Sweet sisters: These SLO engineers turned their chocolate-making hobby into a business
If life is like a box of chocolates, please let it be one from Celia Chocolatier of San Luis Obispo.
The company’s name is derived from “caelia,” the Latin word for heavenly, and it’s an apt moniker for Celia Chocolatier’s tastefully packaged chocolates, English toffees and marzipan treats.
The San Luis Obispo business was co-founded in January 2019 by sisters Rhonda and Dinah Nassar, but making sweets wasn’t their first career choice.
Both have bachelor’s degrees in engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Dinah Nassar tacked on a couple of masters’ degrees in engineering just for good measure – from UC Berkeley and UCLA.
The sisters’ family is from Lebanon, so “we were influenced by Lebanese and European cuisines and always passionate about chocolate,” Rhonda Nassar explained. “Dinah was always excited to try different chocolates from countries all over the world.”
The Nassar sisters tended to prefer the European style of chocolate making, which typically emphasizes higher cacao content and less sugar than American-style treats.
As an adult, Dinah Nassar translated her love of chocolates into a delicious hobby.
“She self-taught herself (to make chocolates) by spending endless hours in the kitchen doing research and development,” Rhonda Nassar said. “She didn’t want to go to culinary school, since she wanted to have her unique style and taste.”
After four years of working late hours to develop new recipes and perfect them, Dinah Nassar chose a brave way to test market her skills. She decided to personally handcraft all the chocolate favors for the 300 guests at her own wedding.
All the positive feedback from the attendees provided the nudge the sisters needed to make Celia Chocolatier a reality, even though both still have full-time jobs as technology consultants.
The two play to their complementary strengths, with Dinah Nassar spearheading all the handcrafted production and her sister handling sales and marketing.
“For Celia, we use quality chocolate from Belgium,” Rhonda Nassar explained.
Other ingredients such as nuts and fruit are also top notch, and no extracts or preservatives are used.
Currently, there are 18 chocolate options available from Celia Chocolatier. The tantalizing variations range from white chocolate mango and milk chocolate hazelnut praline, to milk chocolate caramel and dark chocolate pistachio marzipan. (And, if you think you’re not a marzipan fan, you need to try some of Celia’s.)
Other tempting chocolate choices include truffles and bars. English-style toffees are available nut-free or with your choice of pecan, hazelnut, almond or pistachio.
In addition to the pre-boxed selections, special-order packaging is also available for events. Wedding favors can be made in one-, two- or four-piece boxes, and custom requests are welcome as well.
After getting its jumpstart in Dinah Nassar’s home kitchen, where some items are still made, production for Celia Chocolatier has expanded into a commercial kitchen in San Luis Obispo. For additional help, the Nassar sisters are hiring primarily Cal Poly students – not surprising given their own academic backgrounds.
“It’s really exciting to be expanding our company with them,” Rhonda Nassar noted. “We really like how hands-on they are and how entrepreneurial they are. And, we’re proud to help give them a start in the business world, especially at a women-owned company.”
Celia Chocolatier
San Luis Obispo
The cuisine: Handcrafted artisan chocolates, toffees and truffles that tend towards the European style of higher cacao content and less sugar. Items available online or at select retail locations such as Mint + Craft in San Luis Obispo and Stash Local Goods in Cambria. Custom packaging for special occasions available.