--- title: "Chocolatier & Chocolate Shop Receiving Checklist" canonical: "https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/chocolate-shop-receiving-checklist/" --- > Source: https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/chocolate-shop-receiving-checklist/ [Checklists](/checklists/) / [Chocolatier & Chocolate Shop](/checklists/chocolate/) / Goods-In & Receiving # Chocolatier & Chocolate Shop Goods-In and Receiving Checklist Seven checks cover the moment chocolate arrives at a Chocolatier & Chocolate Shop. In this segment, stock is far more often damaged in transit than spoiled on your shelf. Ask how the load travelled. Open one case per pallet. Reject grey bloom, melt lines and deformed shells while they are still the supplier's loss. The rest verifies every label against the supplier spec sheet - milk, nuts, sesame, gluten and any *dairy-free* or *vegan* claim. It checkweighs a sample of each packed line against its declared net quantity. And it records lot codes so a recall costs you one batch instead of the counter. Each check cites published evidence, including a regulator survey in which **12.2%** of 376 candy and chocolate samples carried an allergen the label did not declare. [Run this checklist - free](/run/chocolate/?list=goods-in) [Download PDF](/checklists/pdf/peakscale-chocolate-checklists.pdf)[Download Excel](/checklists/excel/peakscale-chocolate-checklists.xlsx) The checklist · 7 checks ### Accept only stock that arrived in good condition **1\. Before you sign, check how the load traveled. Look at the truck's temperature, how much sun it got, and how long it sat on the dock.** Heat during transport causes bloom, and you already paid for that chocolate. 30°C (86°F) storage damaged every chocolate product tested. **2\. Open one case from each pallet. Check for grey bloom, melt lines, fingerprints, dull shine and misshapen shells.** One opened case tells you if the whole delivery can be sold at full price. Reject it at the door, while it is still the supplier's loss. **3\. Check filled and soft-center lines on their own. Make sure seals are unbroken, nothing is leaking, and date codes are there and easy to read.** The water is in the center, not the shell. A broken seal on a ganache or caramel line is a spoilage risk that a solid bar never has. **4\. Check every label against the supplier's spec sheet. Look for milk, nuts, soy, sesame, gluten, and any 'dairy-free', 'vegan' or 'free-from' claim.** One testing program found that 12.2% of candy and chocolate products had an allergen the label did not list. Catching this at the door is the cheapest way to catch it. ### Set stock up so you can rotate it, sell it, and trace it **5\. Write down the best-before date and lot code for every line as it comes in. Log filled and solid lines separately.** Lot codes let you pull one batch instead of your whole counter if a recall happens mid-season. **6\. Before you accept a packed line, weigh a sample of it against the quantity printed on the label.** The moment you sell it, the packer's short measure becomes your problem. About 6% of businesses inspected for correct measure were found breaking the rules. **7\. Put new stock behind existing stock (oldest stock first, or FIFO). Put seasonal stock in its own dated, labeled area.** Seasonal lines lose value the day after the date. Keep them separate so they never quietly take the place of your everyday par. ## Frequently asked questions **What should you check when a chocolate delivery arrives?** Check how the load travelled before you check the boxes: vehicle temperature, sun exposure and time spent on the dock. Then open one case per pallet and look for grey bloom, melt lines, fingerprints, dulled gloss and deformed shells. Inspect filled and soft-centre lines separately for intact seals and legible dates. Read every label against the supplier spec sheet. Finish by checkweighing a sample of each packed line against its declared net quantity. Record best-before dates and lot codes, filled and solid logged separately. **Can you sell chocolate that arrived with bloom on it?** It is safe to eat, but it is not sellable as a gift. That is most of what this segment sells. Reject it at the door while it is still the supplier's loss. If it is already yours, follow the steps in order: re-melt it for baking and mix-ins, then discount it, then write it off. Never put it back out at full price. Bloom is a real, measurable degradation. An 18-week storage trial found products at 20°C (68°F) beginning to show visible differences caused primarily by fat bloom, and 30°C (86°F) extremely unsuitable for every product tested. **Why record lot codes on chocolate deliveries?** Because lot codes are the only thing that limits a recall to one batch instead of your whole counter. Confectionery recalls tend to land in peak season. A monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to chocolate products reached 158 confirmed cases (187 confirmed and probable) across 12 countries by the 19 April 2022 update. It had an unusually high proportion of hospitalised children. The resulting global recalls landed in the middle of the Easter season. Chocolate is a low-moisture food, and low-moisture does not mean low-risk. ## More Chocolatier & Chocolate Shop checklists [Opening - Set Up to Sell](/checklists/chocolate-shop-opening-checklist/)[Ambient Storage - Temperature & Humidity](/checklists/chocolate-storage-temperature-humidity-checklist/)[Tempering, Bloom & Shelf Life](/checklists/chocolate-tempering-and-bloom-checklist/)[Allergens, Claims & Weighing](/checklists/chocolate-allergen-and-weighing-checklist/)[Closing - Capture, Reorder & Protect](/checklists/chocolate-shop-closing-checklist/)[Weekly Checks](/checklists/chocolate-shop-weekly-checklist/) One free app has all of them: [open the Chocolatier & Chocolate Shop Checklists app](/run/chocolate/) - offline, no account, add it to your home screen. ## Sources Every statistic on this page comes from public inspection and food-safety data: - [US FDA, Survey of Milk in Dark Chocolate Products](https://www.fda.gov/food/food-allergies/survey-milk-dark-chocolate-products) - [CFIA, Food Safety Targeted Survey - Undeclared Allergens and Gluten in Candies and Chocolate Products](https://inspection.canada.ca/sites/default/files/legacy/DAM/DAM-food-aliments/STAGING/text-texte/undclrd_allrgn_gluten_candies_choc_prod_1711566640336_eng.pdf) - [Effect of different storage conditions on fat bloom formation in different types of chocolate - journal of record: Hrana u zdravlju i bolesti / Food in Health and Disease, 2019; full text consulted via an author upload rather than the publisher](https://www.academia.edu/126780185/Effect_of_different_storage_conditions_on_fat_bloom_formation_in_different_types_of_chocolate) - [The effect of storage temperature on the quality and formation of blooming defects in chocolate confectionery, Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences](https://potravinarstvo.com/journal1/index.php/potravinarstvo/article/view/425) - [Ghazani S.M. & Marangoni A.G., Molecular Origins of Polymorphism in Cocoa Butter, Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, 2021](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-food-070620-022551) - [National Confectioners Association, Confectionery Sales Climb to $55 Billion in 2025](https://candyusa.com/news/confectionery-sales-climb-to-55-billion-in-2025/) - [National Retail Federation, NRF Consumer Survey Finds Halloween Spending to Reach Record $13.1 Billion](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-consumer-survey-finds-halloween-spending-to-reach-record-13-1-billion) - [CFIA, Targeted Survey - Undeclared Allergens and Gluten in Valentine's Day Candy and Chocolate Products](https://inspection.canada.ca/DAM/DAM-food-aliments/STAGING/text-texte/undeclared_allergen_gluten_vday_choc_1607110368635_eng.pdf) - [US FDA, Reportable Food Registry Fifth Annual Report](https://www.fda.gov/media/97862/download) - [European Commission DG SANTE, Alert & Cooperation Network Annual Report 2025](https://food.ec.europa.eu/document/download/5266bb47-4b7e-4558-9910-4c66519cbe7f_en?filename=acn_annual-report_2025.pdf) - [Business Companion](https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/weights-and-measures/packaged-goods-average-quantity) - [Competition Bureau Canada, Accuracy Requirements for Net Quantity Declarations](https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/accuracy-requirements-net-quantity-declarations) - [Australian Government Department of Industry, Consumers are getting what they pay for](https://web.archive.org/web/20240225174537/https://www.industry.gov.au/news/consumers-are-getting-what-they-pay) - [US FDA, Draft Guidance for Industry: Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food](https://www.fda.gov/media/99572/download) - [ECDC, Monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to chocolate products](https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/19-april-update-monophasic-salmonella-typhimurium-outbreak-linked-chocolate-products) - [National Retail Federation, National Retail Security Survey 2023](https://nrf.com/research/national-retail-security-survey-2023) - [CoBank Knowledge Exchange, Volatile cocoa, sugar prices smack confectionery industry](https://www.cobank.com/knowledge-exchange/volatile-cocoa-sugar-prices-smack-confectionery-industry)