FREDERICTON, N.B. — Every Christmas it seems like a new treat trend emerges, and this year it looks like hot chocolate is exploding- literally!
Hot chocolate bombs hit social media in a big way this year, and they are so popular at one Maritime café, that they can hardly keep up with the demand.
“Instagram crazes are big,” says Patti Hollenberg, owner of Fredericton’s Chess Piece Pâtisserie & Café. “Party trends are definitely fueled by visuals, Instagram videos are really hot.”
After going viral on social media, the chocolate spheres, filled with hot cocoa and marshmallows are a must have item on a lot of shoppers’ lists.
The hot chocolate bombs, which Hollenberg makes herself, have had a major order spike since her café began offering them last week.
“People come in and get orders of two, four, eight, and then we started getting orders of like 12, and then corporate gifts of 30, 40,” says Hollenberg. “Now a local store has reached out and asked us to start supplying them as well, so that order was a pretty significant order of 500 to 1000.”
Hollenberg has been making more than 200 a day to keep up with demand.
“Patti told me she was making hot chocolate bombs, and the first thing she said was I need to go over to Michaels and I’m going to buy like 24 molds, and I think this is something that will just be fun to do. And in my head I was like ‘this is going to blow up’,” says Kasyndra O’Kane, general manager at Chess Piece Pâtisserie & Café.
Keeping up with the latest trends is half the battle for many small businesses.
“It’s fantastic to work in a place where we’re constantly changing it up,” says O’Kane. “Nothing ever gets stagnant, and we’re always coming up with something new. We keep everything fresh and innovative.”
The business boost could not have come at a better time. Hollenberg relies on Christmas orders, especially now, when the café’s second location at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery is closed during renovations.
Adding the trendy treat to their menu has been good for business.
“I only was really introduced to chocolate bombs two weeks ago,” says customer Zach Atkinson. “People started talking about it and I wasn’t sure if it was actually hot chocolate or a treat with the name hot chocolate attached to it, and I went to try and find some, and every time I’ve look I can’t find them.”
Proving that the hot chocolate treats are a hot commodity this season.
See Alyson Samson and Allan April’s full CTV News HERE.