Art Pollard, founder of Amano Artisan Chocolate, is a hands-on kind of guy with a keen eye for quality and a passion for connecting with farmers and getting to the source of the bean. He travels the world looking for the highest quality cacao beans and searching for the farmers that grow with their hearts.
Based in Utah’s Wasatch Mountain range in the heart of the Rockies, Amano is dedicated to creating some of the world’s most exquisite chocolate through traditional techniques. “Amano means ‘by hand’ and ‘they love’ in Italian, and that describes the care and perfection that Amano brings to chocolate and in turn to the people who savor it.”
Pollard visits plantations, forms deep and long-lasting relationships with farmers, and even helps them improve their processes to raise the standard of their cacao beans.
Recently, we sat down with Art Pollard of Amano Artisan Chocolate to discover how he got his start and what drives him to continue searching the world for the best cacao.