Chocolate Shop Checklists Kit Pro: Opening, Closing & Tempering Templates

One list in order. Personal hygiene first (clean uniform and apron, hair tied back, no rings (a plain band is OK), bracelets or watch, hands washed in water at 100 °F or warmer, cuts covered with a waterproof bandage and a glove, and anyone with vomiting, diarrhea or jaundice stays home). Then a safe start: the exhaust fan before any other equipment and, if you have gas equipment, a check that it doesn't smell of gas before you light anything. Next, the equipment: the tempering machine preheated as its maker says (typically 113 °F), the cool room (59–64 °F, 50–60% humidity) and the ganache fridge (41 °F or below) checked for the night with each reading logged, the bonbon display case at 60–64 °F and not fogging up before any product goes in, and the A/C keeping the shop at 68–72 °F. Then the shop: the display case set up (fresh-cream items only in a refrigerated case at 41 °F unless a lab test shows they are not TCS), a price and allergen notice on every tray, gift boxes and ribbons restocked, a sample station with one set of tongs per tray, the chalkboard, online orders and today's pre-orders. The "Chocolate Shop Opening & Closing Checklists" workbook has all 25 opening tasks written, and the whole-shop checklist covers the alarm, lights, HVAC, the security gate and restrooms.

Product first: bonbons and bars out of the display case and into the cool room, any fresh-cream (TCS) item into the fridge at 41 °F or below, and anything left out covered. Then the counter cleaned and sanitized (approved sanitizer at label strength, checked with a test strip) and the display glass. In the kitchen: the tempering machine cleaned and dried, molds washed, open couverture in airtight containers, the cool room and fridge readings logged, the marble cleaned, sanitized and dried, and the day's waste logged by product and reason. Last, everything off except the cool room and fridges, gas burners off, trash out and the alarm. The whole-shop "Shop Closing" tab runs in a safe order: customers out, music, patio and signs in, the display cases turned off only once the product is stored, the kitchen temperature logged, then the POS, trash, a safety check that never unplugs the cool room, the fridges or a melter, HVAC on night mode (wrapped bars on the shelves need the shop at 68 °F or below overnight) and the alarm and lock-up last.

Yes. The tempering sheet starts with couverture stock (dark 55–70%, milk 30–40%, white 28–33% cocoa) and a check of the kitchen air before you start: 64–68 °F and 50–60% humidity, because warmer than that the cocoa butter will not crystallize properly. Then it runs the typical curve for each chocolate: dark melted to 122–131 °F, cooled to 81–82 °F on the marble or by seeding and brought back to 88–90 °F; milk 113–122 → 79–81 → 84–86 °F; white 104–113 → 77–79 → 82–84 °F. Each one has a temper test (shine, a clean snap, set in 3–5 minutes) and a batch log. These are typical curves: your couverture maker's chart always rules. The molding sheet then covers shells of 1/16–1/8 in, chilling at 54–57 °F, filling to 80% and letting it set before capping, unmolding and checking the shine.

Fresh-cream ganache and fillings with high water activity are treated as TCS food (time/temperature control for safety) until a lab test of water activity and pH shows they are not: they are held at 41 °F or below, in the fridge or a refrigerated display case, never in the 60–64 °F bonbon case or the cool room, and carry a date mark of 7 days at most, with the production day as day 1 (FDA Food Code 3-501.17). The Quarterly & Annual sheet schedules that lab test for each new ganache or filling before it goes on sale. At the bottom of the molding sheet there is an editable shelf-life table by product type at 59–64 °F: bars and unfilled chocolate 12–18 months, praline and gianduja bonbons 2–4 months, truffles and coated clusters 3–4 weeks, fresh-cream ganache 7 days at 41 °F, and bonbons with UHT cream, sorbate or alcohol 4–8 weeks only with a lab test. Finished chocolate is never frozen; only bulk ganache, at 0 °F or below for 1–2 months.

The kit works with ranges that never mix: the kitchen at 64–68 °F and 50–60% humidity, the cool room for finished chocolate at 59–64 °F, the fridge for ganache and fillings at 41 °F or below, the bonbon display case at 60–64 °F and under 55% humidity, and the shop at 68–72 °F (above 68 °F chocolate softens and bloom risk climbs). Molds go in slightly warmer than the room (68–72 °F) and filled shells chill at 54–57 °F. Readings are logged in °F at opening and close, the sales associate keeps an eye on the case and the shop during the day, and thermometers and probes are checked every month in ice water (32 °F).

Every display tray carries a written allergen notice for unwrapped items with the 9 major US allergens (milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish and shellfish), plus any "may contain" statement, which is voluntary but has to be true (FDA Food Code 2022 3-602.12(C), where your state has adopted it). Samples go out with one set of tongs per tray, and nut and peanut items never share tongs; bonbons, truffles and samples are never touched with bare hands; custom gift boxes are built with gloves or tongs, and for an allergy request with fresh gloves and pieces from untouched trays. In production, nut and peanut bars run last and the tempering machine is cleaned before switching from milk to dark or white chocolate. Chocolate you wrap and label in the shop carries the product name, ingredients, net weight in oz and g, allergens and your business name and address (FDA Food Code 3-602.11), plus a lot and best-by date as the kit's practice. The UK's 14 allergens are noted.

Usually a health permit, and in some states also a food manufacturing license to make candy, or to sell wholesale or by mail. Bonbons with alcohol above 0.5% can only be sold where your state allows it, and shipped only to states that allow it; some states set an age limit of 21. Many states also tax candy even where groceries are exempt. The kit flags all of this on the annual sheet and in the shelf-life table, but it is not legal advice: check your state rules before you start.

Yes. The holiday season checklist starts in October: a catalog with bark, toffee, bonbons, molded figures and Hanukkah gelt, extra couverture and packaging, seasonal staff (with the federal hour limits for minors, and no one under 16 running or cleaning the tempering or panning machine), pre-sales, a published pre-order deadline, your carrier's shipping cutoff and the pickup hours for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve; then peppermint bark, English toffee and nut brittle, chocolate figures, holiday bonbons, gift baskets and corporate gift sets, with every corporate order confirmed in writing (allergens, quantities, date, deposit). Valentine's Day covers heart bonbons, bars with an engraved message, premium truffles, gift boxes and home deliveries; Easter, eggs, bunnies, large filled eggs, centerpieces and Easter baskets. The bonus calendar adds the 12 months with their US dates, from Valentine's Day and Mother's Day to Sweetest Day, National Chocolate Day and Thanksgiving.

Yes. If you sell by the pound, the cash drawer checklist turns on a legal-for-trade scale, checks the tare of trays and boxes with a test weight, matches the price per pound on the POS to the tray sign and, at close, balances the pounds rung up against what came off the trays. Pre-orders are confirmed with allergens, quantities, pickup date and time, price, deposit and cancellation terms, and the deposits are rung on the POS as deposits, not as the day's sales, so the over/short stays right. Gift boxes, bags, tissue and ribbons are on the opening, weekend and weekly stock checks.

Daily cleaning belongs in the closing checklists (counter, display glass, tempering machine, molds, marble and floors). On top of that, the kit schedules a weekly deep clean of the tempering machine (taken apart), the marble slab (cleaned, sanitized and dried: water must never touch the chocolate), the molds, the wrapping surfaces, shelving, the shop, the display case inside and out, the store window and the sample area, with sanitizer checked with test strips, and monthly tasks (A/C filters, wiring, thermometers and the fire extinguishers). Contracted services go on the "Quarterly & Annual" tab: pest control by a licensed operator, tempering and panning machine service, refrigeration by an EPA 608-certified tech, calibration of thermometers and the scale, the annual extinguisher service, gas lines if you have gas, and hood cleaning under NFPA 96 only if you cook with grease under a hood.

Yes, you will find free checklist templates online, and a blank one is fine to get started. This kit is something else: 11 Excel workbooks with 338 chocolate shop tasks already written and sorted by shift, area and role, a counter on every checklist that skips the tasks you mark N/A, °F temperatures, tempering curves, a shelf-life table and a cash count in US dollars. Print it on US Letter, or save any sheet as a PDF from Excel.

Yes. Every checklist comes with the real tasks of a chocolate shop that makes its own chocolate already written: tempering, molding, bonbons, bars, wrapping, the display case, the counter and the manager. You'll want to make it yours: adjust tasks to your shop, delete the ones that don't apply and add your own. The editable cells are green.

Yes. The kit is written for shops that make their own bonbons, bars and truffles with a tempering machine and sell them over a counter, and it scales: a small chocolatier can start with production, the display case and closing, and a chain can use every role, area and the full calendar. If you resell chocolate you don't make, mark the production tasks N/A and the counter leaves them out.

Each checklist has columns for the area, who does it, ✓ (a drop-down with ✓, — for not done, or N/A), the time and notes, and a signature line at the bottom. The whole-shop and cash drawer checklists come with who does it and a due-by time already filled in. The shift lead prints the checklist and hands it out, each person checks off their tasks, and at the end of the shift the shift lead checks it and signs.

Checklist apps charge a monthly fee per location and need connected tablets or phones. This kit gives you the same kind of task lists in Excel for $19, a one-time payment. What it is not: there are no reminders, photos or notifications on your staff's phones.

Yes. One purchase covers one business with all of its shops, which makes it a good fit for chocolate shop chains. If you are a consultant, you can use the checklists with your clients, but you can't hand them copies: each business buys its own.

Yes, with a few edits, all in cells you can change (the protected sheets have no password). The kit is set up for the US: temperatures in °F, the FDA Food Code (41 °F cold holding), the 9 major allergens and a cash count in US bills and coins. In the UK, the kit's chocolate ranges read in °C (kitchen 18–20 °C, cool room 15–18 °C, bonbon case 16–18 °C, shop 20–22 °C), fresh-cream ganache is chilled food and is kept at 8 °C or below, and allergen information covers 14 allergens (the kit's allergen tasks already note the UK's 14). In Canada and Australia, check your provincial or state food safety rules, licensing and allergen list, and type them into the tasks. For pounds, Canadian or Australian dollars, unprotect the cash count sheet and change the label and value of each bill and coin. The holiday calendar has a UK note (Mothering Sunday, bank holidays and Boxing Day). Every English edition also includes the US · UK · Canada · Australia Equivalents Guide, a bonus with the local terms, taxes, food safety and staff rules side by side.

The price is $19 USD, a one-time payment. At checkout, Stripe can show the amount in your local currency (for example GBP, EUR, CAD or AUD) and converts it for you.

No subscription: you pay once and get lifetime access to the online dashboard. When we add new templates or improvements, you get them at no extra cost — just download the files again.

Yes. A full 30-day guarantee. If you're not happy, we'll refund 100% with no questions asked.