Today we’d like to introduce you to Nataly Nicholls.
Hi Nataly, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It all began in 2017 during my travels in my home country of Colombia, where I stumbled upon the incredible quality of cacao. There are award-winning and special classes of Cacao you cannot find anywhere else. While everyone associates Colombia with coffee (or worse) I felt like this had so much untapped potential. I’ve always loved art and design, and I wanted to take this raw material and turn it into something truly spectacular. Using the highest quality local ingredients, my contacts in Colombia, and leveraging my background in international marketing, I began exploring the possibilities of making this a reality. So, Magno Chocolates literally started in my apartment. As demand grew, I expanded operations, eventually moving to a full-scale production facility in Medellin and opening offices in major Colombian cities like Bogota and Cali. While our sales operations began with the national market in Colombia, the end goal has always been to eventually open a retail shop in the Santa Monica or the Venice area.
In the meantime, one of our biggest obstacles was figuring out how to get chocolates from our production facility into the US. After a lot of research and inevitable hiccups, in December of 2023 we were excited to officially open our website in the US.
While our dream is becoming a reality, the idea is to test the waters through our website before venturing into retail. We hope our blend of art, high-quality cacao, and exotic Colombian flavors helps take us there and makes people rethink what they know of my home country.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
From a financial/career perspective: At the beginning, it was difficult to make the decision to become independent and start my own business. Many people warned me to think very carefully if I was ready to take the leap. Especially since I had a good marketing position at a multinational company, and it’s hard to walk away from a salary and that kind of financial stability. Thankfully, I followed my heart, and thanks to my core support group of family and friends, here we are. 🙂
From the technical side of things: Come to find out, chocolate is one of the most difficult products to handle in the culinary world. You have to carefully control temperatures and humidity if you want it to look and taste great. My background is in engineering, with a post-graduate in marketing management, so I had to gradually learn through trial and error to understand all these little details that most might take for granted. On top of this, there is a lot of know-how that goes into controlling the environment, storage, handling, and all of the sanitary measures that are in place so that my chocolates can have a long shelf life without using preservatives.
From a personal perspective: Being an entrepreneur, at the beginning, I was doing everything from production to product delivery. That puts a lot of strain on you, especially when you want to take control of every aspect of the customer and product experience. Thankfully, in these past 7 years, the company has grown enough that I’ve been able to hire the right people and delegate tasks so I can focus on what matters most for the business. But initially, I did everything, and this took up most of my time. So, I had to be very efficient in time management to have a balanced life where I also had spaces for enjoyment, for sharing with my family and friends, and for personal growth.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Magno Chocolates is all about fusing art with premium Colombian cacao (that actually yesterday won a gold medal in Amsterdam as the best cacao of the world in the contest “cacao of excellence”) and fillings made from scratch. We want to create unique gifting experiences and products that are equally beautiful as they are tasty. We’re known for our luxury “chocolate gems” that are adorned with a kiss of 24k gold leaf and our stylish packaging.
We pride ourselves on using authentic natural ingredients from Colombia. This starts with our single-origin Colombian chocolate. The cacao we use is recognized worldwide as “fine aroma cacao.” This designation represents only 8% of the world’s production and is highly sought after for its excellent quality and fruity, floral, nutty, and malt notes. This same quality is also reflected in and includes all of our taste-bud exciting fillings. We love sourcing local exotic flavors, including everything from tangy goldenberries to vanilla beans sourced from the Colombia’s pacific coast rainforest.
Magno is like a chocolate playground where we come up with cool innovative ways to decorate and make art with chocolate that you’ve never seen before! We’re always coming up with fresh ideas to surprise our customers. We take pride in hand-painting our chocolates using all sorts of fun tools like brushes, foams, airbrushes, ribbons, and more, making each piece totally one-of-a-kind!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I know this may sound corny, but I believe it’s less about being brave and taking risks and more about tuning into and listening to my heart. I’m guided by my instincts, and I truly trust that pursuing what I love and what feels right will lead to success. I’m willing to take risks when I have confidence in myself and when I’m convinced that following my passion will lead to positive outcomes. If I ever have doubts, I prefer to hold back rather than push forward.
Pricing:
- 2 units of chocolate bars USD 26
- Chocolate Box x6 bonbons USD 34
- Chocolate Box x12 bonbons USD 48
- Coffee and chocolate tasting luxury box USD 99
- Kit x3 bars USD 39
Contact Info:
- Website: magnochocolates.us
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magnochocolates/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MagnoChocolates/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@magnochocolates
Image Credits
Magno Chocolates
