When Daniela Fry started dipping chocolate-covered strawberries for friends and family in 2014, she never dreamed that these desserts would launch her business, Dipped by Dee. At the time, Fry was a senior in high school.
“I just did it for my friends and family because it was something exciting and fun to do; something different to do for Valentine’s Day,” she says. “I got a real kick out of it. A lot of my friends enjoyed the strawberries I made for them; it kind of started from there.”
Every year after that, Fry continued doing chocolate-dipped strawberries for Valentine’s Day. Every time she did them, she would get requests for more flavors and more designs. In 2016, Fry officially started the Dipped by Dee Instagram account and started selling her dipped strawberries for the first time.
“It was nothing compared to what it is now, but that was the first year that I actually sold it to friends,” Fry says.
When Fry started studying business in college at the University of New Mexico, she realized she could integrate her business experience with her studies.
“I never thought I was going to do entrepreneurship, but I was able to apply my business in a lot of my classes because we had to come up with business plans,” she says. “One thing led to another. Eventually, I graduated from college, I moved to Hawaiʻi to be with my husband, and I started to take it (this business) a little more seriously.”
Dipped by Dee’s first storefront location opened on Sand Island Access Road in 2019. In April 2022, the business moved to its current ‘Aiea location (in ‘Aiea Town Square) to be more central for everyone, Fry says.
The dessert shop now not only features dipped strawberries, but also dipped apples, cheesecake cups, tarts and drip cups. While she started out with strawberries, Fry said she knew she wanted to expand the selection of dipped treats — hence, the business’s name.
“I did not want to do Strawberries by Dee because I knew I wanted to keep it pretty general; there’s a lot of different things we can dip,” she says.
The most popular treats at Dipped by Dee’s Hawaiʻi store include chocolate-covered strawberries and cheesecake cups.
“Everything that I’ve learned has been from trial and error — checking out what works and what doesn’t work,” she says. “I’ve gone through pretty much every brand of chocolate you can think of. Requests have always come from our customers and our employees, so we brainstorm ideas and test it out.”
Dipped by Dee is often recognized for its caramel dipped apples, which often feature seasonal designs ranging from Mickey Mouse and other Disney themes to Labubus (more on those later). The biz only started offering apples since 2020, according to Fry, who says mastering the method was more difficult.
“It’s not rocket science, but it took us a few years to perfect it,” she says. “It was a lot more challenging to master the apples, but it’s now my favorite thing to make and dip. They’re bigger (than the strawberries), so I feel like I can get more done. Once I nailed the recipes and consistencies, it’s been a lot more fun to do the apples. We have a lot more creativity with the designs.”
Compared to the dipped strawberries, apples have a longer shelf life — they typically last for about a week, as long as they’re refrigerated, according to Fry. While strawberry shortcake and cookie butter are the most popular flavors for dipped apples, seasonal designs are a hit with customers. The biz recently launched a limited-time dipped apple featuring Labubu decorations. These specialty apples ($16) are sold in a blind box, just like the highly sought-after collectible plush toys.
“There’s so much detail in making these; we hand paint the chocolate on there,” Fry says. “They’re a lot of work, but we got a lot of good feedback from our customers and the kids. The kids love the blind boxes because that’s how the Labubus are. You don’t know what you’re going to get; people love the concept. We have four different colors, and we also came up with own our secret Labubu.
“We were only going to do one tray, but because everybody’s been loving them so much, we decided to keep going for a little bit longer,” she adds. “It’s only been a week (since we started offering them); this might be the third tray that we’ve done.”
The Labubus may or may not be at Dipped by Dee’s booth at the Made in Hawaiʻi Festival, coming up Aug. 15-17 at Hawaiʻi Convention Center. While Fry can’t guarantee they’ll be there, she’s considering offering them as a limited, exclusive item.
Customers can expect to see the business’s Dubai chocolate drip cups at the festival. Drip cups include milk or white chocolate plus strawberries. The Dubai drip cups, which includes pistachio drizzle and kataifi for extra creaminess and texture, have been popular ever since the business launched them.
This is the business’s second time participating in the Made in Hawaiʻi Festival, according to Fry.
“We’re really excited,” she says. “We had no idea what to expect last year, and it was a lot of fun. It was a big crowd, and I think we’re going to be a lot more prepared this year.”
Fry currently splits her time between Hawaiʻi and Las Vegas — ever since she opened her Las Vegas location last October, she’s been at that store more, but returns to Oʻahu for big events like the Made in Hawaiʻi Festival.
“I’m trying to get the Vegas store more known,” she says. “The store itself is pretty self-sufficient, but I’m trying to get more involved with the community there so more people know who we are. We’re constantly getting new customers and new people who are discovering us in Las Vegas.”
Opening a Las Vegas location was something Fry remembers considering since 2021, but at that time, it seemed like “a wild idea.”
“I didn’t even think it would be possible,” she says. “We just kept entertaining the idea and started doing the research. We knew we had a good opportunity out there because there’s a lot of (Hawaiʻi) locals out there, and it’s a foodie central — just that culture of exciting places to eat. We knew it was going to be a good start for us to branch out to the Mainland, for sure.”
Some of the highlights of the business’s journey thus far includes meeting a variety of people, ranging from celebrities and influencers to the foodie community and other female entrepreneurs who have become friends, according to Fry.
“Meeting the friends that I have found along the way has always been my favorite part,” she says. “Building the team that I’ve built has been one of my biggest, proudest moments. They (my team) have been my family since everything started, throughout the whole journey. They’re more than just employees.”
While social media has been useful in terms of inspiration for some of her product designs, Fry notes that managing social media and maintaining a platform can also be a challenge.
“Social media criticism comes all the time,” she says. “That’s been the biggest challenge for me to overcome because I’m very emotionally involved with the business. It’s tough to put my emotions aside and not take things personally. We’re always open to feedback and ideas, and any way we can improve.
“It’s (dipping treats) not as easy as we make it look,” she adds. “It’s very easy to say that you can make it at home, but it takes a lot of trial and error.”
The varying sizes of fruits is another challenge for the business — one that Fry has been able to creatively navigate. While strawberry season is typically around Valentine’s Day, the biz offers Berry Bitez, which are cups of bite-sized strawberries that have become popular with customers during the fruits’ off-season. The surplus of smaller berries resulted in the OG Assorted, milk chocolate and dark chocolate Berry Bitez. Other specialty flavors include white chocolate, cookie butter, churro, shortcake and cotton candy.
“One of the biggest challenges we face with strawberries is they vary in size, shape, color, quality, quantity and price,” she says. “When they’re not in season, we reject more strawberries than we normally would. On the bright side, our customers love the bite-sized berries. It’s one of the best concepts we’ve had and one of the things that sets us apart from other bigger, corporate companies.”
Customers can always expect something new at Dipped by Dee, as the store features a variety of weekly specials. The biz is currently offering cheesecake slices — different flavors are released weekly — and watermelon popsicles at its ʻAiea store. The latter is a summer special, and features a watermelon slice on a stick. It’s wrapped in a fruit roll-up and sprinkled with chamoy and tajin.
“We definitely owe it (inspiration) to our customers and employees who are always pitching ideas and brainstorming different things,” says Fry, who adds that the team is experimenting with different drinks, with the goal of adding a few to the menu. “We see what’s trending on social media, and we always try to see what we can do to switch it up and add our own special twist to it.
“Thank you, Hawaiʻi, for always supporting us,” she says. “Every time I come back to Hawaiʻi, I always can see that there’s no place like home.”
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CONTACT
Dipped by Dee
99-080 Kauhale St. Ste. B1, ‘Aiea
Dippedbydee.com
Instagram: @dippedby_dee
Made in Hawai‘i Festival is scheduled for Aug. 15 to 17 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center. Tickets.
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
