New Koch-backed Fontainebleau Las Vegas has another tasty Wichita connection

Among the shops and other features that the new Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort and casino will offer when it opens Dec. 13 is a sleek new version of Wichita’s Cocoa Dolce.

This will make the fourth site for the chocolate company, including its three Wichita stores.

COO Ben Hesse said it’s humbling to follow in the footsteps of other Wichita companies that have taken their brands beyond the state.

“We’re all very excited to take this first leap towards a national presence,” he said.

It’s something the partners at the Wichita-based private equity firm Birds Eye Holdings have planned since forming a subsidiary and buying the assets of Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates in 2015.

Principal Casey Voegeli said the idea of being able to enter a market where the company will have not just handful of people visiting the store in a day “but potentially thousands of people walking through the doors is really exciting for us.”

The deal came about in part through a connection at Koch Real Estate Investments, which is a partner in Fontainebleau.

Just over a year ago, Voegeli said he was able to sit down with Fontainebleau developer Jeff Soffer and his fiance for a chocolate tasting, and he was thrilled with their reactions.

“We sent a lot of chocolates all over the country on this deal,” he said of others involved with getting the store started. “Everyone is wowed . . . by the product.”

The one piece of feedback he heard was to step up the branding, meaning “the look and the feel of the packaging.”

“They thought we could increase the level of luxury.”

Cocoa Dolce has always been known for its attractive, creative packaging, and it already seemed high-end in a lot of ways.

However, the new packaging is noticeably more, well, Vegaslike, in black and gold.

Voegeli said Fontainebleau connected Cocoa Dolce with Peter Arnell, a well-known designer who has helped a lot of major brands.

“Peter loved our product and kind of took us under his wing and said, ‘Hey, let’s just see if we can do something spectacular,’ ” he said. “It’s a big opportunity for a Wichita, Kansas-based company to have a connection like that.”

The 1,200-square-foot store also will be “more upscale to a luxury retail level,” Hesse said.

It won’t look like the Wichita stores, which have more of a boutique feel. The Wichita Cocoa Dolces also have lounges with alcoholic drinks and coffee, and the new store won’t.

“It’s a different vibe here,” said Amber Travis Millsap, chief brand officer for Cocoa Dolce.

She said the stores here will start using the new packaging as soon as they run out of the existing inventory. Travis Millsap said the stores will be updated, too, to reflect the overall brand. They’ll still retain their existing feel, though.

Voegeli said the plan moving forward is to analyze potential new markets for whether they’d be a better match for a Cocoa Dolce retail store like the one at the Fontainebleau or more of a lounge offering like the ones in Wichita.

“We are strategically planning on national expansion,” Hesse said.

Voegeli said the Las Vegas store happens to be opening at Cocoa Dolce’s busiest time of the year. He joked that it’s a social experiment the company is conducting with its employees.

“We’re just seeing how far we can push people.”

In actuality, he said, “I think these guys are going to take a break . . . then we’ll start talking about the next location.”

In preparation for the new store and for future ones, Cocoa Dolce has moved its warehouse, which used to be in the same building as its production facility and downtown lounge at 235 N. St. Francis. That means the production and packaging facility has expanded by about two thirds.

“It’s really fun to see how this kitchen has grown,” Voegeli said. “It’s really impressive. It’s also allowing them to be creative.”

The entire Cocoa Dolce staff is jumping from about 100 employees to 150.

All products will be made at the downtown headquarters and shipped to Las Vegas the same day.

The Fontainebleau will use Cocoa Dolce chocolates for its turn-down service in its hotel rooms. There will be solid milk and dark chocolate and a new flavor exclusively for the hotel: champagne and strawberries.

Voegeli said unlike a lot of chocolate companies on the East and West Coasts, Wichita is conveniently located in the middle of the country for easy, quick shipping and quality control.

“I tell you, we couldn’t be in a better location than Wichita for what we’re talking about doing.”