Fernando Velez took a circuitous route to the chocolate business. From spending days on his uncle’s cacao farm in Ecuador to working as a graphic designer to traveling the world with Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings—all the while looking for great chocolate—to making sweet treats at home and selling them at pop-up stores, it took a while before he finally set up shop in Avon. Now, Chokaico Craft Chocolate serves bean-to-bar chocolate in a charming former train station nestled in the Riverdale Farms Shopping Center.
Hints of Velez’s former life are sprinkled around his colorful shop. A pile of bagged cocoa beans in one corner, conga drums in another, and the packaging he designed all over the store. But, as Velez says, “I’ve never owned a business before,” and as his vision for Chokaico changed, he turned to Connecticut Small Business Development Center’s (CTSBDC) Michelle Augustyn for help.
Since then, Velez has turned a necessary lifestyle change—precipitated by his son’s birth in 2015 with a heart defect and special needs—into a booming business. “I’m a single-origin, dark chocolate lover myself so I’m super passionate about it,” he says. Today, he offers more than just chocolate bars. From affogato to hot chocolate, Chokaico is branching out to bring people through the door even when “chocolate season” — from Thanksgiving through Mother’s Day—is over.
A changing business model
As Chokaico grew out of Velez’s basement and the pop-up markets, he planned to wholesale his chocolate. Velez wanted to find a commercial space, but to let others worry about retailing it. Then the price of cocoa beans went from $3,000 per metric ton to $12,000, forcing him to consider a different business model. Augustyn, a bit of chocolate connoisseur herself, immediately understood Velez’s challenges. Put simply, “I needed assistance developing a business plan for a loan to expand my cottage food business into a retail location,” says Velez.
Augustyn stepped in to help develop a business plan and the projections he needed to obtain a business loan. With Augustyn’s help putting together the paperwork, Velez obtained an SBA loan through M&T Bank for $95,000. That money helped him do more than just transform the train station—which was previously home to a hair salon—into a chocolate shop. He was able to buy equipment and supplies, including two years’ worth of beans which has helped insulate the business from some outside economic pressures.
Velez hired a general manager (GM) with chocolate experience, one other full-time staff, and two part-timers to get started. After Chokaico opened its doors, he hired another full-time employee. The number of employees fluctuates outside of the busy season, but Chokaico now generally operates with the help of the GM, one other full-time staff and one part-time employee. Velez also coordinates with the local transitions program, which works with young adults who have special needs, to find free interns who learn job skills in return for their help.
Making award-winning bean-to-bar chocolate
In the train station turned chocolate shop, the Chokaico crew turns beans into gourmet chocolate over the course of about a week, but they do it out of love for the art. “Fernando has been a delight to work with. His bean-to-bar chocolates are absolutely delicious,” says Augustyn, Velez’s advisor and CTSBDC’s resident chocolate expert. “I admire his commitment to single origin cocoa beans, sustainability, and fair wages for the farmers.”
Whether you are a dark chocolate devotee or have a secret fondness for good white chocolate, Chokaico has something for you. Velez has even developed a Gluten-free version of the trendy Dubai chocolate for his many customers who visit the Gluten-free bakery next door. In addition to the year-round treats you might expect to find in most chocolate shops—think peanut butter cups and caramel—Chokaico also offers limited-time creations such as chili spiced mango and cafe con leche (which you can keep an eye on via the website).
One of these special flavors even won Chokaico a Top Innovation Award in the 2025 Craft Chocolat Challenge; the Negroni Bar incorporates chocolate nibs soaked for six weeks in a giant Negroni cocktail. After dehydrating, caramelizing, and tempering the chocolate, orange peel is mixed in to make one of Chokaico’s signature add-in bars.
Since opening the store’s doors in late 2024, Chokaico has doubled its revenue in no small part due to its willingness to meet demand and be flexible. From adding hot cocoa and iced mocha to its offerings to giving chocolate making tours, Velez gives customers a reason to come through the doors. But if Avon is too far for you to travel, keep an eye out for a Chokaico pop-up. Yes, you can still occasionally find these specialty chocolates at wineries like Lost Acres Vineyard in Granby, Crystal Ridge Winery in Glastonbury, and Rosabianca Vineyards in Northford.