Community Highlights: Meet Dianna Mkryan of Velve Chocolate

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dianna Mkryan

Hi Dianna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Velve Chocolate started, in what I call, the most “accidental” way possible. I am someone who never really found interest in the culinary field or kitchen. I always loved beauty, lifestyle, etc.; so I became a content creator for brands full time and that was my profession. In the midst of all of that, the very viral “Dubai” chocolate trend surfaced and being the content creator I was, I knew it was a good opportunity to increase my engagement.

So, in July, I posted a video of myself making my own version of the trending chocolate bar, which got a lot of love from my followers. This video prompted a lot of messages asking me to sell the chocolate because of how “delicious” they looked. At first, I denied the requests, but ultimately decided that doing a giveaway of a box of chocolates would be another great way of bringing engagement to my page. Following the ending of the giveaway, the winner was very happy, but everyone else was very upset. After the influx of requests, I gave in and put together the most basic order form via “Google Forms” in August and within three days, had 234 orders submitted; and that is how it all began!

Once I noticed the amount of orders I was receiving for my chocolates, I decided to “go big or go home,” so I hired a chocolatier to teach me the fundamentals of chocolate making. I had no idea how to actually work with chocolate and if I was going to be selling it, I definitely had to know how to properly work with it in a way that is no less than perfect for my customers! Along with learning how to work with chocolate, I also knew I wanted to have the best filling out there when it came to the infamous pistachio kataifi chocolate bar. I decided to import our pistachio cream from Italy specifically, learned how to make pistachio butter myself to add to the mix, and baked the kataifi in a very specific way to incorporate its flavor into the bar as well – we wanted the perfect balance of flavors throughout every bite of the chocolate bar. I worked on my filling for 4 weeks before finalizing it, set up our website from scratch, and designed our logos and packaging. Just like that, on September 1st, Velve Chocolate was officially born! Since then, we have introduced 4 new flavors in addition to our infamous “Kenaf Said”: “Nutella Me More”, “Knock Your Biscoff”, “Spice Spice Baby”, and “Ashta La Vista”…with many more coming soon! We now specialize in fresh stuffed chocolate bars; we fill our bars with freshly baked pumpkin pie, cake batter, ashta cream and more! Our bars are made-to-order fresh and designed to be consumed within 3-4 days, with some of them needing refrigeration to prolong shelf life. Our chocolates also became the star of the show at the infamous Armenian bakery “Papillon,” when the owner chose our chocolate bars from 15 other samples to put inside of their dessert ponchiks. Now, we provide to many bakeries and shops and will be expanding our collections to non-easily perishable flavors as well soon!

That is how it all began! I continuously expand my knowledge and expertise in the confectionary field by reading books, watching chocolatiers, and working with mentors that are in the same field. Something that was so accidental and that I never in a million years thought I would be doing, turned into my biggest passion and purpose in life. When my customers tell me how much they love my products, it makes every single thing I’ve been through with this brand absolutely worth it. It’s priceless!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely been ANYTHING, but a smooth road. I remember in the beginning when I didn’t even know how to temper (heat and cool chocolate to stabilize it for making candies and confections) chocolate, I would get so frustrated because it wouldn’t snap and it would melt on your fingers immediately. There was actually a day where I spent 4 hours and 3 different methods of attempting to temper chocolate- and failed! Then, there was another specific day where I tried tempering chocolate with 7 different brands and also failed. It wasn’t until I met my chocolate teacher that I was able to learn exactly what I was doing incorrectly. That wasn’t the only dilemma either – the specific pistachio cream I use is only sold in Italy and the brand doesn’t just sell to any company, nor do they ship to the U.S. So making a deal with them and figuring out the logistics and cost was also a long process; now we get our pistachio cream shipped in pallets via sea from Italy. To add onto the issues, our first round of packaging was accidentally made too small by the print company so we were unable to use our packaging for our orders for an extra two weeks- and the list goes on! From having catering bon bons get destroyed last minute to bars breaking coming out of their molds to chocolate orders melting completely due to heat waves and more – we have stories for days! I actually personally spend 12-18 hours on my feet preparing fillings and chocolate bars for our orders because I want to make sure each one that goes out is absolutely perfect! The important part is to always keep going and never give up, no matter what happens!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My name is Dianna Mkryan and I am the founder and head chocolatier of Velve Chocolate. We specialize in “stuffed” chocolate bars that are made with fresh imported ingredients, ethically sourced chocolate, kosher ingredients, and prepared fresh-to-order. We are known for our unique take on our chocolate bars, stuffing them with freshly baked goods such as pumpkin pie, cake batter, and more – which is something that has never really existed before our brand. The reason behind that is the simple fact that these would be perishable goods, meaning they must be consumed within a few days. Another reason is the fact that you cannot just stuff chocolates with whatever filling you please, because the chocolate bars may very well fall apart – but we beat all those odds! We definitely had them break at first but then DIY strategized our way around it. Chocolatiers always work on making ganaches that have shelf life of a few weeks to a few months for mass production, which is something we are also working on; but our customers love our unique twist and we plan to keep our perishable items for our local customers to always enjoy. We are also known for the quality of our chocolate bars, as they are always prepared in small batches according to orders placed. This is what sets us apart from others – our continuous strive to bring unique twists and bending of rules to the confectionary field. Whatever has been considered “taboo” in the chocolate industry, we have taken head on and turned into our own niche. I am most proud of the community I have built with this brand and the amount of people I have been able to cater to. I am also proud of the way we have been able to do the “unthinkable” by making ganaches that are considered to not be able to hold inside of chocolate work perfectly. I am proud that we have been able to set ourselves apart in an industry that has many wonderful brands inside of it.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I believe that my industry will have a huge increase within the next 5-10 years, due to social media bakers, new trends, and the constant evolving of our society. Confectionary is something that will always intrigue people, wether it is due to flavor, unique creations, or even how something looks – chocolatiers make the most amazing things out of chocolate; I’ve seen a chocolatier make legos, houses, baskets, and more out of just chocolate alone. Then there are confectioners who make everything out of cake, and so on. The possibilities of creation through confectionary are endless; it is like a form of art – and art never dies.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.velvechocolate.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/velvechocolate/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/velvechocolate

Image Credits
Mnasi Visuals (photos of me)