It started as a hobby for Michelle Smith. The erotic-shaped chocolates she made at home were mostly for friends, particularly for Valentine's Day gifts. Today, that pastime has spawned a business that she says "has grown a lot" and gives her immense pleasure from knowing that her customers are happy.

"I'm very happy with what I do," Smith, owner of Chocolate Dreams, tells SunDay Lifestyle. "I'm very happy when I see people happy."
Smith is particularly pleased with the wide-eyed reaction of people who, on coming into her store on Roosevelt Avenue in Kingston, see the wide variety of items that she and her four employees make from chocolate - little houses, fruits and, more recently, shoes.

Chocolate Dreams owner Michelle Smith shows her chocolate fountain, which is popular at corporate and social functions. (Photos: Michael Gordon)

"Chocolates make people happy," she insists. "Jamaica has a lot of problems; chocolates provide a balance."
Smith's fascination with chocolates began in 1998 while she worked at American Airlines as administrative assistant to the general manager. She was well qualified for the job, having gotten her education at Alpha Commercial College and then gaining 10 valuable years of experience at the US Embassy in Kingston.

A stint at Appliance Traders Ltd followed before she went to American Airlines, leaving after four years then returning in 1998.
"I started to get curious about chocolate," she explains. "So I went on the Internet and read what I could."
More people came to know about her skills, but Smith was happy to keep her operation at home.

In 2002, Smith was contacted by Observer food writer Novia McDonald-Whyte who invited her to exhibit at the Observer Table Talk Food Awards.
Smith admits that at first she resisted, giving as her excuse the fact that her operation was too small. But McDonald-Whyte was persistent.
"She and I tussled for weeks," Smith recalls. "Anyway, I eventually went, set up a little booth and all my family and friends helped and it was a great success."

Michelle Smith (right) and one of her Chocolate Dreams employees work on the chocolate fountain.

To top it off, Smith's chocolates won the Observer Table Talk Best New Food Item award. From there, it all started going up hill.
"That was really the beginning," she says, "because at that point I was at home doing stuff and that (the award) gave me a lot of confidence to come out and spread my wings."

Smith seized the moment and travelled to Massachusetts in the USA where she visited a chocolate shop and the Merckens chocolate factory from which she had been buying product.
"I was particularly interested in a way of doing chocolate called panning, which is coating the coffee beans, because that is what I really want to do," she says.

It was during that visit to Merckens, which provides chocolates for Oreo cookies, Smith says, that she realised the possibilities the product offers. "It is so big, it's phenomenal. There are so many things you can do with it," she says.

Chocolate shoes made last December by Chocolate Dreams.

On her return home, Smith went in search of a property to set up her business. She needed somewhere that already had a cold room. She eventually found it - a former meat factory - at Roosevelt Avenue.
Now, she and her staff spend hours producing a wide variety of chocolates by hand, mostly for corporate clients and using local products to flavour the chocolates.

It's difficult, she admits, but Smith is hesitant about acquiring a loan to purchase expensive machinery. Interest rates, she says, are too high. "I cannot go through sleepless nights worrying about payments."
Her clients, therefore, place their orders with enough lead time for her to complete the job. Chocolates in company logos appear to be popular. So too are chocolate boxes.

She heaps praise on her staff who, she says, willingly go the extra mile, working late into the nights, especially during the busy September to May periods, to ensure that their clients are satisfied.

While she's happy with the increased flow of business, Smith says she's careful not to let her customers leave feeling like they have been cheated. "So if a bride comes to me and says 'Michelle, this is what I have', I will work with her within that budget," Smith explains.

It's a business weakness, she admits, but people who know her will tell you that she gives a lot. For instance, every year she does chocolates for the Heart Foundation and the Cancer Society fund-raisers. And there are a number of other charities which she supports.

"God has blessed me so many times," she says, pointing to her "supportive family and friends" as proof. "I could not have survived the last couple of years without them. I owe them so much."

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