Chocolate Makes Life Sweet!

Norman Love Confections has been making ultra-premium handmade chocolates since 2001. For most of the last two decades, business grew at a steady, comfortable pace with incredible employee retention and a premium product that was sought after locally and globally. But eventually it became apparent that their software platform was no longer serving them or their growth potential.

Their old software was typical of the existing industry leaders at the time — a generalized platform that was one-size-fits-all, tailored to large-scale operations who manufacture huge runs of single products with little flexibility for small production runs with specialized output.

Committed to constant improvement in all aspects of the business, the Norman Love Confections team set out to improve their ERP systems and processes at all levels. A search for best-in-class cloud-based open API software led Norman Love Confections to Wherefour.

Seamless ERP Implementation and Integration

Migrating their entire operation from the old platform to Wherefour’s ERP cloud- based system was virtually seamless. The Wherefour team provided straightforward, organized and responsive guidance throughout the process. Norman Love Confections was able to easily maintain integration with their other cloud-based partners too: Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Sage Intacct and ShipStation to name a few. How was the onboarding process for the data entry team? “It was the fastest and most seamless of any implementation we’ve gone through,” says COO Rick Murray. “The Wherefour team provides the training and tools to make it a simple upload, and once you get the template uploads completed, it’s the click of a button. The process is very intuitive.”

Improved Traceability and Data Management for Custom Production Runs

When asked how business has improved since implementing Wherefour, Murray says, “We have much higher user engagement. Traceability has improved and data entry is even enjoyable! Our old system was harder to use so we created workarounds instead of finding solutions. User engagement was very low. Now we are free from the burden of data entry.”

Wherefour’s commitment to specialty manufacturers is evident in one particular Norman Love Confections product line: the Custom Logo Chocolates. With limitless options for customized production runs, Norman Love Confections manages an inventory of thousands of corporate logos which are transferred directly onto chocolates as edible images. These are perfect for corporate gifting programs, specialized gifts or promotional items, and they’re not only delicious but truly one-of-a-kind.

Norman Love Streamlines Food Safety Certifications

One of the biggest improvements Norman Love Confections has seen with Wherefour is in the realm of traceability. Completing audits and certification protocols used to be a manual and tedious process. Now FDA and USDA audits are done in minutes. And with the ease of Wherefour’s cloud-based platform, Norman Love Confections is pursuing Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognized certification such as the Safe Quality Food (SQF) program and the British Royal Consortium (BRCGS) Global Food Safety Standard.

Speaking about Wherefour as a whole, Murray goes on to say, “Ultimately in any business, the platform is the platform, and it does both basic and advanced things for your operation. But the best thing about Wherefour is the entire team. The people in the company provide a service and an experience that is far and above any interaction with any other software company that we’ve ever used. They are so engaged, they’re always asking what more they can do for us, and I’m confident that they will always provide solutions.”

From the beginning, Norman Love Confections has empowered their chefs to be the creators of sweet treats that make life a little more enjoyable. The executives and administrators operate in supportive roles helping chefs make tasty dreams come true. Now that Wherefour has unburdened the team from the drudgery of data entry, the whole team is free to focus on what really matters to their customers. Wherefour is now part of the recipe Norman Love Confections uses for sweet success: customizing each decadent delight with mouthwatering wonder.