Chocolate Lovers destination in the West of Ireland
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My Story
Hello ♡ , my name is Gráinne, many of you may know me already, but for those of you who don't, I'm the founder of Grá Chocolates.
Grá Chocolates started out in my parents home four years ago in 2020. Starting off small, I was determined to spread the grá and create edible pieces of art to be shared all around the world. Grá is the Irish word for love and also my nickname. At Grá Chocolates, we are making more than chocolate. We are creating memories through unique chocolate experiences. I always start with the finest ingredients in the world: B Corp certified Valrhona Chocolate, local ingredients and the world’s best dairy produce – Irish cream and butter! Created in small batches, each chocolate takes three days to create!
I have poured all my heart into Grá Chocolates and with constant innovation, drive and passion I have grown Grá Chocolates into the brand it is today. From a start up with a single product offering, to a small business with over 50 different product lines in just three and a half years and I couldn't do this without the help of Team Grá.
Now, I have an idea and we are ready to embark on our next chapter – building our own chocolate factory – and I would love you to be a part of this exciting adventure! Join me in creating a space where chocolate lovers can gather, create, and celebrate the sweet moments that make life so special.
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What Are We Doing?
We started out in a tiny chocolate factory built in Gráinne’s parent's shed and now we have passed our two-year mark in our rental unit just outside Galway City. This is where the fabulous Team Grá pour their heart and soul into making the most beautiful chocolate in Ireland.
We have outgrown this building and are looking at plans to relocate. We are an online first business and don’t get to see our customers face to face very often so as part of this relocation, we want to bring you, our customers, closer to us.
Our rent is increasing to a price that we just can’t keep up with. So, we have to take action now to continue our dreams of finding a permanent home for Grá Chocolates – our very own chocolate factory. Unfortunately, the rising cost of operating has made it impossible for us to tackle this challenge alone. So we need your support to help make this dream become a reality, but don’t worry, any contribution you give will be rewarded with our exclusive Grá Awards.
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What's Our Plan?
Our dream is to build our own factory from the ground up, exactly how we want it to be. This project is expected to take 2 years.
Step one is finding a location for our new chocolate factory. We are already well into the shortlisting process. Following this, we need to create plans and begin the building process.
Once our factory is up and running, we want to bring people in and show them our chocolate making process in a fun and interactive way.
Grá Chocolates has experienced first-hand the challenges of start-ups trying to launch. Our project will include an innovation hub for small businesses where they can utilise a state-of-the-art facility to kickstart their own ventures. Additionally a content studio will offer a place to to create high quality content for Grá Chocolates and external businesses.
This isn't just about chocolate – it's about creating a destination in the West of Ireland that will bring joy to people of all ages, teach them about chocolate, and stimulate the local economy. Our new building is going to include a visitor centre, shop and state of the art chocolate factory that our customers can come along to and share the Grá for high quality Irish produce.
Throughout this journey, we'll document every step of the way – from the start of the marketing and the launch of the Kickstarter to the refurbishment and the grand unveiling of the factory. We're excited to bring you along on this journey through our social channels and can't wait to share this exciting experience with you.
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Environmental Commitments
We are constantly seeking innovative ways to prioritise the use of freshly sourced local ingredients, B CORP chocolate, and environmentally friendly packaging. Despite the challenges, our commitment to quality, sustainability, and delivering exceptional chocolate experiences remains unwavering and we continue to spread the grá.
This relocation project offers us the opportunity to further improve our carbon footprint. Operating from a rented premise, we are limited in the steps we can take to decarbonise our production. In building our new factory, we will design our building to be as energy efficient as possible, using sustainable heating methods, solar panels and upgrading to more energy efficient appliances. All these things will help us with our current goals of becoming B Corp and Origin Green certified.
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Risks and challenges
One of the biggest risks we currently face is the cost of living and rising rents. Rent costs are on the rise, our suppliers are increasing their prices for fresh ingredients, and supply chain delays are becoming more frequent. This is why we are embarking on this project to build our own factory and reduce our exposure to rental fluctuations. In order to keep our chocolates at their current prices, we need to take action to stabilize our overheads. We already have one relocation project under our belt, so we are experienced with navigating the issues that can crop up during a relocation. However, this project is a much larger scale than anything we have done before and with every construction project there will be unforeseen bumps along the road. While we hope a large amount of our funding to come through our Kickstarter campaign and equity, however, we may need to explore additional funding sources to get this project off the line. We want to be super transparent about any risks involved with this project and will make sure to keep everyone updated if there are any delays or bumps in the road along the way.