User:Polypeptired/sandbox/Awfully Chocolate

Awfully Chocolate (stylised as awfullychocolate) is a Singaporean company specializing in chocolate products. It was founded by former lawyer Lyn Lee in 1998. Originally specialising in chocolate cake, it has since diversified to other chocolate desserts, cafes, restaurants and manufacturing for other companies.

History
Awfully Chocolate, a Singaporean company specializing in chocolate products such as cakes, ice-cream, and truffles, was established in 1998. Its first store was in Katong. Only one type of cake was sold – a round six-inch all-chocolate cake – and the store had an unusual minimalist design in dark brown and white, with the cakes not on display.

[ Awfully Chocolate received early attention for not looking like a typical cake store and the delicious single product, which was similarly minimalist-looking. Five thousand cake boxes were ordered upon opening, but another order had to be made for another ten thousand within three months due to its unexpected success.]

Its second store, at Cluny Court, was opened in 2004.

In 2004, Singapore Airlines magazine Silver Kris named Awfully Chocolate as one of Singapore's 39 must-haves in its 39th National Day feature.

By 2008, there were franchises operating overseas in Taiwan, Jakarta, and China. Further franchise requests came from as far as Portugal, Miami, and Italy.

Proprietary Chocolate
Awfully Chocolate has proprietary chocolate made to its own specifications down to the grade of cocoa bean (Prestige Lifestyle mag and Ladyironchef 2018).

Cakes
The All-Chocolate Cake was Awfully Chocolate's first product. It was sold in whole 6-inch cakes. Half a year later, the Chocolate Banana Cake was introduced, followed by the Chocolate Rum & Cherry Cake for Christmas in December 1999.

Today, there are numerous categories of cakes (Original, Signature and Celebration), chocolate truffles, the Premium Gifting Collection of chocolate bars and cookies and a Bake From Home section where they sell the same ingredients they use for their own products- quote website. There are takeout stores, cafes and restaurants.

Awfully Chocolate also has started making products for other brands such as Starbucks - cite starbucks.

Ice Cream
2005 marked the release of Hei Ice Cream, the company's signature dark chocolate ice cream. They were served in containers that resemble American Chinese take-out food boxes, with a Chinese logo "hei" that means dark. They chose a Chinese name and the food box design because the owners researched that ice cream was invented by the Chinese. Hei ice cream is sold in a single scoop, a double scoop, and a pint.

The Hei Ice Cream is dark, smooth, creamy and tastes like cold bitter chocolate. Even better, it's made with a third less sugar than other premium ice cream. It might be the only chocolate ice cream you'll ever want to eat. (Urban ST, Jan 2005 - )

Other Desserts
Awfully Chocolate's catalogue expanded in XXXX with several new products that were not ice cream or whole cakes. These include the Salted Butterscotch Brownie, the White Chocolate Crème Brûlée, and the Flourless Chocolate Cake.

Premium Gifting Collection
In XXXX, Awfully Chocolate started selling gift sets containing XXX, XXX, and XXX.

Seasonal Products
The dark chocolate truffles started as a Christmas special, but have become a mainstay today.

Every Christmas, Awfully Chocolate sells log cakes based on their best-selling original All-Chocolate cake.

Since XXXX, Awfully Chocolate has sold chocolate-based mooncakes in the months leading up to and during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Its Singaporean food branch Sinpopo also sells classic mooncakes during that period.

Packaging
The first cake box reflected the white, minimalistic design ethos of the first store. As the brand created more products and built cafes and restaurants, the design tones became richer and darker.

In 2019, the company underwent a sustainability review and the result of the COOL • CRAFTED • CONSCIOUS campaign was to redesign and streamline several components of the products and packaging. CITE website? The current packaging is mostly black and gold with eco-friendly kraft brown on the inside.

Original
When Awfully Chocolate only sold three cakes in its first ten years, the store designs boldly never showed a cake display. The owner said this was to reflect that Awfully Chocolate was not a traditional or typical cake shop (So Life article). The design would allow the customers to focus on what they wanted and feel the beauty of the space at the same time, with the mood of appreciating art while enjoying chocolate and leaving happy (So Life article).

As the business grew to include new products, dine-in sections and even restaurants, the designs evolved to suit the environments they were in, which the company described as "being good neighbours". (co profile?)

Retail
As of June 2021, there are 14 stores in Singapore and 42 overseas. Mothership article?