ten little chocolate factories

TEN LITTLE CHOCOLATE FACTORIES

Copyright © 2010 by Lauren Baier

First Edition printed 2010.

Printed in the United States of America

Minneapolis College of Art & Design

2501 Stevens Avenue

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404

Designed by Lauren Baier

Content by Lauren Baier and www.ChocolateSource.com

TEN LITTLE CHOCOLATE FACTORIES

A Study of the Passion Behind Chocolate Making and Chocolate Eating

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Bean-to-Bar Process

Interviews

Glossary of Chocolate Terminology

Index of Chocolate Makers

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1

I have a fascination with candy stores. The cheerful tinkle of the bell when you walk in, the shelves lined with jars filled with brightly colored sugary baubles, the sound of metal scoops plunging into jellybeans, and the thick smell of homemade fudge in the air. But it is not only my personal fondness for these details that attracts me to the notion of candy stores. It is the joy that others experience that keeps me interested. I have a theory that any person can be going through any situation, but still crack a smile while in a candy store. It just can’t be helped.

As someone who is interested in studying and designing human experiences, it makes sense why this would be interesting to me. I am on a continual quest to find the perfect candy store and visit as many as I can. The funny thing is, I’m not even that big of a candy fan. Sure I like it, and I have my favorites, but I definitely like candy stores more than I like candy itself.

The idea for this project stemmed from this idea about certain experiences affecting people in emotional ways. Chocolate affects people in a similar manner to the way candy shops do, perhaps on an even more personal level. Everyone has an opinion on chocolate. Whether they hate it, love it, or can’t function without it, everyone feels something about it. I was curious about this deep-running passion, so I began asking people about their favorite chocolate. It got me thinking about the many different types of chocolate that exist. Aside from the many different flavor combinations that exist, there are also several classes of chocolate. Beyond the standard Hershey bar, there are also more high-quality choices. Local, Fair-Trade, Organic, etc. There are a multitude of options.

INTRODUCTION

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Through my investigation, I learned about a particular process of chocolate making that I had never heard of before. This process is called “Bean to Bar.” What this means is that the chocolate maker starts with the original ingre-dient, cacao beans, and turns them into finished chocolate products like bars, drinking chocolate, confections, and other tasty treats. Although this may be the way you imagine all chocolate making to be done, sadly that is not the case. At the time of publication, there are around one hundred chocolate manufacturers who use this process. The majority fall into two categories; those who are multi-million dollar corporations, and those who have been bought out by multi-million dollar corporations. The remaining few are those I have chosen to focus on.

Some of these chocolate makers are based in countries where cacao is grown. They harvest the beans themselves and are thus actually known as “Tree to Bar” versus “Bean to Bar.”

Surprisingly, although the Unites States is not necessarily regarded for its chocolate production, it is the country with the highest number of Bean to Bar chocolate manufacturers. At this time there are around twenty in operation.

BEAN-TO-BAR PROCCESS

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I wanted to find a way to capture the passion behind the people who make chocolate, these “experience designers” of sorts. Bean-to-bar chocolate makers seem to be even more emotionally invested in their chosen art form than the standard producer of chocolate. There may be a personal tie, a social belief, a political agenda, or a multitude of other hidden facets to their reasoning. I decided the only way to learn about how people feel about creating this object of desire would be to simply ask them about it.

The following interviews were conducted over a three month period with bean-to-bar chocoalte makers from around the world. Over twenty were contacted, spanning twelve different countries. The special group that chose to participate became my ten little chocolate factories.

I asked each chocolate maker to answer the same set of four questions in writing, through email. Although the questions were the same, the answers differed widely.

INTERVIEWS

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NAME: MÓNICA TELLOJOB TITLE: DIRECTOR OF GUEST EXPERIENCE

AH CACAO REAL CHOCOLATE - MEXICO

1) How did you get into your profession?

2) What is it about your job that you enjoy the most?

3) Why do you choose to do your craft the way you do?

A combination of things all came together at the same time that myself and my husband to initiate a Mexican chocolate company:

A serious love of chocolate

A desire to introduce more people to the joys of REAL chocolate made with fine tasting cacao

A desire to share the story of chocolate and cacao: where it comes from, who grows it, its prehispanic his-tory, etc. and establish a deeper connection between the people who sweat in the cacao plantations and those who enjoy the exquisite taste of fine cacao

That I have the opportunity to serve people from all over the world and most of them leave with a chocolate or coffee in their hands and a smile on their face.

In our case it’s because we wanted a fine tasting 100% Mexican product and producing ourselves from carefully selected beans was the only way to achieve the quality and type of product we desired.

4) Why do you do this job versus something else? What do you think you are offering to society?

We started this proyect with a dream of helping conserve nature by creating value from it, in this case by cultivating high quality cacao which grows below the forest canopy. By expanding the demand for high quality cacao products we increase the forested areas in Mexico while simultaneously improving the quality of life of the cacao producers.

We also create jobs in Mexico along the entire value chain, which includes our own Ah Cacao Chocolate Café stores. The consumers of our products receive the health benefits of cacao with none of the undesireable ingredients added by most mass market choco-late producers (some of our products have no sugar, for example and are sweetened only by natural fruits), in fact we consider that the real “product”(or benefit) we offer our consumers is “natural well-being”.

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NAME: JOSE RODRIGO SALGADOJOB TITLE: MANAGING DIRECTOR

CHOCOLATES FÉNIX - ARGENTINA


My family started making chocolate in 1889 when my great-grandfather built his first cocoa mill in the Spanish Galicia back in 1889. Since then the family continued with this profession. Our houses are located just beside and above the factory so even when being a child you start to appreciate the flavors, smells and rythms of the business. Naturally, I grew up knowing and yearning to become part of this tradition. But the family’s policy is to make members as prepared as possible before receiving any responsibility. I therefore studied my Engineering degree and afterwards took an MBA in Finance abroad before getting into the decission making team.


Processing a natural food which is healthy and gives people joy when consuming is definitively a “child’s dream”. Besides, the need to supply the main ingredient from such places as Bolivian amazonia, Brazilian Bahia or Ecuador’s Esmeraldas, gives me the opportunity to learn cultures, create human relationships, etc that not every job offers.


It is not actually really a choice. We have been doing it that way for more than 120 years, so why change? If a morning I woke up and the cocoa bean roasting smell does not reach my bed , then I will feel half the thing is missing.

Choosing to start from bean gives you many advantages:Firstly you can control the quality. It is not the same to buy an ASE (Arriba Summer Epoca) to an ASSS (Arriba Summer Superior Selected) arriba bean from Ecuador. Industrial liquor you may buy from multinationals is most probably made from the first. But if you want to really assure a good flavor profile you have to get at least an ASSS bean classification. This applies to almost all

origins. When the production area does not have a standard es-tablished then you must travel personally to the place and make sure their fermentation and drying processes are done correctly.

Secondly, buying the bean allows you to explore different flavor profiles, varieties, etc when bringing beans from different places or origins. This can get as specific as buying beans only from a single farm or plantation. Only small and medium manufacturers can do this. Bigger ones find this small volumes not interesting for their scale.

Thirdly, buying the bean can give you a social and peaceful ex-perience since you get to know the people you are buying from, the producers. In this way you can avoid buying cocoa that could be obtained from child-labor activity, unfair trading practices or even slavery. We make sure to know exactly from where our cocoa comes.

Lastly, chosing to buy the bean can give you the possibility to buy as natural production as possible, knowing which fertilization and pesticides policy are used, etc.


As I told you before I really enjoy what I am doing. People smile at you when your profession is in discussion. People feel happy to talk about it, People feel interested to know more about your chocolate and how it is made. So why look into another job? We are offering to society a historical food, healthy, an experience to develop our own tastes, the possibility to create an inmense range of other products with it . . .

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NAME: MOTT GREENJOB TITLE: DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER

GRENADA CHOCOLATE COMPANY - GRENADA





I lived in the woods here in Grenada in a bamboo house I built to grow food and live self sufficiently. Fell in love with cocoa trees and kitchen-style processing of hot chocolate. Developed dream of making fine eating dark chocolate with a cooperative or organic cocoa farmers. Been pursuing that for the past 10 years.

I enjoy making a delicious food that people enjoy so much and at the same time enjoy tinkering/designing the machinery and bits and pieces. Also a thrill to be on our cocoa farms a lot and direct the agricultural part of the project.

I wanted to make a chocolate that was farmer-made at the farm because I believe this is the only true way to make sure the value of fine chocolate is shared with everyone who produces it includ-ing all the farmers.

I am helping Grenadian society by helping to encourage bringing back farming, this time with a sense of pride and in a more lucra-tive way. I am offering the whole world the chance to eat the most delicious dark chocolate with the purest ethics behind its production. Also, our project seems to inspire people in general.

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NAME: PETER HANSSONJOB TITLE: MANAGING DIRECTOR

MALMÖ CHOKLADFABRIK - SWEDEN




I worked in the mobile telephone industry for many years and traveled a lot in cocoa producing countries. The last few years we lived in France, Belgium and the Netherlands where my wife learned how to make pralines. My family bought an old property which happened to be a chocolate factory and we felt it was time to move back home to Sweden and start a chocolate business after 11 years abroad.

Taste, flavors, sounds, texture, colors. Also the fact that almost every person likes chocolate or at least has an opinion about it helps.

Crazy idea, which we regretted many times. In Sweden, we are the only bean-to-bar maker and we understand now why. It is really hard work! Still, we think it is funny to be bean-to-bar. It would be much easier to make money, if we were not making our own chocolate.


Our main challenge is education. We are running chocolate tasting event almost every day, where we educate people on the topic of chocolate nad have a tasting afterwards. There is so much rubbish products in Sweden which people think is choco-late. Our mission is to educate as many people as possible.

IT WOULD BE MUCH EASIER TO

MAKE MONEY IF WE WERE NOT

MAKING OUR OWN CHOCOLATE.

“”

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NAME: PAM & BOB COOPERJOB TITLE: OWNERS

ORIGINAL HAWAIIAN CHOCOLATE COMPANY - USA

1) How did you get into your profession? 2) What is it about your job that you enjoy the most?



In 1997 we accomplished our dream to live where the mountains meet the sea, by purchasing a “Cocoa Plantation” on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no plans to farm as we had a won-derful caretaker that took care of the six acres we’d purchased here for our semi-retirement. The cacao trees had just come to fruition and they surely had a “life of their own”. As this is a very new crop for the State of Hawaii, we decided to encourage others to grow cacao, but it would be necessary for us to create a market for the niche signature chocolate that would have to be produced to sustain such an industry here. Sugarcane and pineapple have run their course here and small family farmers needed a new crop to diversity their farms. Thus, we set about hiring a consultant, had beans tested, transformed our ag-shed into the smallest chocolate factory ever and so began America’s first homegrown and produced single origin chocolate.

It has truly been an adventure from the beginning and no two days are ever the same. We love having people visit and do tours by appointment. It would be irresponsible for us not to share our knowledge and experience and offering viewing of the process from tree to bar. This is the only place in our country where cacao trees will grow. We have people come from all over the world to see the cacao trees and our factory.

Our process is actually tree to bar and everything is done right here on the farm. We do buy wet cocoa beans from a number of growers (who we encouraged to plant) whose trees are coming to fruition now that completes a vertically integrated industry right here!

We offer and are giving back by supporting: local farmers, local retailers (we have approx. 60 and growing), Hawaii Regional Cui-sine Chefs, educational tours for senior citizens, school children, college students) and now the agritourism industry. We are also proud to be part of the American “Can Do!” mentality.

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NAME: SANTIAGO PERALTAJOB TITLE: FOUNDER/OWNER

PACARI CHOCOLATE - ECUADOR





Growing up with parents who appreciated the natural world, I decided that it would be wonderful to build a company based on some aspect of natural products. Being from Ecuador, which is blessed with one of the best cacao beans in the world, I thought this would be an interesting path.

For several years, my wife Carla and I began selling bulk cacao products in Europe and the US, and then developed a range of couverture for some European chocolate companies. It was very well-regarded, and so we decided to make finished product under our own brand, Pacari Chocolate. We wanted to create a high quality, organic chocolate that was made in our country, and show that Ecuador not only has the arriba nacional bean, but that we can produce an exceptional product ourselves. This not only is a matter of pride for our country, but also helps to keep more of the jobs and profits where it counts.

Making a quality product that we all can be proud of, and experi-menting with new ways to work with the cacao are the best parts of making artisanal chocolate. We are a small, creative group dedicated to quality and innovation, and of course promoting organic agriculture.

As Ecuadorians, we are able to source the best of the best beans that grow in our country, and. This enables us to work directly with the cacao growers, providing training and capacity building in how to achieve organic cacao of high quality. We get the qual-ity of beans we need, and the growers get a higher price for their superior cacao.

I got my degree in law, thinking that I would work to promote justice. After a while I was disillusioned, realizing that law was not the same thing as justice. I decided I could have a direct im-pact by creating a socially responsible company, which supports local communities and the environment, as well as the health of our final customers. Every day I come to work excited about what we are doing and have yet to do.

EVERYDAY I COME TO

WORK EXCITED ABOUT

WHAT WE ARE DOING.

“”

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NAME: DUFFY SHEARDOWNJOB TITLE: CHOCOLATE MAKER

RED STAR CHOCOLATE - ENGLAND





After 25 years making racing cars I needed a change. I heard a radio programme stating that “Only Cadburys” make chocolate in the UK from beans - everyone else makes confections using couverture that they buy in. My background and arrogance led me to say “how hard can it be” and when yet another race team collapsed beneath me I decided to find out. I spent a year finding equipment and testing suppliers and recipes and then opened my own factory producing bars of chocolate made from beans.

I have total control over all aspects of the process and if anything goes wrong it is down to me. I also get to test a lot of chocolate and hope to make the best chocolate in the world - one day.

If you want to control the taste of the final chocolate it makes sense to have control of as many of the processes as you can. I’m not a farmer so I can’t grow the beans and I can’t dry and ferment them either. Everything else I can and do control.

I chose to start this business because I can’t see myself in a “regular” job. I don’t respect authority particularly and I’m used to operating with a huge degree of autonomy that I wasn’t prepared to give up.

I don’t think I am offering society anything other than good choc-olate. My web-site will have some information about the farm-ers and how they live and I will tithe my profits to return some money to the farming communities. I also pay extra for Fairtrade and good quality beans. Maybe I can help the cacau-growing farmers in some small way to have a less meagre existence.

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NAME: DAVID CASTELLANJOB TITLE: CHOCOLATE MAKER

SOMA CHOCOLATEMAKER - CANADA





I got into chocolate from the pastry / baking end. My mother had a bakery and I grew up baking. In the mid eighties I worked with a few European pastry chefs that really taught me how to make a proper ganache, temper etc. I did a stage in Cortina D’ampezzo where we often used a two roll granite refiner and a small coat-ing pan. The machines added another dimension to the work, using them required another set of skills but there was an artistry too, especially using the coating pan. I continued with chocolate after a long stint as a pastry chef in various restaurants.

There is a huge amount of freedom especially because we sell most of our chocolate in our store. It is more like an experimen-tal lab. I can work on any crazy chocolate idea and because we have a steady clientele, it is on the shelf and purchased possibly on the same day. In the wholesale chocolate scenario, an idea would have to be worked out with sales in mind as well as a lot of money spent on packaging bar code etc. It takes the fun out of it. I have the pleasure of working with Cynthia my wife and partner. We work well together and as she does thedesign/packaging, we can come up with products on the fly.

It is a magical and yet technical process that is appealing in that there is so much to learn and yet it is so simple. In essence is it just roasting, grinding and creating an emulsion of cocoa beans and sugar. but in that there are a million variables. Exploring the variables is the job!

We hope to offer an interesting new way to appreciate on ancient substance. As far as our place in society, any way to do this in a small, artesan, community oriented and non-corporate way is beneficial...

IT’S MORE LIKE AN

EXPERIMENTAL LAB.“

”

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NAME: GRACE ERICKSONJOB TITLE: PRODUCTION MANAGER

TCHO - USA





I graduated college with a degree in Business Operations Man-agement and had my heart set on candy manufacturing. The Bay Area had numerous chocolate companies at that time - See’s, Schmidt, Scharffenberger, Guittard, Ghirardelli, Blommer, et al. I applied to all and ended up with a job in Production Planning at Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.

I enjoy the continuous movement and problem-solving aspects of my job. Manufacturing is exciting and ever-changing — it’s where the life of a product begins.

TCHO chooses the bean-to-bar process because it enables a com-pany to control quality at the highest level. We choose the beans we want and we fly out out of the country to roast our beans to our desired specifications and ship the milled liquor to our factory to finish the rest of the process. If we did not control the entire process from bean-to-bar then our options would be limited to the couverture that is available on the open market, which is not customized to our specifications.

I choose this job because I love working with chocolate and building those products for the marketplace.

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NAME: NATHAN ROYSTONJOB TITLE: PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

THEO CHOCOLATE - USA




I always loved chocolate ever since I was a little kid and that was a love that never left me. When I moved to Seattle about four years ago and found out there was an actual chocolate factory in the city, I went to check it out. I was really inspired after getting a tour of the facility and asked if there were opportunities to vol-unteer for a few hours a week. I was offered a job a couple days later and it felt like an opportunity that was too good to pass up. I have been working here ever since.

At this point Theo is only about 50 employees, which means that you really get to feel the impact of your work. This can be both positive or negative but is always a great motivator. It is easy to see when you make mistakes but also easy to see the effects of your successes. Also, the small number of employees means that you can be involved in anything that you put your energy into whether it be developing new products, participating in events outside of work, or improving internal processes.

One of the interesting things about chocolate manufacturing in general is how few people are actually making chocolate from bean to bar. There are a small handful of manufactures that supply chocolate to the world.

Being able to produce chocolate from bean to bar gives us so much more control over the type of chocolate we’d like to make. For Theo in particular, we get the option of sourcing Organic and Fair Trade cocoa beans, something no other American chocolate maker is currently doing.

It also means we have control over driving innovation and maintaining our own quality, because we are actually doing the manufacturing, each step of the way. It is a source of great pride for me and all the employees here that we get to have a hand in making something truly unique.


At this point, even though chocolate manufacturing is not what I intended to do in my life, the excitement I receive from work-ing for a small, growing company is more than enough to keep me at this job. I have seen huge changes here over the past few years and can’t wait to see what happens next. Even jobs that may offer more pay, or fewer hours, could not offer the environ-ment that Theo offers right now. I feel like I am a large part of something that is growing and has the potential to be successful. As far as social contribution, working for a company that have social and environmental sustainability components in their mis-sion statement, helps keep me motivated to do a good job. What Theo is trying to do by empowering consumers with chocolate knowledge, and helping farmers at origin is very rare in an industry that is traditionally not transparent on any level and not concerned with social and environmental issues.

CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURING

IS NOT WHAT I INTENDED TO

DO WITH MY LIFE.

“”

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GLOSSARY OF CHOCOLATE TERMINOLOGY

Bittersweet chocolate, not to be confused with unsweetened or semisweet chocolate, is primarily used for baking. A slightly sweetened dark chocolate, it has many uses such as making shiny chocolate curls as garnishes or rich, dense chocolate cakes. Both it and semisweet chocolate are required by the U.S. FDA to contain at least 35% chocolate liquor.

Bittersweet

A term used for a cacao plant but also for the unprocessed product (pods) of the cacao plant.

Cacao

Chocolate liquor is made up of the finely ground nib of the cocoa bean. This is technically not yet chocolate. This type of chocolate is also known as un-sweetened chocolate and is also referred to cocoa mass or cocoa liquor.

Chocolate Liquor

Source of all chocolate and cocoa, cocoa beans are found in the pods (fruit) of the cocoa tree, an evergreen cultivated mainly within twenty degrees north or south of the equator.

Cocoa Beans

Cocoa butter is a complex, hard fat made up mostly of triglycerides, it re-mains firm at room temperature, then it contracts as it cools and solidifies. It is ideal for molding.

Cocoa Butter

A list of terms related to chocolate making and chocolate eating.

Between the blossoms of the permanently flowering cocoa tree we can see fruit at various stages of development. The egg-shaped cocoa pods measure between 6 and 12 inches and hang from the trunk and the largest branches. Each fruit contains between 30 and 40 beans of about 1 cm (about 0.5 inch) in length.

Cocoa Pods

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The result of extracting cocoa butter from cocoa paste. Cocoa powder is used to prepare chocolate drinks or to sprinkle truffles and chocolate tarts.

Cocoa Powder

The processing step called ‘conching’ reduces the moistness of the cocoa mass and removes the volatile acids. At the same time, this step allows for specific aromas and smoothness to be associated with chocolate. Conching is the process where the chocolate is “plowed” back and forth through the liquid chocolate which smoothes the chocolate and rounds out the flavor, essential for the flavor, the texture and the overall quality of the chocolate.

Conching

Couverture is a term used to describe professional-quality coating chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa butter, at least 32%, and as high as 39% for good quality couverture. The extra cocoa butter allows the chocolate to form a thinner coating shell than non-couverture chocolate.

Couverture

Dark chocolate must contain a minimum of 43% cocoa to be called “dark” according to European norms. A “70% cocoa chocolate” is considered quite dark while 85% and even 88% cocoa dark chocolates have become quite popular for dark chocolate lovers.

Dark Chocolate

The best known kind of eating chocolate. Milk chocolate is made by combin-ing the chocolate liquid, extra cocoa butter, milk or cream, sweetening, and flavorings.

Milk Chocolate

The kernels of coc0a beans are usually called ‘nibs’ and are the basic ingredi-ent of which chocolate is made. Sometimes, nibs are used to add texture to chocolate bars or chocolate deserts.

Nibs

The word ‘organic’ refers to how these food products are produced. Organic production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replen-ishes the fertility of the soil. Organic foods are produced without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. They are processed without artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation. Organic chocolate contains a mini-mum of 95% naturally grown and certified raw materials.

Organic

Prepared by blending chocolate liquid with varying amounts of sweetening and added cocoa butter. Flavorings may be included. After processing, the chocolate is cooled. Sweet chocolate is usually molded into bars. Semisweet chocolate is also available in bar form, but most popularly as pieces. This is the generic term. Different manufacturers use different names such as blocs, squares, bits, etc. Chocolate is also granulated and known as “shot,” used for decoration by candy makers and confectioners.

Semisweet and Sweet Chocolate

A natural product extracted from the soy bean that is used as a thinner in chocolate. During the manufacturing of chocolate, lecithin controls flow properties through the reduction of viscocity.

Lecithin

White chocolate is not considered real chocolate, because although it has cocoa butter (at least 32% to be considered of good quality), it does not have chocolate liquor. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, milk, sugar and vanilla.

White Chocolate

Tempering is the process of bringing the chocolate to a certain temperature whereby the cocoa butter reaches its most stable crystal form. There are several forms in which the butter can crystallize, only one of which ensures the hardness, shrinking force and gloss of the finished product after it has cooled. If the chocolate is melted in the normal way (between 40 and 45°C) and then left to cool to working temperature, the finished product will not be gloss. Proper tempering, followed by proper cooling produces a nice shine and good eating properties

Tempering

“ChocolateSource.com About Chocolate - Glossary.” The premier source for gourmet chocolate. Order Gourmet Chocolate on-line: Belgian, American and French, baking chocolate, truffles, gift box of Nirvana Chocolates, bars from Callebaut, Cote D’Or, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, chocolate spread and many other items. <http://www.chocolatesource.com/glossary/>.

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INDEX OF CHOCOLATE MAKERS

Ah Cacao Real Chocolatewww.ahcacao.com

Chocolates Fénixwww.chocolatesfenix.com

Grenada Chocolate Companywww.grenadachocolate.com

Malmö Chokladfabrikwww.malmochokladfabrik.se

Original Hawaiian Chocolate Companywww.ohcf.us

Pacari Chocolatewww.pacarichocolate.com

Red Star Chocolatewww.redstarchocolate.co.uk

SOMA Chocolatemakerwww.somachocolate.com

TCHOwww.tcho.com

Theo Chocolatewww.theochocolate.com

ten little chocolate factories

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