Local Legacies- Businesses that Span the Generations

by Jill Cousins

If you’re like most kids, you’ve either read Roald Dahl’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or you’ve seen one of the two movie versions and wondered what a dream scenario it would be to have your very own chocolate factory.

For Edgar Schaked and his family, it’s their reality.

The son of a father from Israel and a mother from Argentina, Edgar is a third-generation chocolatier who, with his wife Aileen, owns and runs Chocolate Kingdom, a whimsical chocolate museum and factory in Orlando. It is a labor of love for Edgar, who has been making exquisite customized chocolates in Central Florida since 1995 when he opened the first of several aptly named Schakolad stores. But his experience in the chocolate business actually dates back to his childhood in Argentina.

“As a five-year-old, I worked in my grandfather’s factory,” Edgar says. “My father would take me there, and I had to put chocolates in one of the machines that wraps them. Of course, I was always supervised, but when you’re in a family business, you help out anytime they need you.”

And, of course, there were tasty perks.

“If you can eat as much chocolate as you want at five years old, why not?” Edgar says with a laugh. “It’s always good to be in the chocolate business!”

Aileen, whose unofficial title is Chief Chocolate Chick, would certainly agree. She first met Edgar at a Jewish singles mixer at an Orlando bowling alley in 1998 while working as a consultant for Walt Disney World. When she told Edgar how she had worked as a producer on large-scale sports events – like the Olympics, Super Bowls, and All-Star games – he asked her if she could get him tickets. In response, she asked him if he could get her chocolate. She knew then that he was a keeper.

Edgar and Aileen married in 2002 and are parents to Max, 18, a freshman at UCLA, and Sophie, 16, a junior at Olympia High School and big macher in BBYO, according to her proud dad.

“Imagine when I came home [after first meeting Edgar] and called my parents and said, ‘Remember how you told me to marry a doctor or a lawyer? What if I told you he has a chocolate business?’” Aileen recalls with a smile. “And my mom said, ‘That’ll work!’”

A Delicious Legacy

The family’s chocolate history actually began back in 1938 when Edgar’s maternal grandfather, Herman Bar, left his home in Germany at age 18 to learn the craft of chocolate in Switzerland. He would eventually settle in Argentina, where he opened what would become the country’s largest chocolate factory.

Herman’s daughter Adriana would meet and marry Baruch “Bernie” Schaked in Israel, and one year later, the newlyweds moved to Argentina and Bernie began working as a chocolatier for his father-in-law. In 1985, when the Schakeds’ son Edgar was 14 and daughter Dafne was 12, the family moved to Miami “to have that American dream that everyone talks about,” Edgar says.

Edgar’s parents bought a small handmade chocolate shop in North Miami Beach, and Edgar and Dafne would help out when they could.

“Like my kids now, whenever there was a holiday and we were out of school, I was always helping out,” Edgar says. “Sometimes I was the delivery driver; sometimes I worked in production; sometimes I took care of customers. Whatever it took, I would do it.”

Edgar went on to get a degree in mechanical engineering, but two years later, he decided to go into the chocolate business with his father, who was contemplating retirement because he wasn’t getting along with his business partner.

Edgar decided to set up shop in Orlando due to a non-compete agreement his father signed when he was bought out by his partner.

“I always wanted to be in the business, because I grew up with that,” Edgar says. “So that’s why I approached my father about doing something together.”

With visions of franchising in mind, Edgar opened the first Schakolad store in a shopping plaza at State Road 436 and University Boulevard in 1995. The shop specialized in handmade, European-style chocolates that could be customized into an endless variety of shapes.

Edgar would eventually franchise Schakolad, and at its peak, around 2008, there were 32 stores across the country. But when the Great Recession hit, many chocolate stores — including Schakolad — were struggling. That’s when Aileen and Edgar came up with the idea to promote the Central Florida chocolate industry by creating something called the Festival of Chocolate.

The first event was held in 2009 at the Florida Mall’s hotel, and it was a huge success, attracting about 2,500 visitors. The next year, the Schakeds partnered with the Orlando Science Center, and nearly 10,000 people showed up.

The Festival featured everything from chocolate vendors to chef demonstrations to chocolate fashion shows. Visitors also enjoyed seeing displays that showed how chocolate is made, from harvesting cocoa beans to blending chocolate liquor into our favorite treats.

“Between Aileen’s expertise in putting together big events and my knowledge of chocolate, we were able to create an event that was really spectacular,” Edgar says. “It was not only fun, it was also educational.”

Over the next few years, the Festival of Chocolate would expand to multiple cities including Tampa and Miami. Edgar took notice of the public’s interest in the full spectrum of the chocolate industry, and that’s when he came up with another idea.

“Our [Festival] customers liked the whole idea of learning how chocolate is made,” Edgar says. “We decided that maybe instead of doing it once a year, we need to have a place where people can come every day. And that’s where the whole idea of Chocolate Kingdom evolved.”

A World of Pure Imagination

Before opening Chocolate Kingdom in 2013, Aileen and Edgar traveled throughout the world to research their venture. They visited chocolate museums in Germany and Belgium. They went to Hershey, Pennsylvania, and visited chocolate exhibits in Costa Rica and Cozumel, Mexico.

They decided the one thing missing was a kid-friendly tour, something they figured would be a hit in a family vacation destination like Orlando. Working with other professionals, Aileen and Edgar came up with an entire Disney-like storyline – complete with a princess, prince, and talking dragon – for the Chocolate Kingdom’s Factory Adventure Tour. The tour also includes interactive activities and plenty of chocolate samples. Chocolate Kingdom has since become a hit with tourists as well as local families and schoolchildren.

No one is prouder than Edgar’s parents, who still run a Schakolad franchise in Fort Lauderdale.

“For me, it was always about the family tradition,” Edgar says. “To be able to continue it is a responsibility, but it’s also very gratifying.”

Edgar is hoping the family tradition continues with his children, but just like his parents did with him, he won’t push them into it.

“We’d love for our kids to do that. But if not, my sister has three kids of her own,” Edgar says with a grin. “Maybe it will come from that side of the family. We’ll see.”