Stephanie Ceranio’s chocolate empire started with just R8 000

Stephanie Ceranio’s chocolate journey reads like a fictional fairytale – filled with sweet mysteries, tasty treats and delicious desserts, but behind the decadent façade is a story of unwavering resilience, relentless pursuits and sleepless nights.

The chocolatier kick-started her entrepreneurial dream with just R8 000 in her piggy bank, which she invested in a “side hustle” which would later become her pride and joy – Jack Rabbit Chocolate Studio, an artisanal chocolate business.

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High on cocoa

Founder and chocolatier Stephanie Ceranio told The Citizen she wanted to become a pastry chef after completing matric but ended up studying IT because her parents wanted her to pursue a “more professional” career path.

“You are high if you think we are going to pay for you to study pastry,” Ceranio jokingly recounted what her parents’ response was when she told them about her culinary ambitions.

‘Middle-child rebellion’

Thanks to her “middle-child rebellious spirit”, Ceranio said she remained determined to keep her pastry dream alive throughout her IT tertiary studies by gathering as much information as she could about chocolate-making.

Learning from scratch

Ceranio’s chocolate story blossomed into a side hustle in 2006 when she started experimenting with recipes and learning the technique from scratch.

“YouTube was not a thing back then,” Ceranio said.

The chocolatier said books were her only option.

“The only option I had was going to Exclusive Books… trying to steal recipes because I didn’t exactly have money,” she recounted.

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“I would just read the recipe and try to remember it – then I would leave the shop to write it down,” she added.

Why not just take photos of the pages? “Back then, phone cameras weren’t great,” said Ceranio.

Thanks to her photographic memory, Ceranio was able to read and remember all the recipes she needed to get her hustle started.

Good food and wine show

Fast-forward to 2011, after adding French macaroons to her pastry portfolio, Ceranio secured a stall at the Good Food and Wine Show in Joburg, where she sold 4 500 macaroons – a huge milestone for the then budding entrepreneur.

“I was left with about 500 macaroons,” she said beamingly, adding that her mother-in-law “had to eat” the rest.

Internationally acclaimed chef Gordon Ramsey was scheduled to attend the event, but Ceranio wasn’t too keen to meet him at the crowded venue.

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Meeting Gordon Ramsey

Eager to meet Ramsey exclusively, the young chocolatier went the extra mile to obtain tickets to the Gordon Ramsey gala dinner, which would take place just days later.

Ceranio eventually got to meet the celebrity chef.

The chocolatier told The Citizen she doesn’t recall anything from her conversation with Ramsey because she was “excited” and “starstruck”, but said meeting him meant a lot to her.

“That was a pivotal moment,” Ceranio said.

Game-changing dessert

Meeting Ramsey might have been Ceranio’s main motivation for attending the gala event, but the dessert was the real game-changer.

“The dessert comes… in a chocolate cylinder,” she recalled.

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French quest

Ceranio’s sweet tooth and hunger for knowledge led her to take out a bank loan to finance a trip to France to learn chocolate-making techniques from master chocolatiers.

Belgium, the world’s chocolate destination, was also on Ceranio’s itinerary.

The chocolatier said she spent months travelling back and forth between France and Belgium in search of the best chocolate supplier for her business.

Ceranio eventually concluded her French quest, and returned to Pretoria to begin building her chocolate empire.

Building slabs

“I came back with five suitcases [of chocolate],” she recalled.

“Do you know how expensive it was to fly back with five suitcases?”

Ceranio then set up a home studio to put her knowledge into practice.

After numerous attempts, chocolate stains, pastry flops and taste tests – Jack Rabbit Chocolate Studio was born.

“It was a fun time, and that’s how I started,” Ceranio said.

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From Pretoria to the world

After scoring an International Chocolate Award in London and establishing a strong South African customer base, Ceranio decided to share her decadent joy with the global community.

Jack Rabbit Chocolate Studio exports chocolate to Japan, which Ceranio said has “super strict” contamination rules and regulations.

When it comes to exporting chocolate, strict temperature regulation, advanced hygiene practices and countless paperwork were some of the procedures keeping the artisanal chocolatier on her toes – but thankfully she’d found the right professionals to simplify the process.

Dear SA women

Ceranio said she was concerned that women are often not taken seriously in business.

“Women are [often] the underdog, and sometimes you just need to bet on the underdog,” she said.

“You’ll be surprised by how much harder a woman is willing to work to be taken seriously, and to succeed,” she added.

Encouraging women to rise above all odds, Ceranio said self-belief is key.

“Believe in yourself because if you don’t, no one else will,” she said.

Ceranio also praised her all-female team, attributing her entrepreneurial success to the team’s dedication.

Just like Nike, Ceranio said her advice to SA female entrepreneurs is simply to just do it.

“There’ll never be a ‘right time’ to start, so just do it,” she concluded.

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