Bissinger’s - What It Takes to Craft a Chocolate Masterpiece

The Story of a Brand

Ramon Vela

Business, Entrepreneurship

5 • 145 Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, I sit down with Dan Abel Jr., Chief Chocolate Officer of Bissinger’s, one of the oldest chocolate companies in the world, dating back to 1668.

We dive into this remarkable brand’s royal beginnings in France, its journey to the U.S., and how Dan and his family have preserved Bissinger’s timeless quality while modernizing its operations for today’s consumer. Dan shares the heartfelt moments that fueled their purpose, from handwritten letters of gratitude to surviving COVID by leaning on their direct-to-consumer strength.

We also talk chocolate, real chocolate. Dan walks us through what makes Bissinger’s different, from hand-decorated truffles to multi-day candy-making processes that start with whole fruits and pure cane sugar. This episode is part business story, part masterclass in heritage and craftsmanship and all heart.

🍫 Key Moments in This Episode:

🇫🇷 How Bissinger’s became the King of France’s appointed confectioner in 1668

🏗 The family’s bold leap to revive the brand with a factory expansion and modern tech stack

📦 How e-commerce saved the business during COVID and doubled in size

💌 The handwritten letter from a global CEO that changed everything

🧁 Why Bissinger’s still uses century-old techniques, hand-paints chocolates, and sources European chocolate

Join me, Ramon Vela, in listening to this rich and flavorful conversation where heritage meets hustle, and every chocolate tells a story.

For more on Bessinger’s visit: https://www.bissingers.com/

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave The Story of a Brand a rating and review.

Plus, don’t forget to follow us on Apple and Spotify.

Your support helps us bring you more content like this!

Today’s Sponsors:

Compass Rose Ventures - Advisor for CPG Brands: https://compassroseventures.com/contact/

Compass Rose Ventures can help your CPG brand increase customer lifetime value, expand into the US market, create an omnipresent omnichannel footprint, optimize customer journeys, build brand communities, and more. Visit the link above to learn more.

Saral - The Influencer OS: https://www.getsaral.com/demo

SARAL is the all-in-one influencer platform that finds brand-aligned creators, automates outreach, and manages everything in one place. Request a live demo today. Let the SARAL team know you're a The Story of a Brand Show podcast listener to get an extended free trial! Visit the link above.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	it was not transactional anymore. There was more emotion connected to that box of chocolates.
0:04.8	And I was, I said like, I'll work 24 hours. If I have to, we're going to get, we're going to
0:08.5	get every Mother's Day order out. And it just never stopped that. The feeling we felt that day
0:17.3	never stopped. And so I just put an extra layer on every, every time we make a decision
0:24.0	at Bissinger's, I put that extra layer on that. It's not, it's not a chocolate bar you get
0:28.4	at the grocery store because you're hungry and you want to satisfy your 3 o'clock sugar
0:32.8	crash. We make a few chocolate bars like that, but it is a truly a gifting experience
0:39.5	when only something special is required
0:42.4	as Bessinger's and our job is just to
0:45.6	tell the story and just find more people
0:48.7	that are looking for that and to stay true
0:51.1	to making the most special
0:53.5	handcrafted product out there.
1:08.5	Hey, everyone. This is Ramon Vela, and this is another episode of the story of a brand.
1:14.0	Like always, we have an amazing guest in brand that we're going to feature on today's show.
1:18.4	But before we do, hi, I speak to hundreds of founders and CEOs of CPG brands each year,
1:24.7	and they are facing unprecedented challenges from changing
1:29.2	consumer behavior inflation election year anxiety the cost of capital and more
1:34.5	however finding an experienced knowledgeable advisor shouldn't be challenging and
1:40.3	that's why I'm personally recommending that you reach out to Compass Rose Ventures,
1:45.9	whether you're looking for help positioning your brand and messaging,
1:49.9	diversifying your marketing portfolio, preparing for retail expansion,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ramon Vela, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ramon Vela and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.