Archive | trip and travel

Origin Trip: Hawaii – Part I

September 27, 2022 by lori lovejoy

Alooooooo-hah, readers!

At the start of September, two seven-team-member Dandelion groups embarked, one after the other, on whirlwind tours of cacao farms and chocolate factories in Hawaii — our first Origin Trips in nearly four years. As a lucky member of Group 2 (and possibly since I often proofread Dandelion’s newsletters?), our Web team asked if I might share a trip snapshot.

I’d joined Dandelion in November 2019 as a new Guest Experience Ambassador for our 16th Street factory’s dessert salon, Bloom*. (If in late 2019 or early 2020 you were greeted at the factory by a tall, voluble blonde woman, we’ve met!) A sparkly perk of any Dandelion role then was the opportunity to apply, after two years on the job, for limited spots on an employee “Origin Trip”: a company-led excursion to an equatorial cacao farm or cocoa producer. Dandelion’s Bean Sourcerer, Greg D’Alesandre, typically facilitated several Origin Trips each year, for both team members and customers; and as past groups had visited the Dominican Republic, Tanzania, and Ecuador, this future-adventure possibility held terrific appeal.

Then the world closed in March 2020. Dandelion systems (and the food industry at large) shuddered as we scrambled to create new approaches for sourcing cocoa, making chocolate, and distributing products to customers. Already a small business, Dandelion went from mostly brick-and-mortar to almost entirely virtual overnight, and shrank as certain roles ceased to exist. Travel halted. (I felt fortunate to join a newly formed online-guest-care team, and to help out on copy, while working remotely.)

Zoom to 2022: Scientists and public servants expressed optimism about Covid-19 containment, and on April 15, Todd announced that Dandelion would resume our internal Origin Trips program within the year — and invited two-year-plus employees to apply for a projected Hawaii excursion in early fall. Bunches of us raced to submit applications, and on August 4, Anna (of our People Operations team) shared that Greg would lead two Hawaii Origin Trips in September, with slated visits to chocolate makers on Oahu and Maui, and to cacao farms on Oahu, Kauai, and Maui.

The diverse trip groups would include Dandelion chocolate makers, program and fulfillment managers, pastry chefs, chocolate educators, a barista, a bean sourcer, and a copy editor. Group 1 (Eric, Jose, Kayla, Malia, Mary, Nate, and Ruben) would travel September 2 through 7, and Group 2 (Christina, Lori, Pablo, Paula, Roman, Ron, and Trevor) would reach Honolulu late-ish September 7, and return to S.F. on the 12th.

In hindsight, Greg’s jovial introductory itinerary e-mail — “Day 3: We fly over to Maiu to visit Ku’ia Estate, a cocoa farm, fermentary, and chocolate factory run by Dan O’Doherty. We return and eat a late dinner!” — barely hinted at the technicolor tornado we were to experience. (Confession: Had I known a newsletter was in the offing, I would have taken trip notes!)

*Our Events and Pastry teams are already in bustling holiday mode, and we hope to reopen Bloom before the end of the year. Watch this space for updates!

Day 1: Arrival

After two-and-a-half years of tight quarantining, I excitedly (trepidatiously) packed a carryon of quick-dry clothing; stuffed my backpack with N95 masks, alcohol wipes, and bug balm; and hopped an Uber to SFO. The car reached Terminal 3 in short order, and I gulped water, double-masked up, and afixed a ridiculous plastic face shield, then zipped through security to join Group 2 on the plane. Our flight was smooth, and we landed at HNL at 7:30 p.m. Hawaii time.

Greg greeted us at the airport and whisked us to our rental lodging, a spacious, pool-equipped house in southeast Honolulu’s quiet Niu Peninsula neighborhood. He’d kindly pre-ordered for us a fantastic takeout dinner of super-fresh poke, marinated tofu, and pickled veggies, and somehow there was already plenty of excellent chocolate in the house. We all enjoyed dinner and a chat, and sorted ourselves into roommate configurations; then Roman, Trevor, and I borrowed Greg’s Mini to pick up a few groceries. (I dropped yogurt, almonds, and an enormous fresh pineapple in our cart, while R and T gathered a bounty of local snacks: chocolate-coated mochi crackers, locally grown coffee, macadamia-nut ice cream, and multiple interesting salty/crunchy morsels to try.) Once back at the house, we unloaded our treats, and scooted off toward bed.

(Note: Takeout from seemingly any Hawaiian liquor store or mini-market is often equally delicious to swanky-restaurant fare on the mainland. Our group developed a serious obsession with the musubi selection at the nearby 7-11.)

Here are some images from our trip. More coming in the upcoming weeks …

snack stop between Manoa factory and Manoa farm on Oahu

Paula holding a half pod at the Manoa farm

Sunset at the Manoa farm (led by Max)

Lori and Trevor “helping” at Lydgate

(Mahalo to our kind hosts and knowledgeable guides; with special thanks to Dylan at Manoa Chocolate, Will of Lydgate Farms, and Dan at Ku’ia Estate.)

Chuck Visits the Chocolate Machines at Dandelion Chocolate Japan

December 16, 2019 by Chuck Dewey

Chuck is our Chocolate Production Mechanic who helps to keep the factories running here in SF. His engineering skills are second to none; he’s never met a machine he couldn’t woo into working at its best. In November, 2019 he was asked to bring his knowledge and elbow grease to our factories in Japan, and take in a little bit of the local culture. Below, Chuck shares a few highlights from his trip.

Chieko and Kaija invited me to come inspect and repair the machines they use at Kuramae and Honjo, and I found that Dandelions are the same everywhere you go: hard working, kind to people and to machines, and very welcoming to this old man.

The river between Honjo (on left) and Kuramae

What a clean and beautiful place to have a chocolate factory and café.

Chieko and Kaija (and the DCJ team) take very good care of their chocolate-making machines but, before something serious breaks, they wanted to create a proactive preventive inspection and servicing plan. Luckily for me, I got to visit for about a week and help them implement the plan. One of the Japanese chocolate makers, Ozaki, got the nod from Chieko to add to his duties the care and feeding of the machines. (They don’t eat much.) Ozaki and I worked side-by-side for a careful inspection and preventive maintenance session for each machine. He is ready to do the hands-on work that will keep the DCJ machines in tip-top shape and minimize surprise failures.

Luckily, DCJ chose and installed identical machines to those that we use in California. The machines don’t get worked as long and as hard as they are in the US, and they’re all in great shape. We had some minor touch-ups that got implemented and a few more that Kaija and Ozaki will implement going forward.

Just like all travelers to Japan, I lost a day as we crossed the International Date Line but got it back on the return trip. That really messed with my sense of time.

I arrived on a Saturday and made a valiant effort to gather some energy for my first visit to Dandelion Chocolate Japan at Kuramae on Sunday morning. Kaija and Chieko and the chocolate makers gave me a warm hello.

Dandelion Chocolate factory and café at Kuramae with beautifully weathered wood front; to the right, Dandelion Chocolate ChEx (Chocolate Experiences classroom)

Retail space with traditional Dandelion Chocolate chalkboard (Thank you, Elaine!)

Upstairs guest tables and chairs make a comfortable tasting experience

The Kuramae factory and café are much like the Valencia factory in San Francisco

After a nice greeting with the DCJ team, Kaija laid out the plan for the week and led me on a tour of the welcoming Kuramae factory and the strictly-functional Honjo factory. We discussed all of the equipment and our action items. We would take care of Kuramae first and get some serious plumbing out of the way. While the plumbers worked at Kuramae, we attacked the projects at Honjo. I met Ozaki on Monday and we were side by side for the rest of the work.

On Thursday we went shopping for tools. We traveled by train and found a huge “everything” store that looks like a Home Depot or a Lowes on the ground floor, then continues to many floors of anything you might need to keep your home operating.

Kaija and Ozaki waiting in the train station

Just like everything I saw in Tokyo, the factories are immaculate and extremely orderly.

We had plenty of tasks to fill the week, but worked at a comfortable pace that left time to experience a wide variety of tasty delights. The baristas know how to make great hot chocolate and coffee drinks just like at home.

Cafe latte for an old mechanic

One day the wonderful pastry chefs made udon for the whole staff. I got to join the lunch!

Every meal became a flavorful adventure. One rainy day we even ate an American-style hamburger. It relieved Kaija’s hankering for a taste of home. I have to say, they even did that well.

On Saturday night Kaija and her friend took me to a traditional restaurant that required shoes off at the door and to sit on mats on the floor. The food was amazing! I was surprised that this old man was able to stand back up after dinner.

What a great experience it was visiting Tokyo and our Dandelion Chocolate colleagues in Japan!

Chuck enjoying Japan and some okonomiyaki

From Pod to Flight to Plate

October 22, 2019 by Roman Licea

Roman is the sous chef at Bloom, our chocolate salon inside the San Francisco 16th Street Factory.

The most important thing a chef can do to improve is to travel. Luckily, Dandelion Chocolate is founded by people who appreciate and foster these experiences. My journey into menu development for Bloom happened way before our 16th Street Factory was complete. In 2017, Chef Lisa and I had just finished off the last of the pastries for our pop up in New York and we were finding some peace in the quintessential “Christmas in New York” landscape. That’s when Lisa told me that I was chosen to live and work at our Dandelion Chocolate location in Kuramae, Tokyo for five weeks! My perspective and palate were about to change.

The Japan experience was wonderful in so many ways. I met friends with whom I still keep in contact and I learned a bit of Japanese. In our Kuramae café, they have a hot chocolate with hojicha (roasted green tea) . The tea is unsweetened, slightly smoky, and milky with just enough chocolate. Nothing like this existed in any of our San Francisco cafés and it’s purely a product of our Japanese union. I wanted to bring it back to the states as an ode to my time there, and as a familiar flavor for when our Japanese friends visit us. When guests visit Bloom here in San Francisco, they can order a pot of Hojicha Hot Chocolate to enjoy. Our version is lightly sweetened for an American palate, but the essence of what I loved in Kuramae is present.

Japan lit a fire in me to travel and explore other parts of the world. What flavors, textures, and cultural norms could I introduce with a Dandelion Chocolate twist? This past summer I staged in Copenhagen for a month. Just like in Japan, they value simple food preparations, and seasonality with a comforting and hearty sensibility. The Danes have a word–hygge to describe the concept of peace, comfort, and cozy vibes. I experienced hygge biking on the docks during sunset and starting my day with a bowl of warm porridge.

I wanted to incorporate a porridge like that one as a nutritious option for Bloom. Knowing the flavors of the region and our chocolate, I thought a spiced quinoa-based porridge with cardamom and our Camino Verde, Ecuador single-origin chocolate would pair well together. The aroma from the cardamom is soothing and well-balanced with the chocolate. Finished with fresh fruit, our cocoa nibs, coconut, and dried cranberries, it’s a great dish to start the day. As the temperatures drop in the SF Bay Area, I hope it will be a comforting morning breakfast in Bloom.

I am glad to share some of my experiences and memories from my travels to Japan and Denmark. I have a few trips lined up for the holidays this year, and I plan to return to Japan. I look forward to being inspired by my future travel and contributing to what we are doing at Bloom!

Chocolate 301: Our Trip to Belize in 2019

May 8, 2019 by The Dandelion Team

Rebecca and Renee wrote this blog post together, and they were fortunate enough to attend our annual guest trip to Belize that we offer each February (just one of the many perks in working for a chocolate company—in addition to all of the chocolate you care to eat). This trip is one of many that we’ve taken as a team: Greg visited in 2013, and Molly had a look a year later, but this is the first for Renee and Rebecca. Renee is a chocolate maker at our Valencia Street factory. Rebecca was formerly the manager of the Valencia Street café, but she just became the Director of the Chocolate Experiences team. Warning: their travelogue will make you want to pack your bags.

Hello Dandelion Friends! This February we had the opportunity to attend a Chocolate 301 cocoa trip: an interactive, hands-on, seven-day exploration into the world of cacao in the southern tip of Belize. Along with Greg, our Bean Sourcerer, and 11 chocolate aficionados from across North America, we stayed at the very scenic Chaab’il B’e Lodge in Punta Gorda. We ate amazing chocolate-infused meals and washed them down with local cacao rum and Coke prepared by lodge owners, Sheila and Rusty.

Diving right into the jungles of Belize, we spent our first day touring Eladio’s farm where we learned about the gospel of cacao, and the harmony between man and earth that helps synthesize healthy plant growth. As he led us through his farm, Eladio would stop to pick what appeared to be random plants and teach us about the benefits they have on the body, as well as how they contribute to the growth of the entire ecostructure. We ate hearts of palm, sugar cane, cacao, and corn right out of the ground! It was a wild jump into the deep end of Belize. He stopped to cut open a cacao pod and said, “now we look for faces.” As Eladio explained it, the faces that can be identified in the raw pod give us insight into all of the animals and creatures that love to eat them! I found Stitch. What faces do you see?

After our long trek through Eladio’s wild farm, we finished the day with a delicious, home-cooked Belizean meal and a lesson on making traditional Mayan drinking chocolate.

Another day, we went to Xibun Reserve, a former Hershey plantation of 1100 acres that has been revamped and is now growing cacao and citrus. It is HUGE. We spent a bumpy couple of hours riding through the orange groves and rows of cacao trees in the back of a tractor. We got to see firsthand as the farmers split the cacao pods and harvested the wet beans. It was mind-blowing to see how easily and quickly they got the pods open because they are so thick! We also hopped down from our iron chariot to walk around through the trees, enjoying the variety of colors that each pod produced. The trees were full of beautiful flowers and budding cacao pods. Seeing the difference in how the cacao trees were kept at Xibun and at Eladio’s was really interesting. Xibun had very well-kept, neat rows of trees that were in stark contrast to the wild jungle of Eladio’s farm. Even as we rode around the tractor at Xibun, one side was all cacao—and then we’d turn around and see all citrus. It was surreal.

On Valentine’s Day we went to Maya Mountain Fermentary. The name may sound familiar to some of you who may have tried our Maya Mountain, Belize chocolate bars—feel free to learn more about how Elman developed this bar’s flavor profile. Maya Mountain is an organization, not a co-op, from where we source our delicious Belizean beans. They collect wet beans from farmers around Belize and ferment the beans at their location in Punta Gorda. This experience took the term “hands on” to a whole new level! We got to actually stick our hands in the gooey fermentation boxes to see how much heat they produce! We also got to taste the beans at different stages of fermentation and drying. The flavor of the nibs changed significantly from one to four days of fermentation, as well as at different stages of drying. Truly in her element, Renee got right to work, showing the team how we sort beans and explaining what we look for in this process. We learned what their quality manager looks for when they sort before packaging and sending beans to the chocolate makers. She then showed us what she looks for when she grades beans. She could look at a cut test and see how far along fermentation had occurred. We then tasted a wide selection of chocolate made with Maya Mountain beans from other makers. As a chocolate maker, this is one of Renee’s favorite things to do. One origin can taste so vastly different depending on the maker, but there remains a consistent character from the terroir that is discernible in each bar from the same origin.

On our last day, we went to Copal Tree Lodge where we walked around their beautiful garden and made chocolate with their chocolate maker. It was amazing to learn about their process and see that one chocolate maker takes ownership of every step! He gave us beans to taste from different times in the roast. We could taste the flavors evolving. Then we got to winnow the freshly roasted beans. It was very therapeutic, like raking a zen garden. After this, the chocolate maker showed off his skills and hand-tempered a large batch of chocolate right in front of us for us to pour into molds. To remove air bubbles from the bars in our factory, we rely primarily on a vibrating table. At Copal Tree, they rely on the more rudimentary system of slamming the chocolate mold against a table to remove air bubbles—a very satisfying alternative. It was incredible to see such a large batch of chocolate hand-tempered with such ease. He didn’t even need a thermometer; he could just feel the change in viscosity and knew when it was ready!

This doesn’t even scratch the surface on what happened on the trip. There was so much more that can’t be captured with words or pictures. It was really refreshing to be around so many people who are passionate about chocolate; not just the customers, but also the farmers, fermenters, and other makers. It was so eye-opening to see how much goes into making a treat that the world enjoys. 10/10 would go back on this trip! Without question, it is worth every drop of bug repellant, sweat, and slathering of sunscreen!

To Belize with Love and Chocolate,

Renee and Rebecca

PS: Want to learn more about what life is like in Belize? Maya moved there to deepen her work in chocolate, and our friend Madeline shares her story of living there for several months.

Elman Introduces the 2017 Harvest Cahabón, Guatemala 70% Chocolate Bar

March 21, 2019 by Elman Cabrera

Elman is a Senior Chocolate Maker at our Valencia Street factory and the profile developer of our Cahabón, Guatemala 70% 2017 Harvest chocolate bar. His story is a Dandelion Chocolate first: he was born in Guatemala City, and his father is from the north region, so this bar has such a strong family connection for him. Elman takes pride in all of his work, but he feels a particular responsibility in this 2019 release. We’ve asked him to share his experience with and connection to the cocoa beans from Cahabón.

(La traducción al español está abajo.)

Back in the day when I joined Dandelion Chocolate, I was so happy that the company was working with beans from my country of Guatemala. It was an amazing surprise and I felt really proud that my country was represented in such a delicious way. I’ve always wanted to work with the Cahabón, Guatemala beans but I knew it was a long shot. I was sad when I heard the Cahabón bar was no longer being made by the Valencia team, but also happy because I got to work with beans that have some cultural relationship with Guatemala.

The 2017 Harvest Cahabòn, Guatemala 70% chocolate bar

I was given the opportunity to work with the Guatemalan beans for a limited time. This profile is going to be produced just one time and only tempered for two weeks before it is gone forever. I want to give this origin the farewell it surely deserves for what it represents to me.

While working with these beans, I was surprised to find a different set of flavors from our previous 2014 Harvest Cahabón, Guatemala bar, which tasted like rich chocolate, walnuts, and liquid caramel. This new bar iteration of these fantastic beans is packed with lots of fruity notes while keeping its rich chocolatey notes. That was a nice surprise and something I knew I wanted to explore. I wanted to give the Cahabón bar more balanced tasting notes and get rid of the earthiness that the previous bar had. I still wanted to take the people trying the bar on a roller coaster of taste, but I wanted that experience to stay in the same line of flavors. That’s why this new bar starts with fruity notes that transform into rich chocolate and finishes with tart, fruity notes.

Is this bar a personal achievement? The answer is YES! I love my country and I’m proud of what farmers are able to produce and the dedication that they put into their crops. This time it’s not just about my country, but also the reiteration of my love and passion of what I do for a living. I love working with chocolate and having opportunities like this profile. It helps me to showcase how much I have learned over the years. I’m beyond blessed to have had the chance to learn from people with so much talent and knowledge. My hope is to be able to pay it back and share that knowledge and passion with my team members.

Elman es un fabricante de chocolates en nuestra fábrica de Valencia Street y el desarrollador del perfil de nuestra barra de chocolate de 70% de Cahabón, Guatemala de la cosecha 2017. Su historia es única en la historia de Dandelion Chocolate: Elman nació en la ciudad de Guatemala, y parte de la la familia de su padre viene de la región norte del país, por lo que esta barra tiene una conexión familiar muy fuerte para él. Elman se enorgullece de todo su trabajo, pero siente una responsabilidad particular en esta versión del 2018. Le hemos pedido que comparta su experiencia y conexión con los granos de cacao de Cahabón.

El día en que me uní a Dandelion Chocolate, estaba muy feliz de que la compañía trabajara con semillas de cacao de mi país: Guatemala. Fue una sorpresa increíble y me sentí realmente orgulloso de que mi país estuviera representado de una manera tan deliciosa. Siempre quise trabajar con las semillas de Cahabón, Guatemala, pero sabía que era una posibilidad algo remota. Me sentí triste cuando escuché que la producción de la barra de chocolate de Cahabón iba a concluir, pero también feliz porque pude trabajar con semillas que tienen alguna relación cultural con Guatemala.

Recientemente, me dieron la oportunidad de trabajar con la semilla de cacao Guatemalteca por un tiempo limitado. Este perfil se producirá solo una vez y solo se templará durante dos semanas antes de que desaparezca para siempre. Es mi deseo darle a este origen la despedida que seguramente merece por lo que representa para mí.

Mientras trabajaba con esta semilla, me sorprendió encontrar un conjunto diferente de sabores a la de nuestra barra de la cosecha 2014, la cual tenía un sabor profundo a chocolate, nueces y caramelo líquido. Esta nueva versión de esta fantástica semilla está repleta de notas frutales y mantiene sus notas profundas a chocolate. Esa fue una agradable sorpresa y algo que sabía que quería explorar. Quería darle a la barra de Cahabón notas de sabor más equilibradas y deshacerme de la terrenalidad que tenía la barra anterior. Quería llevar a la gente que probará esta barra de chocolate en una montaña rusa de sabor, pero quiero que esa experiencia se mantenga en una misma línea de sabores. Es por eso que esta nueva barra comienza con notas frutales que se transforman en un chocolate profundo y terminan con notas agrias y afrutadas.

¿Es esta barra un logro personal? ¡La respuesta es sí! Amo a mi país y estoy orgulloso de lo que los agricultores pueden producir y de la dedicación que ponen en sus cultivos. Esta vez no se trata solo de mi país, sino también de la reiteración de mi amor y pasión por lo que hago para ganarme la vida. Me encanta trabajar con chocolate y de tener oportunidades como desarrollar este perfil. Lo cual me ayuda a mostrar cuánto he aprendido a través de los años. Estoy más que feliz de haber tenido la oportunidad de aprender de personas con tanto talento y conocimiento a través de los años. Mi esperanza es poder devolver la oportunidad y poder compartir ese conocimiento y pasión con los miembros de mi equipo actual.

A Visit to Areté Chocolate

February 26, 2019 by Ryan O'Connell

Ryan is a chocolate maker at our 16th Street factory, as well as a frequent traveler and motorcycle enthusiast.

Before Areté Fine Chocolate moved from Milpitas, California to Spencer, Tennessee in spring of 2018, Eric, Snooky, and myself had the pleasure of seeing the glory of what was, at the time, still their semi-operational facility before they’d fully packed up for their move. Areté Chocolate is owned and operated by David and Leslie Senk. As of our visit, David and Leslie were Areté’s only employees.

After meeting the Senks and seeing their process, it was abundantly apparent they are people of high personal and professional integrity, which very much shines through in their careful processing and top-shelf chocolate. Throughout the day, as our conversations meandered through chocolate theory, some noteworthy similarities and differences between us stood out:

We both believe in the importance of data collection to understand outcomes in the chocolate making process.
We both believe that when the chocolate is tempered may make a difference in its flavor. Aging chocolate and its impact on flavor is something we look forward to testing in more depth.
Areté removes the radicle from all of their beans, which is something we’ve always wanted to do and are we are working towards.
Much of their process is a result of custom and creative adaptations to fit their evolving needs while not sacrificing quality. Similarly, improving our quality is central to – and runs parallel with – our reflexive metrics for success as we continue to grow.
Areté makes all their chocolate in mini melangers, such as the ones we use for experiments.
David believes temperature control is crucial to consistent, predictable flavor.
We both believe that testing one variable at a time through experimentation is the best practice.
We’ve developed our own process for removing broken and moldy beans prior to roasting. At Areté, all moldy beans are removed after the beans are broken, one by one, through his mechanized, creatively-engineered process, speaking to the ingenuity and passion behind the operation.
After roasting in a convection oven, David’s beans are removed and then rapidly cooled to prevent any further, unwanted roasting. In a similar fashion, our beans are cooled in our drum roaster’s cooling tray post-roast.

The refining and conching room of Areté Chocolate

Takeaways to consider for experimentations or reinforcing in our current chocolate making practices:

We should continue to consider results of experiments done by others, while holding off on drawing any conclusions until a hypothesis can be tested through our own experiments.
We should also continue to revisit the effects of aging chocolate, with future experiments to support our previous investigations.
We should investigate further experiments testing the effects of melanger chocolate temperature, which may lead to more stringent temperature control guidelines and an improved understanding of how process temperature directs flavor.
Consider moving toward 2:1 mineral oil to chocolate ratio when testing microns via micrometer.

My personal favorite part of the tour: Talking with all those present about chocolate, life, and the chocolate life; seeing the incredible passion, enthusiasm, and dedication that the Senks have for making great chocolate.

Favorite origin/product: Ben Tre, Vietnam

Fun fact: We will be working with Ben Tre cocoa beans and releasing our take on the origin in 2019!

Biggest challenges: Possibly scaling up while maintaining quality, and chocolate making as a sustainable business.

A Visit to ÓBOLO Chocolate in Santiago, Chile

October 10, 2018 by Ryan O'Connell

Ryan is a chocolate maker at our 16th Street factory, as well as a frequent traveler and motorcycle enthusiast. Inspired by the Chilean kung fu film Kiltro, he bought a motorcycle to ride to the Atacama desert of northern Chile, ultimately crossing into Argentina to catch the final stages of the world-famous Dakar Rally. While in Santiago, Chile, he had to visit our friends at ÓBOLO Chocolate to taste their amazing 70% Cacao con Nibs bar. This is what he found.

In January of 2018, while in Chile, I had the opportunity to stop by ÓBOLO Chocolate in Santiago’s Barrio Italia neighborhood. This mainly residential area of Santiago, although not as busy as other areas, has a decent level of foot traffic with plenty of cafes, restaurants, shops, and small factories peppered throughout the area. ÓBOLO, located on Avenida Italia, is rather unassuming from the outside; I missed it the first time I passed by. The color of the chocolate brown building foreshadows what can be found inside. Established in 2014, ÓBOLO is Chile’s first bean-to-bar chocolate maker. ÓBOLO makes two-ingredient chocolate bars as well as flavor-infused, dark milk, and inclusion bars.

Walking in, as would be expected, the aroma of chocolate hits you immediately. To the right, bags of Peruvian (Pangoa) cocoa beans. To the left, a product display table with cocoa beans and cocoa powder. Straight ahead, a display case with various chocolate bars and treats like chocolate-dipped candied ginger.

The People

The company has just five employees. Chances are you will be greeted by the owner and founder of ÓBOLO, Mark Gerrits (an expatriate from the United States). Mark was introduced to cacao back in 2001 while living in Ecuador’s Amazon region working with direct trade practices and cocoa producing communities. If Mark is busy in the back, you’ll probably meet one of the other team members – Geraldine Mondaca (a Santiago native and ÓBOLO´s uber-friendly store manager) or Gabriel Marques (the Head Chocolate Maker from Venezuela).

The Equipment

The production equipment at ÓBOLO is robust and pretty standard for a chocolate maker of its size, and also an amazing display of homemade tools that get the job done. They’re roasting cocoa beans with a modified homemade 10kg nut roaster. For a winnower (the machine that removes the cracked papery husk from roasted cocoa beans), they use a machine that was designed and built for them in Perú. They also use a 100lb Diamond grinder to make their chocolate, and their tempering machine was a familiar site. Just like us, they use a Unica machine to temper the chocolate at the right temperature to make a finished bar snappy and shiny. (Here’s more info on how chocolate is made.)

The Challenges

After speaking with the team, they mentioned that the winnowing process was bulletproof. It was also interesting to learn about the biggest challenges in their production. Like any chocolate maker, consistency in tempering is an issue. Some finished bars just look richer, darker, and shinier than others; the root is usually an imbalance in the quality or quantity of ideal crystals. Developing the flavor profile of each harvest year to year is also tricky. The roast and conch of each new batch of beans (the part of production that contributes to flavor development and mouthfeel) can be challenging to get right. Daily and weekly production and logistics flow is also tough for a small maker who is trying to be conscientious of their product. The planning, documenting, and traceability of each bar is something that ÓBOLO works at with gusto.

It can be easy to take for granted how much energy, passion, care, teamwork, and coordination go into making great chocolate at any scale, and I learned a lot by watching a small craft maker. It’s amazing to see how far the bean-to-bar New American Chocolate Movement revolution has reached, and I can’t wait to visit again.

San Francisco/Tokyo Dandelion Employee Exchange Program

June 29, 2018 by Kaija Bosket

Kaija is a lead chocolate maker at the Valencia Factory in San Francisco. In February 2018 she lived in Tokyo for a month as part of the DCJ (Dandelion Chocolate Japan) and DCA (Dandelion Chocolate America) employee exchange program. She loves making chocolate, exploring new places, and, of course, eating good food.

Why does Dandelion have an employee exchange program?

Todd, one of our founders, used to do a lot of exchanges when he was growing up (Mexico, Russia) and he learned so much from those experiences. He wants to offer cross-team learning as well as exposure to different culinary palates and team processes.

What were your first impressions of life in Japan?

I was amazed at how clean and quiet the trains and subway stations were! Traveling around was a treat.

What was hard about your life there?

Kaija and the Dandelion Japan delivery van

This is Kaija being much taller than the Dandelion Japan delivery van.

The height difference was my biggest challenge. I’m 5’11, and I felt like a giant by Japanese standards. At work we had to make a few modifications so I could work comfortably.

What else was unexpected?

Communication and transportation were surprisingly easy. People were super nice and helpful and the transportation system was easy to navigate.

How was your job in Japan similar to the work you do as a chocolate maker on Valencia Street?

It was still making chocolate the Dandelion way. It was the same process, values, and team spirit. Everyone puts 110% into their work and everyone loves what they do.

How was the work different?

DCJ works with smaller quantities of cocoa beans at a time than DCA. There is also a different flavor preference for how the chocolate should taste. In the Dandelion Chocolate Japan bars, they like the chocolate to have more sour and fermented notes. We also tend to have different reference points for flavor. For example, when we taste espresso, they often taste tea.

Work life. Kaija makes chocolate with her co-workers in Japan.

What were some highlights of the trip?

Getting to work with the DCJ chocolate makers was such a treat as well as getting to meet other makers at the Craft Chocolate Market, an event hosted by Dandelion that gathers craft chocolate makers from all over the world. We also traveled to Kamakura, Ise, Osaka, and Kyoto and tasted samples from a variety of Japanese confectionaries, bean-to-bar makers, and bakeries. I also saw my first real, growing cacao tree at the Kyoto Botanical Gardens!

Was there a lowlight of the trip?

A few coworkers and I had horse sashimi at an izakaya in Tokyo. Everyone else loved it but it was probably the only thing that I ate in Japan that I didn’t enjoy.

Would you do it again?

Absolutely! It was super inspiring to work with chocolate makers all the way on the other side of the globe. I can’t wait for my next chocolate adventure!

Arigatogozaimashta, Kaija! The Dandelion Kamakura cafe will see you again soon.

Sharing Gola Rainforest Chocolate

May 24, 2018 by Kristy Leissle

We are so excited to share Dr. Kristy Leissle’s most recent blog post about how the Gola Rainforest bar came to be. Dr. Leissle was the person who introduced Dandelion to the project team, and after Greg visited Sierra Leone in October 2017, we bought the beans and became the first U.S. chocolate maker to make Gola Rainforest bars.

Dr. Leissle is a scholar of cocoa and chocolate. Since 2004, her work has investigated the politics, economics, and cultures of these industries, focusing on West African political economy and trade, the US craft market, and the complex meanings produced and consumed through chocolate marketing and advertising. Her recent book, Cocoa (Cambridge: Polity, 2018) explores cocoa geopolitics and personal politics. Dr. Leissle is Affiliate Faculty in African Studies at the University of Washington. She lives in Accra, Ghana.

As a scholar of cocoa and chocolate, it is not often that I get involved on the trading side. But since early last year, I have been working with the UK-based organization Twin & Twin Trading, whose vision is development through trade, facilitating specialty chocolate market access for cocoa farmer associations in Africa. That means I help farmer groups to promote and sell their cocoa to specialty buyers—who may be paying premium prices for quality, and who may make these farmer groups visible to chocolate shoppers by putting their names on single origin bars.

Apart from Madagascar bars, it is relatively rare in the US to find specialty, single origin chocolate that uses African cocoa, at least compared with bars that use cocoa from Central or South America, or the Caribbean. I started writing about the invisibility of West African cocoa in premium chocolate some years ago; little did I think at the time that I would be part of a team helping to promote the region to specialty buyers.

Gola’s warehouse manager, Vandi, scoops up a handful of cocoa beans to assess them; photo by Kristy Leissle

But one container at a time, that’s what we have been doing, starting with Gola Rainforest cocoa producer organizations in Sierra Leone. With assistance from Twin and other partners, farmers in four chiefdoms on the edge of the Gola Rainforest National Park have organized into three associations to sell their cocoa: Malema chiefdom, Gaura chiefdom, and Tunkia and Koya chiefdoms, which, being a bit smaller than the others, joined together to sell their cocoa. Together, these farmer associations are working to conserve the Gola Rainforest, which is home to many threatened and endemic species, including the elusive pygmy hippo, and to strengthen their cocoa business practices.

Twin and its partners in Sierra Leone have been working for several years with these farmer associations to provide agricultural training, and to support best practices around cocoa harvest, fermentation, drying, and storage. My role has involved building capacity for farmer associations and the Gola staff around marketing, so that they can strategize from an informed position when negotiating with buyers.

Vandi with bags of cocoa at the warehouse awaiting shipment; photo by Kristy Leissle

When I started this work, bags of cocoa were sitting in the Gola warehouse in Kenema. Knowing we had superior quality cocoa and a unique opportunity to launch Sierra Leone onto the specialty cocoa map, we aimed high—the first container, the team agreed, should be pitched to the US craft market. To the best of our knowledge, no craft maker in the US had produced a single origin specialty chocolate bar from Sierra Leone before. As confident as I felt in the cocoa, though, I wasn’t sure if any of them would be willing to consider it. In my work over the past fifteen years, I have found that, apart from a very few exceptions (such as John Kehoe and Gary Guittard at Guittard Chocolate, or the folks at Tcho Chocolate), people are generally dismissive, wary, or simply uninterested in West African cocoa for any kind of premium product.

But some people in the chocolate industry are starting to think—and act—differently when it comes to African origins, and especially West Africa. In our conversations about Gola cocoa, these individuals spoke with humility, recognizing that they had a lot to learn about West Africa’s vast cocoa farming systems, and they were eager to begin. Among them were Greg D’Alesandre, who sources for Dandelion Chocolate, and Gino Dalla Gasperina, who founded Meridian Cacao Company. I had a lot to learn from them, too—and all of us had something to learn from the people growing the cocoa and the Gola staff who work with those farmers. Greg and Gino decided to visit Sierra Leone, to see the farms, learn about the trainings, and discuss priorities and visions with the Gola team, as buyers and sellers of cocoa.

Photo with Greg (Dandelion Chocolate), Gino (Meridian Cacao), and the Gola team, on the wall at the Gola Rainforest Lalehun research center, where we held the season review last week; photo by Kristy Leissle

And then Greg made the decision to buy the cocoa, which meant Dandelion would make the first ever Gola Rainforest Chocolate bar! Will you forgive me for saying how very proud I am, how even now I have tears and goosebumps, remembering the collective effort it took, and from my gratitude to everyone for working with such dedication and tirelessness, such faith in Gola cocoa? So many people gave this their all, from the cocoa farmers through the Gola buying officers, the agricultural extension team at Jula Consultancy, the trading team at Twin, and right up to Ron Sweetser at Dandelion, who developed the profile for the bar—and, by doing so with enormous care and love, showed everyone just what Sierra Leone Gola Rainforest cocoa can do as a single origin craft chocolate bar.

I will leave it to others to give their assessment of the chocolate, as my own (five star) review of the (most profoundly chocolate) bar (I have ever tasted) will necessarily sound biased at this point. But if you are one of those people who likes chocolate, I do think the Gola Rainforest bar might be one that pleases you (so much that you buy out all the stock in your local shop and eat it for breakfast and create fashion accessories out of the wrappers).

Greg and the team at Dandelion took the first opportunity to share the chocolate with the women and men who had grown the cocoa. The three Gola Rainforest cocoa farmer associations held their season review last week, and I traveled to Sierra Leone to participate. Part of the work was to celebrate the successes of last season, and part of it was to strategize for the coming season. For this, I led a session on chocolate markets, outlining the different categories of chocolate and what advantages and disadvantages there would be to selling into each value chain.

Presenting to Gola cocoa farmer associations, while business manager Yambasu translates into Mende; photo by Felicity Butler

We talked too about the relationship between Gola and Dandelion, and with other potential buyers, and what they had discussed with Greg and Gino when they visited. I showed maps to chart the journey the Gola cocoa had taken once it left Sierra Leone, and photos of Dandelion’s Valencia Street factory, so that the farmers could see where it was manufactured into chocolate.

Showing where the Gola Rainforest bar is for sale at Dandelion’s Valencia Street factory; photo by Felicity Butler

Photos showing farmers their chocolate bar on sale at Dandelion’s Valencia Street shop; photo by Kristy Leissle

Admiring the Dandelion Chocolate bar wrapper, which says “Gola Rainforest, Sierra Leone”; photo by Felicity Butler

Staff members had taken turns translating my talk into Mende. But when I said that theirs was the first specialty chocolate bar from Sierra Leone in the US craft market, no translation was needed—the cheers and smiles were immediate!

Celebrating Gola’s success at the season review meeting; photo by Björn Horvath

Then it was time to share the Dandelion Gola Rainforest chocolate bar.

Dandelion Gola Rainforest Chocolate! Photo by Felicity Butler

Aminata, Supervisor of Cocoa Extension Team & Gender Coordinator for Gola, shares Dandelion’s Gola chocolate with her colleague Janneh; photo by Felicity Butler

Mohamed Fofanah, Managing Director of Jula Consultancy, tastes Dandelion chocolate; photo by Björn Horvath

So much of my teaching, research, and writing has been about the negative stereotypes that persist about Africa, and how these damage or undermine so many possibilities for real, material change. Superior cocoa grows in Sierra Leone, and farmers work hard to cultivate and process it. It is not easy to swim against the tide of negative stories about Sierra Leone and indeed all of West Africa. But this is necessary work.

Do the people who work so hard every day to grow excellent cocoa, and who buy and haul and store it, who steward it until it sails away on a container ship—do they not deserve to have their experiences, their labor, their cocoa recognized and esteemed? We all want to be seen, and for our work to be valued.

I think that even more than when they tasted the chocolate, when the farmers, buying officers, and agricultural extension staff saw the words “Gola Rainforest, Sierra Leone” on the Dandelion bar wrapper, they felt what they had achieved. I saw people’s faces light up with pride. I hope that there is more of the same to come.

Madame Jebbe, Women’s Leader of the Gaura Cocoa Farmers’ Association; photo by Felicity Butler

It is my privilege and joy to work with the farmers and association executives in Gaura, Malema, Tunkia, and Koya chiefdoms; with the staff (especially Björn Horvath and Katie Sims in Kenema) at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), which has worked for decades to conserve and protect the Gola Rainforest and whose idea it was to start a cocoa business in the forest edge communities in the first place; my excellent colleagues at Twin & Twin Trading (especially Hannah Davis, who managed Twin’s contributions from the start, and Deborah Bickler, who kept us all going); Gino at Meridian Cacao, who has been generously helping to build capacity and cocoa expertise for both Twin and Gola; and, of course, Greg and the team at Dandelion Chocolate. Thank you for bringing Gola Rainforest Chocolate into the world.

Team members from Twin & Gola, looking forward to the future of Gola Rainforest Cocoa! Photo by Kristy Leissle

This post originally appeared on ChocoBlog by Dr. Chocolate, May 18, 2018.

To the Tokyo Kitchen and Back

November 2, 2017 by Meredyth Haas

Recently, our head of kitchen R&D, Meredyth Haas, traveled to Tokyo with Chef Lisa to visit the pastry team at Dandelion Chocolate Japan. Below, she tells us a little about workshopping pastries, and what makes Tokyo so different (and not so different) from home.

At our factory in San Francisco, our pastry menu changes every few weeks. New things come into season, and we love keeping things fresh and working through all the ideas on our back burner (which is a very full back burner). The pastry kitchen at Dandelion Chocolate Japan in Tokyo serves more or less the same menu, but their ingredients and techniques are a little different over there. So this past April, Chef Mai invited Lisa and I to the Tokyo kitchen to spend some time workshopping pastries and updating the menu.

We hopped on a plane with seven new pastry recipes in our pockets and a suitcase filled with canelé molds and aprons. We boarded our 13-hour flight with nervous energy and anticipation.

So far from home, but so much like home.

Tokyo is more than 5,000 miles from San Francisco, but stepping into DCJ for the first time felt a lot like home. The distinct scent of chocolate, sounds of the roaster and winnower, English descriptions of the chocolate making process on the walls, and the same Japanese-made ceramics being used in the café made the space feel familiar. I immediately felt at ease despite not being able to communicate much beyond the occasional smile and awkward head bow. After meeting some of the café and kitchen staff, Lisa and I checked into our nearby Airbnb and prepared for a week of work ahead in the kitchen.

Just as we have two pastry kitchens here in San Francisco (one on Valencia Street and an upcoming one on Alabama Street), DCJ has two pastry kitchens in Tokyo. Lisa and I worked at Honjo, which is their external factory location. There are many, many differences between the DCJ kitchen and ours back in California. Some I noticed right away, like the windows (our kitchen is windowless)! A full gas range (we use induction burners)! A walk-in refrigerator (we only have reach-ins)! A sheeter (machine used to roll large batches of dough and make laminated pastries like croissants)! Upon closer inspection, I noticed their ingredients were also different. They don’t use brown sugar, the egg yolks are a different orange, the butter has a higher water content, and the flour was more pillowy and less dense. Their kitchen had temperature-controlled cabinets to keep chocolate melted or in temper. Their stand mixer was twice the size of ours, enabling them to make enormous batches of marshmallows at once. Their oven fan had six different settings, compared to the simple choice I make every day: On or Off.

It took me a while to learn the flow of production in their kitchen. The team had one pastry assistant on staff who knew some English and was able to translate some for us. Other than that, there were a lot of hand gestures and laughter as we tried to communicate, but we managed. Luckily for me—since the only Japanese phrases I know so far are “I’m lost” and “ramen please”—teaching our new pastry recipes to the Honjo team is largely a visual exercise.

We spent the week workshopping our tiramisu, bourbon caramel tart, almond tea cake, mocha paris-brest, celebration cake, yuzu chocolate cheesecake, and canelé. After five days, Lisa and I spent the weekend in Kyoto, and the Honjo team buckled down, mastering the new recipes. By the next week, they’d mastered each and every one beyond a level of perfection I would have ever anticipated (especially considering we couldn’t even really talk to each other!).

Tokyo is a really exciting place to be a visiting pastry chef. Some of the world’s most well-known pastry shops have branches in Tokyo, including Pierre Hermé, Bubo, Dominique Ansel, Pierre Marcolini, Ladurée, Jean-Paul Hévin, and Janice Wong. It was interesting to see how international brands brought their specific aesthetic to a cosmopolitan city like Tokyo. I ate some really incredible pastries, but I have to admit, it’s the savory food that really blew my mind. I had the best sushi of my life at a 15-course Omakase in Ise, and ate tuna sliced and served to me within hours of being caught at the famous Tsukiji Fish market. I ate fresh uni out of the shell, waited two hours for Michelin-starred ramen (worth it!), had pork katsu cut by a 100-year-old zen master chef, and copious amounts of matcha soft serve. On our weekend, Lisa and I spent the day at a traditional Japanese onsen, relaxing in an outdoor spring overlooking the Kyoto foothills.

It was a surreal experience watching our pastries come to life on the other side of the world. Though ingredients and kitchen equipment and units of measure may differ across countries, the joy of eating delicious food is a universal experience, and it’s a joy to be reminded of that so far from home. Thank you, DCJ!