It really came as no surprise when Christine Cox of Chocopix shared that some of her best clients are teenagers who are actually into dating.

That’s because the idea behind her boutique is simply too sweet to resist – instead of the usual bars or sampler gift boxes, her chocolates come in the form of lollipops, CDs, greeting cards, business cards, or even edible portraits!

At Chocopix, they customize chocolates to suit the customer. So, a quick peek into her shop in Quezon City, or a glance at their website (chocopix.com) would show dozens of novel designs with cute and sappy messages, or even a framed picture of the lucky loved one – all printed on dark or white chocolate.

These are mostly samples, though, as the customers get to pick the design and conceptualize the message, or give the picture of the portrait they want to have printed out – giving new meaning to the words having a sweet smile.  

Her personalized items are therefore popular not only for young lovers, but they are also ideal for giveaways at weddings, debuts, or kiddie birthday parties. “We’ve sent out our chocolates even to the provinces as far as the Visayas and Mindanao, which is very easy for us to do since we have them shipped through LBC. They don’t even have to come to the store, because we make it easy for them to order online, then they can simply pay through G-Cash, Paypal, or bank deposit,” shares Christine.

There is no minimum or maximum to the amount of chocolates that can be ordered.

Her biggest account so far was a call center company that ordered more than 100 cards, all individualized!

This novel idea came from a company in the US, where Christine gets her chocolates and templates.

But the messages are the customer’s own, and can come in Tagalog, or even in jejemon jargon, if you will.

Christine says they usually ask for two days before delivery, and a high resolution picture for printing on a chocolate portrait – sorry, but snapshots from cellphones and mp3 players are not accepted as they will not translate properly onto the chocolate. “We can even manipulate the picture if they want, and crop the person for transferring to a different background, which is why we really prefer that the photo be hi-res,” she adds.

The prices are mostly affordable on a teenager’s allowance, with the standard lollipops going for P135 a pop, CDs at around P300, and picture bars at less than P600.

The portraits and greeting cards go a little higher than P1,000, and for giveaways, the personalized coins cost P45 each.          

And when it comes to the chocolate itself, the product is not as sweet as the ones that can be bought on supermarket shelves and it doesn’t melt as easily.

This means that the portraits can be proudly displayed for some time if the recipient doesn’t want to, er, eat his or her face right away.

Christine simply cautions her customers to keep the chocs in a cool dry place, not in the refrigerator, “and of course, the product should be kept away from ants!” For more information, visit Chocopix located at unit 101 Eastside Condominium, #77 Malakas St., Brgy. Pinyahan, Quezon City or call 920-5911; mobile no. 0917-9163246, or visit www.chocopix.com or email chocopixonline@gmail.com.