SWAMPSCOTT, Mass. - Sept. 3, 2020 - When news of the pandemic spread, chocolate manufacture CB Stuffer had to pivot quickly. "Tradeshows were canceling and most stores we sell into nationally were required to close, the economic outlook was grim," stated Chief of Operation Carlo Bacci, "we faced difficult times before, but this was different and we needed to find other sales channels to survive and quickly."

Bacci Chocolate Design launched in 2007 as a wholesale chocolate manufacturer and owned the retail store The Chocolate Truffle which it later sold in 2015 and rebranded to CB Stuffer. "As a small family business we're fortunate for the local support we have and the ability to pivot and act quickly," stated Bacci. In Massachusetts chocolate is classified as food so businesses who sell food were able to stay open. Alcohol was also considered essential, "We sell into independent wine shops and recently were picked up by a local chain, those stores remained busy, however other specialty chain stores we sell into were not open and they didn't have an ecommerce platform in place." CB Stuffer added personalization options to their peanut butter cups and chocolate pizzas in celebration of the class of 2020 to help boost their online sales. Their three girls created social media videos to help promote the business which saw tremendous growth on the days their videos at the factory posted.

The introduction to Faire was lfeline. Their mission is to help independent entrepreneurs, empowering small business owners and independent brands to buy and sell wholesale online. Listing products with Faire was a win with connecting CB Stuffer to other retailers. "News stories have long reported the end of retail, but this pandemic and strategic relationship with Faire showed us what we've long known: retail isn't dead it's just reinventing itself." Stated Erin Calvo-Bacci who's Chief of Marketing and Ecommerce and also a Board Member with the Retail Association of Massachusetts and serves on the Small Business Steering Committee with the National Retail Federation. "When Faire approached us we kew we should list our products with them especially since online shopping was growing, we had to pivot quickly to capture lost revenue. Since listing on Faire our slaes increased 15%, and we predict that increasing as more companies are launching online stores to capture lost revenue." Companies can find CB Stuffer on faire at cbstuffer.faire.com

cbstuffer.com -Is owned and operated by Erin Calvo-Bacci and Carlo Bacci and makers of one of the largest peanut butter cups on the market and the only ones available in many different flavors. Their three daughters Abigail, Sarah and Sofia can often be found in the factory helping out and creating videos for their social media pages.

Faire.com - Launched in 2017 is a wholesale marketplace taking a data-driven approach to connect local, independent retailers with the best brands.

Contact
Erin Calvo-Bacci