Business Plan · CocoaCraft Foods LLC Prepared for Seed investors and SBA lender Lancaster, Pennsylvania · May 2026 · Confidential

Front Matter · Company & Offering · Market & Strategy · Operations · Team · Financials · Roadmap & Risk. Twenty-nine sections covering the seven-part LoDuko business-plan framework.

CocoaCraft Foods LLC is a pre-revenue premium chocolate manufacturer preparing to launch in Q4 2026 out of a 12,000 sq ft facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company will manufacture and market five product lines — 70/85% dark bars, 42% milk bars, USDA-organic single-origin bars, 16-piece gift boxes and seasonal collections — targeting the US specialty-grocery, corporate-gifting and direct-to-consumer channels.

The US premium chocolate market is $4,800,000,000B, growing 6.1% annually, with the "better-for-you" specialty tier ($1,200,000,000B) expanding 11% annually. Small-batch American chocolate remains a fragmented, founder-led niche — the segment CocoaCraft targets. The company will enter the Mid-Atlantic in Q4 2026 with 60 specialty-grocery doors and expand to 500+ doors and national DTC by Q4 2028.

The founding team combines a certified Master Chocolatier (ex-Godiva) with an ex-Deloitte CPG operations lead. Advisors include a former Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic SVP Merchandising and the founder of a $40M specialty-confectionery brand.

Financial projections: Y1 revenue $1,650,000 → Y2 $4,200,000 → Y3 $8,900,000. Gross margin expands from 44% to 53% as scale and utilisation improve. EBITDA turns positive in year two; break-even is reached in month 22.

The company is raising $3,200,000 in a mix of equity ($2,400,000) and an SBA-backed equipment loan ($800,000) to complete facility build-out, install manufacturing equipment, fund working capital and finance the first eighteen months of launch operations.

American specialty grocers report growing consumer demand for domestically-made, single-origin premium chocolate that competes with European heritage brands on quality but tells a more transparent supply-chain story. The category is currently served either by a handful of coastal craft brands with limited distribution or by mass-premium incumbents whose "premium" positioning is fading. CocoaCraft is positioned squarely in the resulting gap: a professionally-managed, food-safety-certified small-batch manufacturer with an experienced merchandising team and a distribution-ready product portfolio priced to sit alongside Ghirardelli and below Godiva.

Make honest, small-batch American chocolate that specialty grocers are proud to stock and modern consumers are proud to gift.

The plan assumes: (1) facility permitting completes by end of Q2 2026; (2) equipment delivery from the German tempering-line supplier arrives on the contracted Q3 2026 window; (3) three anchor specialty-grocery buyer conversations already in progress convert to launch programs; (4) cacao input pricing remains within the +/- 12% band forecast by ICCO through 2027; (5) the founding team completes recruitment of the three named Year-One key hires prior to commissioning.

CocoaCraft Foods LLC was Incorporated January 2026 · pre-revenue to bring professionally-manufactured American craft chocolate to specialty grocery at a price consumers actually pay repeatedly. Operating from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, the company will run a single dedicated manufacturing facility with an integrated tempering, moulding, wrapping and packaging line designed for the small-batch specialty segment.

The founders spent 2024–2025 in customer discovery: 42 buyer interviews across specialty-grocery, gifting and DTC channels, three co-manufacturing pilots and a limited-run product test executed under a licensing arrangement with a New Jersey confectioner. That work produced the SKU line, price architecture and three anchor buyer relationships the launch depends on. CocoaCraft was formally incorporated as a Pennsylvania LLC in January 2026. The Lancaster facility was leased in March 2026.

CocoaCraft Foods LLC is a Pennsylvania LLC held 62% by the founding team and 38% by an angel syndicate (three individual investors and one family office) that participated in the March 2026 pre-seed. Following the current $2,400,000 seed round, founder ownership will settle in the low-forties, angels in the mid-teens, seed investors in the high-thirties, and an employee equity pool of 10%.

Five product lines, priced from $5 to $48 at retail, cover the impulse-purchase (bars) and gifting (boxes, collections) segments of the specialty-grocery chocolate shelf. All bars share a common 2.8 oz format for shelf-set consistency; gifting SKUs use a proprietary rigid magnetic-closure box designed with a Pennsylvania packaging partner.

CocoaCraft delivers a professionally-manufactured American craft chocolate that specialty grocers can stock with confidence. Unlike coastal micro-brands, CocoaCraft ships to national food-safety standards (SQF Level 2 targeted within twelve months) with the pack-out consistency modern grocery category managers require. Unlike heritage European brands, the company tells a transparent supply-chain story with single-origin cacao traceable to farmer cooperatives.

The US chocolate industry is a mature $28,000,000,000B category dominated by three multinationals (Hershey, Mars, Mondelez) that together control roughly 66% of retail sales. Beneath that concentrated top tier, the premium segment ($4,800,000,000B) is growing at 6.1% annually — well above the category — and the "better-for-you" specialty sub-tier is growing at 11% annually. Growth is driven by consumers trading up per-occasion rather than eating more chocolate overall.

The addressable opportunity for CocoaCraft is the intersection of premium chocolate and specialty-grocery distribution in the United States. The Mid-Atlantic region alone represents roughly 18% of national premium-chocolate sales, driven by dense specialty-grocery footprints (Whole Foods, Wegmans, Fresh Market, MOM's Organic) and strong gifting economies (corporate, hospitality, tourism).

Bottom-up TAM/SAM/SOM: The US premium-chocolate market is $4,800,000,000B (TAM). The addressable "specialty-grocery + gifting + DTC" slice is roughly $1,150,000,000 (SAM). CocoaCraft's realistic five-year share of the East Coast + Midwest slice is approximately $28,000,000 (SOM), driven by 500-door specialty distribution and national DTC.

Three primary customer types drive the plan. (1) Specialty-grocery category managers who make listing decisions for the anchor retail channel. (2) Corporate-gifting decision-makers (HR, executive-assistant networks, hospitality brands). (3) The end consumer we brand to: 28–55 years old, urban and suburban, household income $85K+, buys chocolate for both self-consumption and gifting, will pay $7 for a 2.8 oz bar when the brand story lands.

The premium/craft chocolate segment is fragmented and founder-led. The closest direct competitors combine craft credentials with specialty-grocery distribution but each has a structural weakness CocoaCraft is positioned to exploit — regional concentration, unclear category strategy, or an inconsistent pack-out.

CocoaCraft's defensible advantages compound over time. (1) Founder combination — a certified Master Chocolatier paired with an operator experienced at scaling regional CPG brands. (2) Retail-ready operating discipline from day one: HACCP, then SQF Level 2 within twelve months. (3) Pre-built merchandising relationships via the advisory board (former Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic SVP). (4) A packaging system engineered for specialty-grocery shelf-set standards rather than farmer-market presentation. Together these produce a "professionalised craft" position that neither micro-brands nor mass-premium incumbents can quickly copy.

Marketing sequences three levers to build shelf-velocity in the launch region before expanding. (1) Trade marketing — broker network activation, retailer-specific launch promotions and category-manager sampling programs. (2) In-store activation — demo programs at anchor Whole Foods and Wegmans locations during the first ninety days on shelf. (3) Consumer storytelling — a founder-led content program (short-form video, PR, local press) that reinforces the "professionally-made American craft" narrative.

Sales runs on three parallel motions. (1) Field sales through a contracted specialty-food broker network in the Mid-Atlantic covering roughly 900 doors of qualified accounts. (2) Direct sales to national account category managers (Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic, Fresh Market, Wegmans), led by the Head of Sales. (3) Corporate-gifting outbound — a two-person team by year two, targeting 250 mid-market employers and hospitality brands. DTC is treated as a demand-generation and margin channel rather than a primary growth channel.

Retail pricing is anchored to a clear ladder: milk bars at $5, dark bars at $7, organic single-origin at $8, gift boxes at $35, seasonal collections at $48. Wholesale prices reflect a 45%-off-list retailer margin (industry standard for the specialty channel) and preserve a blended 44% gross margin in year one, expanding to 53% by year three as scale absorbs fixed manufacturing overhead. No first-year discounting outside category-standard launch programs.

CocoaCraft operates a single vertically-integrated manufacturing site in Lancaster, PA. The facility runs one shift at launch (5 days/week) with production capacity of 320,000 bars per year. Full two-shift capacity is 1,100,000 bars per year, reached in year three. Finished goods are shipped from the co-located warehouse to a temperature-controlled 3PL partner (Lineage Logistics) for national fulfilment.

Production is organised around three-week batch cycles: cacao arrives in week one, is roasted and refined in week two, and is tempered, moulded, wrapped and packed in week three. This cadence supports a 320,000-bar equivalent annual run rate in year one at 42% utilisation of installed capacity, ramping to 86% utilisation by year three. Seasonal collections are produced in dedicated August–October runs six weeks ahead of shelf-date.

Manufacturing runs on a Selmi (Italy) continuous tempering line, Mol d'Art moulding stations and a Bosch wrapping line. Enterprise systems: NetSuite (ERP), Shopify Plus (DTC), TradeGecko (inventory & B2B ordering), and a lightweight FSMA-compliant traceability tool (SafetyChain). No custom software is required at launch.

Cacao is sourced from three Fair-Trade cooperatives (Ecuador, Peru and Ghana) under 6- to 9-month forward contracts. Domestic dairy is supplied by a certified Pennsylvania dairy for the milk-chocolate line. Sugar and secondary ingredients are sourced through Chef's Warehouse. Packaging is manufactured 40 miles from the facility by a family-owned Pennsylvania converter. No single supplier represents more than 30% of any input.

A dedicated QA lead (hired in Q2 2026) owns the food-safety program from day one: HACCP plan certified at launch, SQF Level 2 targeted within twelve months, OU kosher certification for the full line by Q2 2027. Every production batch is subject to metal-detection, weight-check, sensory evaluation and micro sample. Mock recalls twice per year.

The founding team combines craft-manufacturing depth with commercial-CPG discipline. Year-one org structure is intentionally lean at 8 FTE — two founders, three chocolatiers/production, one QA lead, one head of sales and a fractional controller.

Year-one hires are sequenced against the operational critical path. QA lead hired 90 days before commissioning; Head of Sales hired 60 days before commercial launch; production team hired and trained during commissioning. Team scales from 8 FTE at launch to 22 FTE by year three, with the largest year-two additions in production (second shift) and sales (national account managers).

The company operates with a three-member board (two founders + one lead investor) and a formal advisory board of three individuals whose networks and domain experience directly de-risk the plan.

Year-one revenue of $1,650,000 grows to $8,900,000 by year three as door count expands from 60 to 500+ and the DTC channel scales. Gross margin expands from 44% to 53% on production leverage and improved input contracts. EBITDA turns positive in year two ($258,000) and reaches $1,767,000 in year three. Break-even in month 22.

Assumptions are grounded in industry benchmarks and vendor quotes. Blended COGS at 35% of retail (in line with published specialty-chocolate margins). Cacao input pricing forecast within +/-12% of ICCO 2026 forwards. Retailer margin at 45% off list (industry standard). Rent at $18/sq ft NNN (Lancaster comps May 2026). Payroll benchmarked to Payscale PA-food-manufacturing 60th percentile.

Revenue builds from door count × velocity × price. Y1: 60 doors × 6.5 units/door/week × $4.10 blended wholesale × 52 weeks = $1,650,000. Y2: 220 doors × 8.0 units/door/week × $4.25 = $4,200,000. Y3: 500 doors × 9.0 units/door/week × $4.40 = $8,900,000. DTC and corporate gifting layer roughly 12% of blended revenue by year three.

Year-one opex of $1,580,000 reflects launch-year investment: payroll $720,000, facility rent & utilities $310,000, marketing $220,000, G&A $180,000, insurance & compliance $80,000, and other $70,000. Opex grows more slowly than revenue as production leverage and stable G&A drive operating margin expansion.

Three-year condensed P&L (USD): Y1 Revenue $1,650,000, GP $726,000, Opex $1,580,000, EBITDA -$854,000. Y2 Revenue $4,200,000, GP $2,058,000, Opex $1,800,000, EBITDA $258,000. Y3 Revenue $8,900,000, GP $4,717,000, Opex $2,950,000, EBITDA $1,767,000. Depreciation of manufacturing equipment ($1,350,000 straight-line 10 yrs) flows below EBITDA.

Operating cash-flow is negative in year one (-$940,000) as the company builds channel inventory and absorbs launch-year fixed costs, turns modestly positive in year two, and reaches $1,600,000 of operating cash flow in year three. Financing cash-flow reflects the $2,400,000 equity raise and $800,000 SBA loan draw at closing. Investing cash-flow (-$1,350,000) captures equipment purchases in the first six months.

Break-even is defined as the month in which trailing-twelve-months EBITDA first turns positive. With blended contribution margin of 44% in year one moving to 49% by month 22 and monthly fixed cost of roughly $130,000, break-even is reached at $295,000 of monthly net revenue — the level supported by ~230 active specialty-grocery doors plus DTC. This is projected in month 22.

CocoaCraft Foods LLC is raising $3,200,000: $2,400,000 in equity and $800,000 via an SBA-backed equipment loan. Proceeds fund the launch through the projected break-even in month 22, with 18 months of cash runway at planned burn.

Use of funds:

Manufacturing equipment (tempering, molding, wrapping, cold storage) — $1,350,000 (42%) Facility build-out (food-grade finishes, utilities, HVAC) — $650,000 (20%) Opening inventory & packaging — $260,000 (8%) Working capital (12 months operating buffer) — $520,000 (16%) Brand, launch & trade-marketing — $220,000 (7%) Legal, licensing & contingency — $200,000 (6%)

Execution is sequenced across the first ten quarters to de-risk manufacturing and channel entry before scaling commercial spend.

The company tracks four commercial KPIs weekly and four operational KPIs monthly. Commercial: active door count, velocity (units per door per week), all-commodity-volume (ACV) weighted distribution, and DTC repeat rate. Operational: on-time-in-full (OTIF) shipment rate, batch-level defect rate, cacao contracted-cover weeks, and cash runway in months.

The plan identifies five material risks and pairs each with a specific, actionable mitigation. Cacao-price volatility is the single largest risk to margin — mitigated by forward contracts and pass-through pricing clauses in wholesale agreements. Retailer concentration risk is capped by a 25%-of-revenue single-retailer rule. Cold-chain and seasonality risk is managed via a temperature-controlled 3PL. Talent risk is addressed through equity, cross-training and hiring depth. Food-safety recall risk is minimised through SQF certification and full product-liability coverage from day one.

Cacao is sourced from Fair-Trade certified cooperatives with published farmer premiums. The organic single-origin line uses USDA-organic cacao. Packaging is recyclable paperboard with FSC-certified fibre; foil wraps are recyclable aluminium. Facility electricity is contracted from a Pennsylvania renewable-power supplier at launch. Living-wage pay for all production staff.

The most likely exit is strategic acquisition by a specialty-food platform in year 6–7. Strategic acquisition by a specialty-food platform (e.g. Hershey's Amplify portfolio, Mondelez SnackFutures, Ferrero North America) at a 2.5–3.5x forward revenue multiple in year 6-7. Comparable transactions: Hu Kitchen → Mondelez (2021), SkinnyDipped → Amplify, Chocolove → licensing platform. IPO is not a base-case outcome; a secondary sale to a private-equity food-platform is a credible alternative.

The plan is investable at the $3,200,000 size sought. Three actions maximise the probability of hitting the projected trajectory: (1) close the current $2,400,000 equity round in Q2 2026 to preserve the Q4 launch window; (2) sign the two anchor Mid-Atlantic retailer letters of intent already in negotiation before commissioning; (3) close forward cacao contracts covering the first nine months of production before drawing down the SBA equipment loan.