our product. The 2-piece packages we will offer at Port City Java are a great snack and a perfect complement to coffee for one or two people.

You can choose 4 different Doubly Good! chocolate bon bon pairings: nutty (Peanut Buttah and Pistachio); chocolate-y (Fudge Brownie and Cookies ‘n Crème); cookie-based (Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Cookies ‘n Crème) and a signature pairing that reflects our personal favorites (Coconut and Café au Lait). Each 2-piece package of bon bons will retail for $3.75.

Yes, I hear what some of you are thinking:  “But my favorite location is the Market Street/Porter’s Neck/17th Street/etc. Port City Java!  Why aren’t you selling bon bons there?” 

If you want to see bon bons in your neighborhood PCJ, be extra sure to go just a little bit out of your way and make a trip to Barclay Commons in August or September!  If our bon bons prove to be a successful seller in the Barclay Commons store, hopefully you’ll be able to find bon bons soon at all PCJ locations!

So what you waiting for?  Whether you’re addicted to java, bon bons, or both, Barclay Commons Port City Java is the place to get your fix!  As always, we are grateful to you for loving our product and supporting us–merci!

This Bastille Day (7/14/11), South ‘n France held its biggest sale event of the year.  It’s become an annual tradition:  when the weather heats up, we party with the sizzling temperatures by dropping the price of our bon bons to just $1 for a one-day sale. 

When I say party, I’m not kidding.  Because although we spent most of the day filling up cellophane bags with our clients’ favorite bon bon flavors, we did take some time to have fun with our customers.  One sweet customer, Mama Fort, sent a message via Facebook to say that she’d be dropping by the sale after her very first ukulele lesson.  “Bring your ukulele!”, I told her, “I want to hear a song!” 

As promised, she arrived with her snazzy green ukulele in hand.  Mama Fort serenaded us with one of my favorite tunes, “You Are My Sunshine”.  With his always impeccable timing, local piano star Duke Ladd arrived to pick up his own stash of bon bons.  He graciously offered to jam with our ukulele player in a rousing rendition of “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain”.  I couldn’t resist joining in on the act.  Duke tickled the ivories while I belted out a few numbers such as “Orange Colored Sky” and “Candy”.  Rather a propos, n’est-ce pas?  That was Duke’s idea.  I tell you that man is a genius!

And that wasn’t all.  We pressed longtime client C.B. Johnson into service packing his own bon bons; we created a unique referral contest for one special (and very silly) customer who sent nearly a dozen people to our sale;  and we posed for photos that were posted on social media sites.  Local radio personality Dutch Hawk (who loves to mock Pascal’s accent and his love of Pink Floyd) snapped our favorite South’ n France pic of the day (left).  He also shared his unique way of enjoying bon bons which I will reveal in an upcoming blog post.

All of this brings us to why we love our customers, Reason #241:  We love your joie de vivre!  You make every day a party!

This May, I was contacted by a journalist from the Wall Street Journal.  She had read one of my blog posts online, and wanted to interview me for a piece she was writing about adults who had been voted Most Likely to Succeed in high school.  Flattered and curious, I agreed to play along.

After my interview, the journalist told me that the WSJ wanted to send a photographer to take pictures of me in my business.  Never one to turn down publicity (especially in a publication like the Wall Street Journal!), I agreed.  The photographer contacted me with an idea for the shoot.  He wanted to do an action shot he called “It’s Raining Bon Bons”.  The idea was that Pacal would stand on a ladder outside of our building with a bucket full of bon bons.  Umbrella in hand, I would step out of the door into a shower of our product. 

Now, if you’re the owner of a bon bon business, the first thing you ask when you hear such an idea is:  “How many bon bons is that going to take?”  As I suspected, the answer was “too many”.  We aren’t in the business of making labor intensive bon bons only to dump them all over the sidewalk!

So, as we have done in the past for various photo shoots and visual displays, we used fake bon bons made from PlayDoh.  The faux bon bons get wrapped in our foils so they look almost exactly like the real thing.  (Hint:  if you’re ever at one of our trade shows or festivals, don’t try to steal the bon bons on display–you’ll be in for a mouthful of PlayDoh!)

Our neighbors must truly think we’re crazy!  On an very warm spring day, Pascal stood outside pouring bon bons on my head while I smiled for the camera.  Some of the bon bons would roll down the sidewalk or into the street; others ricocheted off the umbrella and went rolling into our great room.  After each click of the shutter, Pascal, the photographer, and I would scurry around, hunting in the bushes and under furniture for the bon bons so we could take the shot again.

Chasing after bon bons on my hands and knees did nothing for my professionally coiffed hair and carefully applied makeup.  By the time we’d finished with that shot (the first one of the day, of course!), I was sweating profusely and I looked a wreck.  But, it was far from over.  The photographer still needed to take plenty of other shots for consideration by the newspaper. 

Thankfully, our photographer, D.J. Struntz, was a real pro!  He managed to make it look like I was cool and composed, even though I was an overheated sweaty mess.  It’s a good thing too.  Not only did the photo appear online, it also graced the front page of the Personal section of The Wall Street Journal. 

Although my experiences working with journalist Sue Shellenbarger and photographer D.J.  Struntz were extremely positive, I was surprised by the slant of the article.  Prior to its publication, I did not know that the article would portray me as someone who felt “burdened” by my high school honorific.  Truth be told, the burden of picking up rolling bon bons in the hot Carolina sun while worrying about my hair and melting makeup was far more taxing then being voted Most Likely to Succeed!

But, as the old adage goes, “all publicity is good publicity”.  I certainly got a taste of the far-reaching influence of the Wall Street Journal.  A distant cousin with whom I’ve not had contact in nearly twenty years, emailed me from Madagascar; he had seen my photo that morning in the paper.  People I’d never met sent me emails, including a sweet lady whose mother used to live here in Wilmington.  Other strangers passed judgment on me via comments and blog posts.  And one of our area television stations turned the story into a local news piece.

For us, the true measure of success for any media coverage is how it translates into bon bon sales.  We can directly trace two customers to the article, a couple who vacationed here in Wilmington the week the article was published.  They sought us out, tried our bon bons, and have since become repeat customers.  But unless they read this blog post, they’ll never know all that went on behind the scenes to add them to our customer database!