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About Us

An Occasional Chocolate in the News!

Cheryl Sandberg,

Owner of a family run candy making supply business.

An Occasional Chocolate's goals are to:

Contact Info:
An Occasional Chocolate
633 Hanisch Dr.
Roseville, CA 95678
(877) 390-5569 or (916) 622-6282

Email:
staff@anoccasionalchocolate.com

A Note from the Owner, Cheryl Sandberg

I love chocolate. Who doesn't? Melted, baked, dipped, fried or hoodwinked, I love it all! When offered another type of dessert, I often say, "If it ain't chocolate, it really ain't worth the calories!" I love chocolate with nuts, or ice cream, or berries, or salty things and just about every other way you could think of.  I am picky about my chocolate. Taste is key or I never feel satisfied!

Although I am no chocolate snob, I love making truffles and fancy-dipped strawberries and just about everything else you can find in a high-end chocolate shop downtown.  Even better? I love giving chocolate as gifts. Wrap it up with some fancy French-wired ribbon, and people are impressed.

I was asked how I got started in this line of work.  Easy answer—three words: "You MADE that????"  When I made a basket of four flavored truffles and gave them to neighbors and friends and family, they all said the same thing! They were so impressed with me, which is always a good thing. They were amazed that the truffles looked just like the ones in the chocolate shops. They could hardly believe how incredible they tasted! When I told them how EASY truffle making is, they didn’t believe me!

I started teaching friends and family how to make the candy, including molds and dipped fruits and other fun creations.  I went to a class that a local person was teaching. Then I knew... I can do this! I can teach people to do this! It’s fun, and it’s my passion! What’s better than to work with your deeply rooted passion?

I had experience in web design and graphic design from years past, so half of the battle was over. Making a web site and making it great was easy. Once I realized I was going to start a business, the sleepless nights and the THINKING came. Many, many nights of not being able to sleep because I was so excited. Ideas flowing into my head like a faucet. (Or shall I say, like a chocolate fountain!) The name, An Occasional Chocolate, came to me at 3am, and I knew I was in trouble.

I gathered three other professionals who had the same passion as me, and we brainstormed for months. We got busy researching products, gaining ideas from the net and seeing what the competition might be. I found that there wasn't much in the way of information or products out there for beginners and intermediates. It seemed that you either had to read an over-your-head web site, which was too intimidating, or you had to really dig deep to find different ways to do things.  I knew I could help people make these beautiful treats, and I could help them get as excited as I was! I can offer all the really hard-to-find ingredients AND teach others how to use them.  I can help people hear those wonderful words, "You MADE that???"

Historical Timeline

1990 - Cheryl Sandberg, owner of An Occasional Chocolate, enters the field of customer service for a major shopping center in the San Francisco area. Because of her friendly, customer-first attitude, Cheryl rapidly works toward management.  Constantly developing relationships with customers by servicing their needs, Cheryl also creates solid relationships with store owners and higher-level executives.

1996 - Cheryl takes her customer service and management skills and moves them to the small business arena.  Entering the world of web design before it was popular, she worked with several known clients and, in 1998, was on Computer Chronicles for a 20-minute interview about stay-at-home moms working from their homes.

2004 - Cheryl is asked to speak at women's meetings and is complimented on her relaxed, fun manner. Professional speakers suggest that she “go on the road” with her speaking. Using her funny, light personality, Cheryl enjoys acting, and making people laugh and enjoy themselves.

2005 - Utilizing her small business skills, web design skills and speaking skills, along with her pure love of chocolate and candy making, Cheryl joins a team of four other professionals and puts together the concept of An Occasional Chocolate.

2007 and beyond - Cheryl's goals include broadening her product base and teaching many people how to have fun, enjoy chocolate and get over the old snobby attitudes of chocolate candy making. Cheryl also plans to broaden the web site to include new and exciting products as well as instructional videos and step-by-step instructions.