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| The Lula’s Chocolates Story |
Great Day! That’s how Chocolatier and owner of Lula’s Chocolates, Scott Lund, greets everyone in his path. With his energetic stride and warm grin, Scott makes everyone’s day finer just by offering his good wishes. And the good wishes are second only to the great chocolates being made in small, perfectly delectable batches at the Lula’s factory in Monterey, where Scott loves to pull out some of his recently cooled chocolates for the unexpected guest to savor. “What’s your favorite?” he’ll ask. “Light? Dark? How about a caramel, a crème, or a nut cluster? Or . . . what about our lavender truffle?” Because Scott is absolutely passionate about delighting people with the fresh and heavenly chocolate pieces he creates, everyone who walks through the door at Lula’s is sure to leave with a chocolate-made smile and a new obsession.
Scott learned first hand the art of chocolate making from his grandmother, Lula, who for thirty years made chocolates in Salt Lake City under the name of Mrs. Lund’s Personality
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Chocolates. Grandmother Lula began learning the art of confectionary when she was just a girl growing up in Wyoming. Boarding at her family’s home was Lula’s home economics teacher, who taught a young and eager Lula the particulars of candy making. With practice, Lula learned to make her own sweets. Later, during World War II, Lula was a young married woman working at the arms plant in Salt Lake City. It was there that she began selling chocolates on the docks in order to bring in some extra money for her family. |
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At first, Lula was not overly anxious for any of her family to carry on her chocolate business. Summertime in Salt Lake City was notoriously hot, and chocolate sales are low, which made the business seasonal and thus not always financially viable. So her grandson, Scott, took the college path, earning an MBA and then building a successful career at Shell Oil Company in Houston before moving back to Salt Lake City and starting a chain of coin operated laundries. It was during this time that he decided to really learn the art of chocolate making alongside his grandmother, and he proceeded to spend six years absorbing all he could about how to make the best and freshest artisan chocolates. “Confectionary is really about the marriage of chemistry and art,” says Scott. “My grandmother understood the art of it. She was meticulous with quantities in a recipe but said things like ‘now go ahead and stir it until it’s done.’” According to Scott, she knew the feel of candy the way good cooks do in the kitchen. |
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But to learn the precise chemistry of it, Scott enrolled in several confectionary classes, where he mastered the art of “building crystals,” which is the science of heating cream and sugar and then forming sugar crystals that are no larger than 30 microns. At this level, the fondant center becomes exceptionally smooth and creamy, and the human mouth detects it as a wonderful ganache in flavors of vanilla, chocolate, mint, orange, lemon, or raspberry. |
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Lula Lund passed away at the sweet old age of 99, but Scott continued making chocolates for Christmas gifts, sending them to friends and family around the country. One such friend was Aaron Davidson, a former classmate from Brigham Young University’s MBA program. Aaron called Scott and said, “These chocolates are really, really good—you should think about selling them.” What’s more, though Aaron had never been a chocolate lover, Scott’s chocolates changed his mind. “I have to hide these from my wife or I’m not going to get any!” he told Scott. |
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Others felt the same way. In recognition of his superior chocolate making talents, Scott was invited to make chocolates for the governor’s opening and closing ceremony parties for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Presidents, dignitaries, and celebrities from all over the world were in attendance, and everyone went happily nuts over the chocolates.And thus was born the idea: move to a place on the coast where there’s “chocolate weather” year round, where locals will buy chocolates, and tourists will take them home and then devotedly reorder them on the internet. Without much effort, Scott was able to entice his friend and newly converted chocolate fan, Aaron Davidson, to switch from custom home building to making and selling custom chocolates. Together they moved their families from Utah and Arizona, respectively, to Carmel, California, and set about building a chocolate empire named for Grandmother Lula Lund—Lula’s Chocolates. |
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Honoring his grandmother’s traditional recipes and techniques, Scott Lund has never forgotten the importance of using the very finest ingredients. His goal is to bring out the best in them and thus produce the world’s finest chocolates. He uses only whole nuts, slow roasting them for better flavor and crunch; he combines fresh dairy cream with pure cane sugar, stirring the magical liquid for an hour-and-a-half before mixing in additional fresh cream and butter to produce his famously buttery, delicious caramel. It all started with Grandma Lula Lund’s recipes and formulations. Now her kitchen-cooked confections are being reimagined for a new generation by her grandson, Scott, whose artistry results in to-die-for chocolates made in lovingly small, fabulously fresh batches. |
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Visitors/chocoholics are welcome to come purchase chocolates at the Lula’s production factory in Monterey, California or browse our online store. Look for them in your favorite upscale grocery stores, Carmel/Monterey boutiques, and fine local hotels. For store locations near you, click here. Lula’s Chocolates are the perfect accessory to parties, corporate events, weddings, or just the cozy night “in.” Find them, try them, and experience fresh! |
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