Story and photos by Tom Lindfors (Submitted by Amanda Connelly, SCEDC)
HUDSON, WI – This is an interview with the St. Croix County Economic Development Corporation’s (SCEDC) 2024 Small Business of the Year winner “Knoke’s Chocolates & Nuts” owner Dave Knoke.
“If someone else can make a better box of chocolates then buy it, because I think mine are awfully good.” – Dave Knoke
Founder and owner of Knoke’s Chocolates & Nuts, Dave Knoke, is exceptionally proud of the homemade confections and nuts he has been making, tasting and selling for more than 20 years from his shop on Locust Street in Hudson, Wisconsin. Here is the remainder of the interview.
Customers – Knoke is working to increase his online business. He currently derives 65 percent of his business from his retail store, 30 percent from wholesale to retailers like Kowalski’s and area wineries and the balance from online sales. He knows that number can grow.
“We’re still refining the online side. The business is there. We just have to address it more efficiently,” Knoke said.
Technology is not Knoke’s strong suit, so he has a team of younger employees working to improve his website’s commerce capacity while he works out shipping options.
For all practical purposes Knoke has been the face of his business, literally a one-man show, since he took over in 2005. Making candy in the window between visits from neighborly business owners eager to share advice and customers critiquing his concoctions has made him a fixture in the community.
Today that simple act of making candy in the window and connecting with a passersby is translated into short videos posted to social media that draw thousands of views by potential customers.
Knoke learned early to value his customers’ critiques. Listening to them not only improved his products, it helped to build dependable relationships.
“Our customers are our best critics,” Knoke said. “And a lot of those people have stuck with me.”
He recalled an early episode where he was experimenting with dipping apples. The next day he tried one of the apples and found it had hardened too much. Then he remembered, “Oh shoot, I sold some.”
Sure, enough a customer returned that morning and reported, “That apple wasn’t very good.” Knoke acknowledged, “You’re right, it was a little hard…”
Over time Knoke mastered recipes Smith had shared with him and began to experiment with his own including caramels, truffles, turtles and chocolate covered potato chips. He also learned the value of managing the availability of specific sweets, making them more desirable and growing customers’ expectations.
“I don’t do caramel apples until Labor Day weekend, and I’ll dip them until Thanksgiving,” Knoke said. “I only do chocolate covered strawberries during the week of Valentine’s Day. People know to call to reserve their order. I sell over 4,000 strawberries.”
As his reputation for quality candy grew, so did his business.
“One guy can only make so much candy.” Knoke said.
A business he had built from the ground up with his own hands now provided livelihoods for employees. It became more than just his story.
Future – In 2014 Knoke purchased what is now his production facility, an old nut roasting plant on Harvey Street. Today he makes 80-90% of all his products in-house.
When asked about his biggest challenge, Knoke hesitated before saying, “finding a successor.”
He realizes the business is still very dependent on him and his expertise and no one is waiting in the wings at the moment. It is something he is beginning to think about.
He is not ruling out one of his three children taking over the business, but he wants it to be their decision. “I don’t want to force them, and I don’t want them to do it because they feel like they should,” he said. “Growing up as a farm kid in the late seventies I saw too many farmers turn the farm over to the kid and five years later the farm is gone, or the farmer has to step back in.”
Knoke thinks it is more likely one of his employees who has learned the ropes and been a part of growing the business would be mentored to take over the business.
“There’s a process I need to start going through. I need to find a general manager,” Knoke said.
“When I’m done, I’d like to be done with it completely, but hopefully the name sticks.”
In January 2023, Knoke purchased the building that is today synonymous with Knoke’s Chocolates & Nuts, at 218 Locust Street. It resides right between the two buildings previously associated with his business except those were rented. “I think when I purchased the building, I’m in now downtown and I remodeled it and moved in and opened up, it became mine and I felt like I had made it,” Knoke said. “People began to recognize and associate Knoke’s with Hudson.”
One of Knoke’s great joys is seeing a new generation of candy customers come through the door. Parents who were once children buying ice cream at the counter now visit the shop with their own children in tow continuing the Knoke’s tradition.
If you are looking to catch up with Dave, try Sunday afternoons.
“I like coming in on Sundays downtown just to see what’s going on. People stop and just want to talk,” Knoke said. “Pretty soon I’m just in the way. I tell people I’m more of a hindrance than a help.”
Sweet tooth? – “It used to be pretty big but now it’s more about portion control,” Knoke said. “Now one turtle is enough. It used to be two or three or four… I’ve definitely cut back. It’s definitely still there, it’s just matured.”
Just the Facts: Knoke’s Chocolates & Nuts, Dave Knoke – Owner. Formed: 2000. Address
218 Locust St., Hudson, WI 54016 – 715-381-9866. Website: knokeschocolatesandnuts.com. Employees: 20 – Sq. ft. 5,750.
