KockaCsoki – where making chocolate helps people with autism

Many people start a similar business because of family involvement. What motivated you to start an autism-friendly chocolate manufactory?

The idea is a personal one for me too: I have an autistic son. I didn't start out wanting to start a business, I was looking for a hobby and enrolled in a confectionery school where I developed a passion for chocolate making. My wife was preparing a paper for the college to present a social innovation - describing an imaginary workplace where people with disabilities work. This got us thinking about starting a chocolate manufactory where young people with autism work. The idea was born on paper, the essay was well done. Then we came across an advertisement from NESsT Hungary saying that if we had a good idea for a social enterprise, we could apply, and those selected would be given a training course to develop a business plan. We did that, we didn't win there, but NESsT brought us a sponsor who helped us get started. So we got a third of the initial capital and two-thirds from family savings. After two years of preparation, we launched in 2016.

You and your wife work together. How do you divide the tasks?  

I do the catering, the chocolate-making part, the chocolate-making workshops, and my wife is the manager of the professional programs. With the help of our professional staff, she develops the programs for young people, young adults with autism and coordinates the tasks.

„KockaCsoki” means a square of chocolate. Does it refer to chocolate only?

A square, or ‘cube’ as we call it, is not just a piece of chocolate. It's a label that tends to be given to people who live very rule-following lives, and autistic people are rule-followers, they like to live by a system, so the word ‘square’  is also a reference to autism, but for us, it's a very positive attribute.

Anyone who enters can see that this is a special place. But what makes it special? 

We are the first place in Hungary to make sweets, and we do it with people with autism.

We have created a community space in KockaPont (‘Cube Point’) that focuses specifically on people with autism, and we are the only one doing so so far.

Do customers choose you deliberately?

We have many customers who only find out that these chocolates were made by autistic people after they have ordered them. And many of them come to us because they know that we have people with autism working for us, and they prefer to buy their chocolates here, supporting a good cause. It's important that we offer quality products, using first-class ingredients.

How does KockaCsoki achieve its mission as a non-profit, social enterprise?

 Our aim is to help and support young people with autism to find employment and start working. We want to help them integrate into society, as well as introduce their world so that people can get to know them better. We are a social enterprise employing people with disabilities, and the income from the sale of chocolates, services, and the café is used to run our programs and events.

What types of work are people with autism very good at and what are they not? 

It depends on the personality rather than autism.

To know an autistic person is to know a person, not autism.

There are professions or parts of a job that they may not be able to do well in. We work with them in the chocolate shop, in the café, and in children's programs. Chocolate making is easy to break down into well-described, small steps, and they do very well in the chocolate workshop. We have a female colleague with autism who can manage busy children's parties, directing the children, even though theoretically it's an uncomfortable situation for people with autism. They also do very well in office work, which includes spreadsheets, stock records, and production diaries. Autism affects communication and social behavior, so they generally have difficulties in these areas. However, for example, one of our colleagues can deliver parcels to new addresses, or meet new people, the other can't. So is making coffee, serving coffee, communicating with customers. They love and want to work, they do their best to do well.

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Ákos Dénes - Photo: KockaCsoki

What do you do to educate, to raise awareness? Are there any good practices?

We go out to companies to raise awareness, and we have a lot of integrated programs - like chocolate making or other craft activities - involving young people and children with autism, but also people without autism. We see that they can work very well together, they get to know each other better.

We want to break down the stereotypes that surround them.

What programs do you offer at Cube Points and for whom?

On the one hand, we have a series of pre-employment programs for young people with autism, but we also have courses on independent living, trainee programs, career guidance, and, of course, employment itself. We also have an online job search program, in addition to programs for parents. Parents with a recent diagnosis can attend legal training, where they can get information about opportunities for children with autism, such as what they can claim in their situation, where to go in case of adverseness, including pre-school, school, further education, employment, and adult housing. In addition to the educational programs, we also organize leisure activities, integrated programs for people with autism, and leisure activities for parents. We also run chocolate-making workshops, birthday parties and our parents' club is popular.

Do you have experts helping you? 

Yes, we have a special needs teacher and a lawyer both of them are involved in both developing and delivering our programs.

How does the career guidance program help young people looking for a job?

This is a year-long program where we regularly meet six young people with autism who will learn about employment, jobs, and vocations on this course. Together we visit workplaces or we are visited by representatives of various vocations. During the school year, the young people get an idea of the labor market that will help them to find out what is right for them.

Let me point out here that very few places run such a career guidance program for non-autistic people, even though all adolescents would need it.

What is the "autism-friendly" environment that you have created here?

It is cozy and under-stimulated, with low lights and soundproofing to block out street noise. The surfaces and graphics are simple, there are no stimulating images or patterns on the walls, and the music is soft. There is also a library, where visitors can find everything from professional books to comic books.

The author is a student at the Ferenc Faludi Jesuit Academy’s journalism course.