Shari of berry fame to produce new product in Roseville

Shari Fitzpatrick just can't stop dipping strawberries. Nor can she give up the type of business that she founded in 1989 with an idea and a $1,500 cash advance on a credit card.But her famous and delicious product line is undergoing a change. She's launching a new line of frozen fruits dipped in chocolate under The Berry Factory logo. She expects the products to be available by summer.Fitzpatrick is offering four varieties — strawberries, black cherries, raspberries and peanut butter spread over sliced bananas. The fruits will be dipped in a variety of white, dark and milk chocolate, individually quick frozen and sold in 12 ounce packages priced at $5.99 each. They're expected to have a shelf life of two years. "It's all mine this time," said Fitzpatrick in a telephone interview while headed to Lake Tahoe. She needs some quiet time to write a talk that she will give to the Christian Business Roundtable Thursday at the Granite Bay Golf Club. Since she filed for Chapter 7 business bankruptcy protection and closed her three Berry Factory shops last September, she's been on the speaking circuit. She is sharing her story and encouraging others to venture out with their dreams. She's also tasted success as an author and is selling her book, "Berried in Chocolate: How I Built a Multimillion-Dollar Business by Doing What I Love to Do and How You Can Too." In the book, released last spring, Fitzpatrick details her rise from dipping chocolates in her kitchen to founding and overseeing a multimillion-dollar company. It started out as Shari's Berries — however, she lost that name when majority stockholders sold the company. The company that took it over still continues as Shari's Berries, an online business.She continued dipping and selling under the name, The Berry Factory, but many consumers didn't recognize the difference between the two companies. She also ran into financial problems due in part to the economy and partly due to the fact that she lost the rights to sell under her original company name."Life's too short to fight," she said about the closure of the stores and the business bankruptcy. "The last several years have been so hard."Since the debut of her book, she has spoken to a gathering at Intel in Folsom, the Sacramento Rotary, church groups and women's organizations. She's also consulting with other women around the world about starting businesses.A strong Christian, Fitzpatrick prayed about her next venture. "Things have come full circle," she said. "I feel good, happy and motivated. God has given me new gifts, new relationships and new dreams and I'm smarter this time."The idea for frozen strawberries came from the late George Wong, co-founder of Bel Air Markets and member of the Berry Factory's board of directors. "During a lunch a couple of years ago with the Wong family, George Wong told me he froze the chocolate-dipped berries and, when he wanted one, would thaw it," Fitzpatrick said. "That was a divine meeting. I was always trying to figure out what to do with the small berries that came with the shipments of strawberries," Fitzpatrick said. "I always gave them away." Wong's son, Terry, offered to help and has provided a 40,000-square-foot warehouse in Roseville where the frozen line will be produced. "He's the brains behind the production process and the timing was perfect," she said."I'm working with engineers. It's very interesting," Fitzpatrick said. "Everything is automated." Fitzpatrick has moved her office to Placerville and now lives in that area. That location has inspired another venture."I'm looking to open a new strawberry-chocolate store on Main Street," Fitzpatrick said. She wants to feature a berry bar and wine tasting, with different wineries joining her for a month at a time. A couple of local wineries already have expressed interest."I'll dip and ship fresh strawberries from there," she said. She also plans to return to selling wine in bottles that are dipped in chocolate. "The book will be chocolate-dipped like the bottles," she said. "People can peel off the chocolate and eat it while reading the book."She hasn't set an opening date for the Placerville shop. "The berry bar is on the back burner. I had Shari's Berries in my mind for one year before I opened that," she said. In the meantime she will be focusing on the launch of her new frozen line of chocolate-dipped fruits.----------The Christian Business Roundtable What: Luncheon with speaker Shari Fitzpatrick, who will be signing and selling copies of her book, "Berried in Chocolate."When: 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. ThursdayWhere: Granite Bay Country Club, 900 Golf Club Drive in Granite Bay. Cost: $29 online until midnight Tuesday; $35 at the door, seating limited. Open to the public.Info: www.thecbr.org