• The surface of the chocolate should have a slight sheen that reflects light.
• Crack the chocolate. Edges that crumble indicate the chocolate has been improperly stored, isn't fresh or has the wrong amount of cocoa butter.
• Smell the freshly broken chocolate. If artificial vanilla has been used, it will smell and taste slightly metallic.
• Let chocolate dissolve on your tongue. If it leaves the mouth dry, it is too astringent. Also, look out for unwanted gritty or greasy residue, which means it was made from milk fat and not cocoa butter.

The prevailing sentiment among chocolatiers is that like wine, coffee, and olive oil, people will begin to realize that good chocolate is much better than mass-produced chocolate, and therefore worth the steeper price.

Selling sparkling juices
It seems that this category is a bit like a lost child among other big beverage sellers like water, sports drinks, and alcoholic drinks and mixers. To get sparkling juices some more recognition, you might want to try employee review and recommendation cards in this area of your store. The cards will attract your patrons, and after reading the positive statements, they'll probably try a bottle or two. Sparkling juices are great for a non-alcoholic luncheon or even a sophisticated gathering during the holidays. The beautiful bottles need very little dressing up and would even be great merchandised near your registers as last minute hostess gifts. Non-alcoholic sparkling juices are a terrific touch at a child's party by giving the underage party-goers the chance to feel grown up.

In addition to the employee recommendation cards, you may want to cross merchandise some attractive bottles near the deli and seafood sections, especially during the holiday season when many customers are ordering party platters from your store. Don't pass up this opportunity to go all out and really set up a great display that will spark consumer's imaginations. Another clever placement for cross merchandising is near your cheeses, namely the specialty cheeses, like brie. Because of their pretty and often festive appearance, Sparkling Juices also make a perfect addition to any gift or picnic basket.

Selling frozen produce
In the past, frozen foods took a bit of a public relations beating, because often frozen vegetables and fruits were mushy and tasteless. But just as our knowledge of nutrition improves, so do freezing techniques. Today, produce is frozen at its peak, yielding delicious, nutritious, and extremely convenient results. The convenience of frozen food is the key to a successful selling strategy. Recipe cards with easy to prepare meals will inspire all of your customers, whether they're great chefs or cooking-impaired! Do some research for recipes that require two or more frozen ingredients; for instance, a spinach and artichoke dip. Place these index-card sized recipes for casseroles, soups, dips, fruit smoothies and other one-dish meals on your freezer doors and watch your sales soar.

Chinese New Year, the Year of the Monkey and beginning on January 22, 2004, is a great time to promote your frozen vegetables. Heating up some veggies, serving them over rice, and drizzling it with a flavorful Asian-styled sauce, like Asian Gourmet Hoisin Sauce, for example, makes a quick, easy and authentic meal. Remind your customers of the versatility of frozen produce and be ahead of the game by the time Frozen Food Month comes around in March. Winter is a great time to promote frozen produce, when these items are not abundantly available fresh in the cold months.

Selling tea
There is little as satisfying as a cup of warm tea in your hands on a cold February afternoon, the steam delivering heat and fragrance to your nose. While tea is not consumed with the same passion in the United States as it is in other countries, it is still a huge seller. Many retailers have created - with large success - a store-within-a-store theme with their tea section. These tea corners in stores are heaven to tea drinkers, and the comfortable, inviting, intimate feel of these spots are sure to charm them. Tea drinkers know that there is a ceremony to drinking tea, even in America, without the fancy kettles and official tea customs. There's a process to making tea, an anticipatory wait while the water boils, a cup must be chosen, the tea must steep, and then there's a decision to add milk, honey, sugar, lemon or nothing at all. The ritual surrounding tea makes a store-within-a-store worthwhile, as do the beautiful tea packages, and the accessories that go along with tea drinking: mugs, kettles, tea balls, spoon rests, and tea biscuits.

If your budget doesn't allow for renovations to you tea section, you may want to consider an annual tea-themed newsletter. An annual tea flyer helps to educate the store's staff, as well as the customers, to the ever-changing tea industry. If you want to increase your sales of white tea, chai, or the items that tend to get grouped with tea, like Yerba mate, rooibos and herbal infusions, an informative newsletter is just the way to do that.

Welcome increased sales this new year with new selling strategies! For more ideas, contact your Haddon House sales representative.

Photos by Dena O'Hara.