Meet Suzanne Nader | Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suzanne Nader and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzanne, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

Suzanne Nader, the founder of Craving for Chocolate started the business when she felt that there was a lack of high quality chocolates represented in the area, She had a vision to sell the chocolates in luxurious packaging. She started bringing her own chocolates from Lebanon, ultimately leading to the birth of the business. She worked in her home for a few years and met her now partner Dalia Hidayat who was originally a customer. Dalia brought sales and marketing ideas and together they partnered and began popping up at high end malls and hotels to get a first get a feel of the market. Shortly after, Covid surfaced and the malls, shops and hotels shut down. The duo reverted back to Suzannes basement. During those 2 years, the dynamics of the business changed and they both started targeting corporate business and their online shop. After finding success in this niche, they decided a workshop was better suited for the business that allowed clients to come to consult and shop.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are a luxury chocolate gift company. We specialize in luxury gift creations and packaging while bringing the highest quality Belgian chocolate infused with Mediterranean flavors. We sell chocolate, nougats, delights, marzipan and dragee. We are also authorized retailers for Michael Aram, Tea Forte, Lux Fragrances and create our own acrylic boxes with hand carved wood lids made by artisan refugees. We also create party favors for (but not limited to) weddings, baby showers, graduations and corporate events.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If it was my friends first time to visit for the weekend, I would make sure to take her to some landmark sights such as the driving by the Whitehouse, visiting the Jefferson Memorial, seeing the Monument as far as sightseeing goes. I would also take her to a few museums on another day, my favorite is the National Gallery of Art and also see what exhibits were happening.
I would take her for drinks on top of the Washington Hotel or the Watergate which has amazing views of the city, and take her to eat at Cafe Milano which is close to the city and has been a DC staple for several decades and is in the heart of Georgetown.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

All our family, friends and customers deserve recognition for believing in us and supporting us. We are also grateful for all the companies that believed in us and have been supporting us through the years, and the Washington Post, Washingtonian, Tysons Premiere, and The Vienna Patch for writing about and highlighting us.

Website: www.cravingforchocolate.com

Instagram: cravingorchocolate

Facebook: Craving for Chocolate

Image Credits
Dalia Hidayat