TCHO me the chocolate!

You may think that because I work for a company with ‘Bon Appétit’ in its name, that I exist in a veritable Candy Land of treats and goodies from our chefs, prospective vendors, and culinary-minded coworkers. To a certain extent, this is true: our culinary director’s Christmas marzipan-filled stollen blew my mind and made me reevaluate my iffy feeling about this German fruitcake cousin. In another instance, a corporate initiative to promote non-bottled beverages in our cafés led to an abundance of prototype fruity aguas frescas last month.

But besides the occasional treat, I usually have to fend for myself to stay sustained during the day. This wasn’t the case when TCHO Chocolate’s National Sales Director paid us a visit. As I listened to his presentation, practically drooling amidst bags of chocolate drops and single-origin bars, I became fascinated by TCHO, whose name is a sneeze-inducing compound of ‘technology’ and ‘chocolate’. TCHO is San Francisco’s only chocolate maker, which means that the company is producing not only confections, but the actual chocolate from chocolate liquor it purchases from a number of co-ops and farms in Africa, Asia and South America. They promote their sourcing policy as ‘Beyond Fair Trade,’ a bold claim that they back up with strict policies on slavery, fair pay, and other social and environmental issues.

Founded by ex-Silicon Valley techies, TCHO prides itself on a scientific approach to chocolate making. And it shows – instead of labeling chocolates according to percentages of cocoa mass, TCHO focuses on coaxing out the inherent flavor profiles of different cacao harvests. Since chocolate is a fermented food, its flavor profiles range from citrusy and fruity to ‘chocolatey’ and nutty. TCHO embraces the varying nature of the cacao crop, and is very open in telling customers that the flavor of a given chocolate – say, ‘Fruity’ – may vary from crop to crop and year to year.

As our purchasing, culinary, and foundation directors asked tough questions about how the company sources its chocolate and its suitability for baking, I quietly relished in ‘Fruity’ chocolate-coated salted honey-roasted cashews and not-too-sweet baking drops from the couveture line. As the marketing voice, I thought about how this chocolate would go over with our customers. The packaging is distinct and minimalistic almost to a point of barrenness. How does this affect people’s perception of the chocolate, especially with regards to students and corporate employees (who represent the majority of our customers)?

As I tossed roasted cacao nibs into a salad that night and shared chocolate-coated mango chunks with friends, I realized that it doesn’t take more than your first taste of TCHO to be a convert to this unusual approach to chocolate. Be bold, chocolate-loving friends! You won’t be disappointed.

Comments

[Agiftedape.wordpress.com]

Great article! I linked to this on the tcho.com site. Are you in the bay area?

cheers
cash

[Shannon Donahue]

Hey Cash - thanks! Just started this blog and am excited to be writing about some of my favorite local food companies (such as TCHO). I live in SF...do you work for TCHO?