It’s time for another installment of For the Love of Making Chocolate and this time we got in touch with Fred Lullfitz from Birdsnake Chocolate in Melbourne, Australia. Birdsnake Chocolate is a small craft chocolate brand that started in 2018 and adopts its unique name and standout branding from the Olmec people’s belief in the origin of chocolate.

Their product range runs the gamut from traditional craft chocolate bars to their Strange Magic chocolate spread – all made with cacao sourced from around the globe. Read our full interview below to learn about the driving-force behind their decision to pay above board for their quality cacao.

Read on to learn more about Birdsnake Chocolate!

West Babylon, NY, based Micelli  Chocolate Mold Company (micelli.com) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Edgewood, NY, based Aztec Tool Company, Inc (aztectool.com). The purchase expands Aztec’s growing commercial and industrial toolmaking and plastic injection molding capabilities, while Micelli refocuses exclusively on its chocolate, confections and related markets. Aztec Tool Company has been renamed and rebranded Aztec Tooling & Injection Molding Company to reflect its expanded capabilities, complete with new logo design.

This family-run chocolate manufactory located in Portland, Oregon is run by wife and husband team Jessica and Charley Wheelock. Their passion for craft chocolate sent them on a journey towards understanding and perfecting every step of the bean-to-bar process – and all that had work really paid off.

Read our interview below and learn about the goings-on at their spacious Manufactory – where all of their delicious craft chocolate is produced.

Keep reading to discover more about Woodblock Chocolate.

In our latest installment of For The Love of Making Chocolate we’re thrilled to share our talk with Jean Thompson, Owner + CEO of Seattle Chocolate Company, about her brand’s indulgent creations. Their delicious chocolate bars and truffles are a delight for the senses not only for their rich flavor combos but for their gorgeously illustrated packaging as well. 

In our interview we discovered how Seattle Chocolate Company sources inspiration for their chocolate flavors from their own personal travels and experiences. This brand truly believes in the power of chocolate as not only an indulgent treat but also a means of making a difference in our world.

Keep reading to discover more about Seattle Chocolate Company.

We’re back for another installment of For the Love of Making Chocolate. Our latest talk with the trailblazers at SPOT delves into the enticing chocolate edibles experience they’re crafting in the legalized state of Washington. No strangers to being first on the scene, they broke onto the legalized market with their french couverture chocolate in 2014 and have continued to produce high quality and innovative products since then.

Sourcing only the finest organic cannabis to work with they ensure that each bar of their chocolate is precisely infused for a reliable and delicious product. A passion for quality is the driving force behind this pioneering brand and is mirrored in their tagline – “It’s legal now, you deserve the best.”

Read our interview to discover more about SPOT!

It’s time for another installment of For the Love of Making Chocolate. We were able to get in touch with Anna Davies from Ritual Chocolate, an artisan bean-to-bar small batch chocolate company located in Park City, UT. In our interview, we discovered how Ritual Chocolate uses European chocolate-making techniques to elevate the experience of savoring chocolate. We also get into their sustainability efforts. Everything in their process has been thought out in order to maximize the resources available to them. For example, their factory was designed with the natural heat produced by the sun in mind, so they can use this as a heat source of keeping their chocolate melted during production.

Read on to learn more about this mindful and unique chocolate company.

Chocolate has a story to tell. Listening to and telling this story is the driving force behind The Cocoa Forge. We recently got to talk to Susan Fitch, the chocolate-maker behind The Cocoa Forge, based in Port Townsend, WA. Susan uses her innate curiosity in folklore, herbalism, and science to derive high-quality, nuanced chocolate that embodies her spirit of adventure and storytelling.

Every element of The Cocoa Forge story is focused on creating a unique experience. From their new home in a historic building that used to be a blacksmith forge and brewery. Their cacao is shipped via Sail Cargo. The cacao itself is ethically produced in limited quantities. Each bar produced is fine-flavor, single origin chocolate made from heirloom cacao beans. Each of these details are important for realizing how special and thoughtfully produced this chocolate is.

Read our interview to find out more about The Cocoa Forge!

We are so excited to share with you our newest installment of For the Love of Making Chocolate. We were able to talk to Joanna Hartvickson of Moonstruck Chocolate about their truly authentic take on artisanal chocolates. Based in Portland, OR their focus on locally sourced, high-quality ingredients results in stunning bars of chocolate called Bark Bars. These chocolate composites enhance the chocolate enjoyment experience both visually as well as on the palate by uniting the rich flavor of chocolate with various flavor elements. 

They know that the foundation of a good bar of chocolate starts with the chocolate itself. Their other product offerings are an array of chocolate bars, truffles, panned chocolate, and hot cocoa that each highlight their mastery of the craft. 

To find out more, read our interview below!

As chocolate-lovers, we are very excited to work with chocolate makers who highlight the wellness properties of chocolate. That is why we are so excited to get to speak to Sage Dammers from the health-conscious powerhouse known as Addictive Wellness. Addictive Wellness blends the pure enjoyment of delicious chocolate with the healing, medicinal ingredients of superherbs and superfoods such as such as Lucuma, Cordyceps, Reishi Mushroom, and Ashwagandha, all used in global traditions and cultures the world over.

Sage and his partner AnnaBlanca have taken their combined experiences and knowledge to produce delicious and powerful chocolate products that complement a lifestyle that embodies both mindful and healthful indulgence and in their words, they aim to “infuse their love for each other, for life, for nature, and the desire to help everyone live their own version of the ultimate life.” They have created their chocolate to be vegan and free of sugar, gluten, GMOs, soy, dairy, and nuts, ensuring that no matter your diet or lifestyle, you are free to indulge.

At Addictive Wellness, they are careful to source their ingredients with producers who pay their workers better than fair trade wages, ensuring the quality of their product and ethical impact of their chocolate is at the forefront of their brand.

How often do we get to indulge in a healthful treat that promotes our well-being as well as the well-being of the whole world?

Kiva Confections, based in Oakland, California, creates cannabis infused artisan chocolates that serve patients looking for alternative ways of consuming their medicinal cannabis. Their dedication to efficiency, safety, and quality make them the leader in a progressive, burgeoning market.

In 2010, Founders Scott Palmer and Kristi Knoblich set out to become pioneers in the medicinal cannabis market by meticulously crafting some of California’s most highly regarded edibles. Their market requires a high degree of accuracy, consistency, and definition - a perfect challenge for the precision and craft of Micelli's polycarbonate injection molds.  The fine ingredients and skillful craft to making their chocolates mirrors the integrity of Kiva Confections– to produce quality products that promote quality treatment. 

Recently, we reached out to our friends at Kiva Confections to understand how they have found their sweet-spot in a budding industry. 

Read Our Entire Interview

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.  

Read Our Entire Interview

While we are well equipped to bring even the wildest imaginations to life, we are continuously impressed and inspired by the ideas our clients bring to us to execute.

When founders Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor of Dick Taylor Chocolate came to us, we knew it was not innovation, but tradition, that drove this duo to create.

When they got their start, they were fueled by the desire to disrupt the mass produced chocolate bar industry with a focus on high quality ingredients that enhance the rich flavor of the chocolate.

Read the full interview here and learn why Dick Taylor Chocolate changing the “bean to bar” game.

Derrick Pho, Master Chocolatier and founder of the Chocolate Technology Center, is committed to educating the next generation of chocolatiers.

Through his years of experience and raw passion for the art of making chocolate, Pho has realized that having a deep understanding of the behavior of chocolate is the key to consistency–which also happens to be the key to success. At The Chocolate Technology Center, he deconstructs the process to the very basics to ensure that students have a firm grasp on chocolate theory so that they can effectively, and tastefully, translate that to a delicious product.

Based in Toronto, Pho co-founded Sambirano Valley Chocolat, a premium Madagascar pure origin couverture chocolate, which contains a very high percentage of cocoa butter. He also created the Canadian Intercollegiate Chocolate Competition, held at Humber College in Toronto, and oversaw the Canadian selection and coaching for the highest distinction of the international chocolate competition. 

A client of Micelli, Pho is deeply invested in educating, inspiring and empowering his successors. To learn more about what fuels Pho and the intention of the Chocolate Technology Center to grow, influence and pioneer the future of chocolate, we had to pick his forward-thinking brain. 

Read His Full Interview