In today’s post: a craft baking chocolate review project, part one
But first, dropping one of my favorite Seth Godin quotes here, in celebration of one year sharing chocolate how-to’s and insights here on substack (and what’s to come) because it sums up what I yearn for in the craft chocolate community, and my North star for what I aim to create here.
"You can either turn your operation into a cross between McDonald's and Disney, selling the regular kind, pandering to the middle, putting everything in exactly the category they hoped for and challenging no expectations...
Or you can do the incredibly hard work of transgressing genres, challenging expectations and seeking out the few people who want to experience something that matters, instead of something that's merely safe."
A Craft Baking Chocolate Review, part one
I recently began testing craft baking chocolate. I started with the big craft makers—Guittard, Scharffen Berger, Theo, and new-to-me Pascha. My next group will be four medium craft makers, and then the third group will be four small batch makers (any guesses which I’m most excited to try?)
Why: Craft baking chocolate was one of my first products, and long range goals at Map Chocolate. I became a chocolate maker because of my background in baking and pastry, but namely, because the idea of having baking chocolate options thrilled me beyond belief. In 2020 I had to choose between Map’s satellite company spoon & POD or devoting my energy to the Next Batch, and here we are: me still trying to sneak in the good stuff :)
It’s an understatement to say I’m a fan of craft baking chocolate, but what I want to know: is it the idea of it I’m so enamored by, or the reality? Reality being flavor, peformance, access, cost, and delight. There has to be delight. To get to that answer I have to do some research.
For each of the three categories I’m purchasing craft chocolate specifically labeled as baking chocolate, then baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies with each product using my trusted recipe (minus the walnuts and espresso I always add), then offer a cookie to four different people accompanied with a short questionaire:
Can you taste the chocolate?
How would you describe how the chocolate tastes?
Do you like it in the cookie?
If yes/no, why?
My tasters are an open-minded group of four folks: Someone who eats craft chocolate on a regular basis, a plant-based-only home baker, someone who never eats craft chocolate, a baker who works with a variety of chocolate products and makes a range of pastries.
I’m the only one who tastes the chocolate prior to baking with it. I designed my set-up to mimic as closely as possible how a consumer might experience the chocolate: open the bag or box, sneak a nibble from the bag or block, if it’s a block how easy (or not) it is to chop, and from a baker’s perspective see how it performs in a baked cookie (keeps it shape vs melts) plus the tasting feedback.
Unlike, say, a typical chocolate tasting where an expert (not always a chocolate maker) offers a curated selection of bars and guides tasters through their experience, with baking chocolate I think it’s important to test based on (a) the experience of working with it in a baked good plus (b) feedback on how the baked good turns out.
After the project unfolds I’ll post my findings here (everything on a final spreadsheet, to make it easier to use the info); today’s post is the intro, or Part One. Besides “the chocolate,” on the spreadsheet I’ll be providing/comparing
the ingredients used (lecithin or no? etc);
origin information, if any;
the %, and I’m trying to source either the same % or as close to the “semi-sweet” % for each maker that I can;
flavor/tasting notes listed;
craft language/differentiation from industrial chocolate;
and labeling/packaging aesthetics
What distinguishes the categories is production scale and size, and since I can’t peek inside their factory I’m using (as best I can) annual revenue + # of employees to create big, medium, small batch groups.
Group one: Big Craft. Products are sold through grocery chains and typically found in the baking aisle, but in comparison to Big Chocolate multi-nationals, these big dudes aren’t as big, and their founding roots are in craft’s original intentions. For scale: Hershey’s annual revenue is $10.74 billion, with over 16,000 employees.
Scharffen Berger: located in Ashland, OR and seen as the original bean to bar/first craft chocolate maker, founded in mid 1990’s then sold to Hershey’s in 2005. It was off-loaded by Hershey’s in 2020 and purchased by a small group of longtime Hershey’s engineers. Current annual revenue is 39.2 million, with 170 employees. Website quote: “Scharffen Berger became America’s first “bean-to-bar” chocolate maker. Instead of drowning out the bean’s true flavor with sugar and additives like the big brands, they let cacao’s true flavors emerge.” Fun fact: they are the biggest maker now to be working with Osito Cacao from Huila, Colombia (as you know, I am fangirl of this origin. Kudos to Tyler Cagwin of Nostalgia Chocolate for his early work with this origin and for telling me about it—and for his Colombia bar that made it to the Good Food Awards finals
Product tested: 62% semi-sweet dark chocolate baking portions (cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin, vanilla bean)
Origin: none listed
Price: $4.99 for 4 oz, (4 x 1-oz individually wrapped bars)
Theo: Seattle, WA “We are proud to be the first Organic and Fair Trade certified bean-to-bar chocolate maker in North America.” Founded in 2005. $17.8 million in revenue, 94 employees (fun fact: they roast on gargantuan custom Diedrich coffee roasters)
Product tested: 55% semisweet dark baking bar (organic cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, vanilla bean)
Origin: none listed
Price: $4.99 for 4 oz
Guittard: San Francisco, CA “Making delicious baking, eating and drinking chocolate for professionals and home cooks alike for over 150 years.” In 1978 debuted their well-known “golden bag” of chocolate chips. Touted as a family-owned company. I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that yes, I am aware their founding date lands in colonial cacao sourcing, and years before the advent of craft chocolate. I chose between Guittard and Ghiradelli for this project because Ghiradelli is owned by Lindt. Annual: $2.0 billion, 240 employees
Product tested: 63% dark chocolate baking chips (cacao beans, cane sugar, sunflower lecithin, vanilla)
Origin: none listed
Price: $4.89 for 11.5 oz/ 326 g
Pascha: Pittsburg, PA “Chocolate is produced in a facility which is FREE FROM (their emphasis, not mine) all eight major food allergens including peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, shellfish and fish. These allergens account for 90% of the allergen reactions in the US. A dedicated facility means our products are not subject to cross-contamination, and provides the greatest assurance that our chocolate is safe.” Founder’s original employment was with Cadbury, and consulted with Cadbury friends on founding Pascha in 2013. Annual: $4.8 million, 12 employees (but manufacturing is done in Peru, so I’m guessing that number doesn’t include the contractors’ employees).
Product tested: 55% semi-sweet dark chocolate chips (organic cane sugar, organic chocolate liquor, organic cocoa butter)
Origin: Peru
price: $5.79 for 8.8 oz/ 250 g
(all revenue details here and above found via Kona Equity)
How this project can be useful to chocolate makers
Whether or not you craft baking chocolate or are thinking about crafting it, or have no intention of crafting it, seeing not just what products are in the marketplace offered by the three sectors of craft chocolate (big, medium, and small batch) offers insights: trends, for sure, but how those products compare in terms of placement and pricing, standing out (or don’t), ingredients, and packaging options.
Last but not least: do these products bring something, not just new to the baking table, but a product bakers will want to spend money on? Do (or will) our products bring something new to the table?
If you consider the “outreach” of a bar of chocolate, it’s not that wide, for lots of reasons. But a batch of cookies has a lot of reach. As Dandelion’s Greg D'Alesandre stated at the first Maker’s Unconference I attended in 2015, talking about why Dandelion’s revenues are driven foremost from their cafe, not their bars,
“Not everybody like a bar of dark chocolate. But everyone loves a chocolate chip cookie.”
This is the part where I stop nibbling cookie dough to say thank you for your comments, for letting me know this info was worth your time reading, and for joining me on this chocolate journey.
Happy chocolate making,
Mackenzie
Excited to see where this leads!
...as always, empowering chocolate food for thought!