Chocolatiers Anna and Tim Shea use UPS to deliver their chocolate to customers around the country.
To chocolatier Anna Shea, whose interests include painting and designing clothing, chocolate is just another artistic medium. As her husband and business partner, Tim Shea, puts it, "Chocolate is her new canvas."
Finnish-born Anna, 25, was introduced to the craft by a Belgian chocolate maker while she was in college studying psychology. Shortly after, she was training with master chocolatiers in France's Rhone Valley, honing her skills for making truffles and chocolate sculptures. Anna and Tim then decided to turn her hobby into a business and founded Anna Shea Chocolates in 2004 in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Anna Shea Chocolates typically uses UPS Ground to ship its signature pale-pink boxes with rich brown ribbons, but given the fragile nature of chocolate and its sensitivity to heat, the company often uses UPS Next Day Air ® in the summer and when shipping to a warmer climate. Either way, Anna's artistry is assured of reaching eager customers nationwide in prime condition.
Classic combinations
Anna starts with either French or Belgian chocolate and combines it with nontraditional flavors and high-quality spices to create surprising concoctions like "My Precious," a milk-chocolate heart with a cinnamon-caramel filling, and "Madagascar," a white-chocolate shell housing dark-chocolate cream infused with South African vanilla bean. "We're updating the classics," Tim says.
After launching Anna Shea Chocolates, first as a wholesale business and then with a retail shop, Anna and Tim were inundated with requests from restaurants, gourmet food shops and hotels around the country. With orders pouring in by phone and through the company's website, it was imperative for them to find a reliable shipping partner that could handle their delicate creations. They also realized they were in need of related logistical services and tools that could help them manage and grow the business. The friendly UPS driver who delivered items to their shop suggested they check out his employer. Anna and Tim decided UPS would give them exactly what they needed.
At peak season, crucial IT support
Receiving reliable technical support for the Anna Shea website was important, too. In the busy weeks leading up to Christmas or Valentine's Day, Anna Shea Chocolates' online store receives more than 60 orders a day. Tim wanted to be sure he'd have somewhere to turn if, for example, the company had a problem with its online tracking – another reason to go with UPS.
"With UPS, I don't call a 1-800 number and get transferred all over the place. I call their direct tech line and someone picks right up," Tim says. "That kind of customer service is really important."
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