DHL Delivers on Swiss Chocolate Maker Choba Choba’s International Growth Ambitions

Pure, select and indulgent, Choba Choba’s chocolate is made with the finest cacao from the Peruvian Amazon. Their award-winning products are made with care, not only for the environment, but crucially for the farmers also. Choba Choba’s 36 founding farming families in Peru, along with the team in Switzerland, formed a partnership and together share ownership and responsibility for the company.

With a successful business in Switzerland, and an increasing appetite for their products across other key European markets, Choba Choba was looking to grow, in particular into the key markets of Germany, Austria and France.

They needed a logistics partner who could handle a food product which, by its nature, has a best before date. “Your products are like your child: you would only hand them over to someone who you know is going to look after them,” says Petra Staudenmaier, Choba Choba CEO.

DHL Fulfillment Network is perfect for scale-up businesses. With 30 state-of-the-art fulfillment centers across Europe, it enables businesses to reach customers quickly and easily, track deliveries, and monitor and maintain stock levels. What is more, it is scalable, allowing customers the flexibility to expand their logistics options as their business expands.

A dedicated team from the DHL Fulfillment Network met with Choba Choba to plan how best they could work together. DHL were able to quickly assure Choba Choba of their expertise in the food industry. “It’s not just storing our chocolate correctly that’s important”, explains Petra. “The whole way along the supply chain – from where we produce it, to the way in which DHL warehouse, pick, pack, transport and deliver it – as it’s a food product we need it to be handled correctly, with careful monitoring of best before dates.”

The next step was to integrate Choba Choba with PrestaShop, a webshop with which DHL partners. “Setting this up was very straightforward and no new interface needed to be built,” remarks Mariya Esquerra, Choba Choba Supply Chain Manager. “It’s a great tool that makes the whole process easy”.

Choba Choba had initial concerns about whether such a large company as DHL would take the needs of their small company on board, however they have developed a great relationship. In Quechua, ‘choba choba’ means ‘I help you. You help me.’ “This echoes my experience of working with Choba Choba,” comments Olaf Deregowski, DHL Fulfillment Network Sales Manager Germany. “In fact, I would go further and say that for us it’s: ‘I rely on you. You rely on me.’”

The innovative solution provided by DHL Fulfillment Network, and the simplicity with which it works for businesses – even those that are small and medium – took only three months to set up for Choba Choba, and has brought them immediate benefits.

With thousands of projected orders now in safe hands, the relationship with DHL has already increased the brand’s visibility, and has allowed Choba Choba to concentrate on their core business.

From bean to basket… and then swiftly and efficiently into new customers’ hands, this is a taste of success for both DHL and Choba Choba.