One of our most popular gifts is our hand-decorated Get Well Soon Chocolate Pizza. I know why now. Get well soon are words that have particularly powerful meaning to the Chocolate Pizza team and me this year. Get well soon were the words everyone expressed daily to one special member of our team. My dad had open heart surgery this past April and fortunately everything went extremely well. He has recovered and says he hasn’t felt this good in 20 years. The process was extensive and he spent weeks in the hospital building back his strength and having his progress monitored in minute detail. The surgeons, surgical staff and the entire team of nurses and support personnel were exceptional and deserve immense praise for unmatched professionalism and the highest quality of care. What they do is simply miraculous. The process taught me a lot about the heart and how to help my dad recover but I also learned something else from his hospital experience, something I wasn’t quite expecting.
Medical professionals really love chocolate, especially good chocolate. And, as it turns out, I own a gourmet chocolate company.
Chocolate Pizza Company started in Central New York about 30 years ago and has grown rapidly the past 7 years into a very visible brand. I started there when I was 15 years old as a dishwasher and bought the business in 2010 when I turned 21. I was starting my senior year at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management so it was a challenge balancing school and running a business. Food Network, NBC Today Show, ABC news and other media have featured our products and hundreds of retailers across the country like Hallmark carry our brand. While we enjoy a national presence, our roots are here in the Syracuse area and the local population knows us well.
It was no secret within the hospital that the owner of Chocolate Pizza Company’s dad was a heart patient there. Dad said he kind of felt like a celebrity. Everyone knew that there was a direct line between the patient in room 412 and one of the best gourmet chocolate companies in the country. More importantly, the hospital buzz was that the owner of Chocolate Pizza Company kept his dad’s room supplied with plenty of their handcrafted chocolate specialties – not for his dad, since chocolate was not on the approved recovery menu of clear liquids and Jell-O – but for his care-givers. And, they were right.
My theory was simple. Chocolate brings people together, it makes them happy, it releases endorphins in the brain that can take the edge off a tough day. Chocolate makes anything better which meant that I could actually help the medical staff by keeping them supplied with the best tasting chocolate treats. I figured that if chocolate was in the mix dad was likely to have plenty of people checking in on him. So, I kept dad’s room supplied with a big bag of individual chocolate treats, a few boxes of Peanut Butter Wings, and even a Chocolate Pizza or two. Presto! Dad’s room became the most popular stop on the entire floor for every medical professional in the building.
It usually started early in the morning when the heart surgeons made their rounds, bringing a team of surgical interns with them. The doctors would stop and after imparting their wisdom on the state of dad’s recovery to the future surgeons-to-be there would be a brief pause and then the doctor would inform the interns that this patient was kind of like having Willy Wonka on-site. Mom would pass out chocolate treats to the entourage and often the surgeon would then add some additional insight or explanation about dad’s recovery to he and mom. It was a fair trade – chocolate for the doctors, information for the patient. It was the chocolate that created the casual, but informative, conversation. Chocolate has a way of spurring a social moment, even among acquaintances, that leaves everyone in a good mood.
The surgeons were morning regulars to the chocolate bag but by no means the last. All day, nurses would drop in and out, checking vitals, dosing meds, monitoring IV’s, or just bringing ice chips and water. We were glad to offer them a Peanut Butter Sparkler, or mini Chocolate Pizza or a chocolate covered cookie – whatever chocolate-du-jour the bag held that day. There was chocolate for everyone including the cleaning staff, the visiting chaplain, the nutritionist, the phlebotomists and the occasional administrator. It was a big hit and dad may have been the most checked-out patient in the heart ward. The hardworking staff was appreciative of our gesture and it often prompted a little extra conversation or story which made the time much more pleasant.
One of the heart-warming takeaways for us was listening to the stories from so many of the medical personnel about how much they loved when patients would send Chocolate Pizza “Thank You” gifts back to the staff. Virtually everyone there knew about Chocolate Pizza Company and had enjoyed our Chocolate Pizzas, Peanut Butter Wings or gift baskets in the past from grateful patients and families who expressed their appreciation by sending the hospital staff our gourmet chocolate. News of a Chocolate Pizza delivery would send everyone within earshot to the nurse’s station for a bite. They said it was their favorite “thank you” gift. How cool is that!
But our chocolate is also good medicine for anyone recovering from an illness or procedure. Our Get Well Soon Chocolate Pizzas have always been popular and now I know why. As good as the chocolate tastes – and it does taste incredible – the power behind choosing one of our Chocolate Pizzas or gift baskets is in the emotional lift it gives. Gourmet chocolate is just special. For the patient, it’s something unique, something they might not treat themselves to, something they can enjoy as they recover, something they can easily share.
Gourmet chocolate fills the senses – it looks like edible art, the aroma is delightful and the taste so memorable. Chocolate is an uplifting experience and one thing you need plenty of during recovery is positive moments. The thought is there behind any gift, of course, but in truth other gifts just don’t do what chocolate does in the way that chocolate does it. Chocolate is king and Chocolate Pizza is magical.
Our “Get Well Soon” Chocolate Pizza blends rich milk or dark (healthier for you) chocolate with homemade English toffee. We make the toffee on-site in small batches so it’s incredibly fresh. The chocolate-toffee blend is ladled into pizza pans and a border of colorful candies or nuts trims the edge. We use white chocolate to script Get Well Soon or to customize a message, then seal it in cellophane and serve it in a real pizza box. There’s nothing else like it – totally unique, delicious and impressive.
So, whether you want to send someone you know a very special Get Well Soon surprise or you want to thank the wonderful medical staff that made a difference for someone you love, Chocolate Pizza Company understands that this just isn’t any old gift occasion. This is special. This is important. This is personal and the people you trust with this task should grasp the full range of emotion that goes into this specific choice. On a lot of levels, this gift matters. The good news is we get it. We have been there and lived it. You can relax and know that we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure our chocolate specialties communicate your good intentions.
Send with confidence knowing a gift from Chocolate Pizza Company is going to be perfect whether it’s intended for a patient or medical professionals. One thing I’ve learned is you can’t go wrong with handcrafted, gourmet chocolate to make anyone’s day brighter. Chocolate Pizza is the best medicine!
