In the mid-1800’s during the California gold rush, Frenchman Etienne Guittard journeyed to the Barbary Coast in hopes of discovering gold.

Although he never found it, San Francisco discovered him for the delicious chocolate he had brought from his uncle’s factory in France.  Etienne had brought the delicious French chocolate to trade for mining supplies.  He found that the wealthy miners were very much willing to pay premium prices for this luxurious treat.

Eitenne then sailed back to Tourmus, France to work in his uncle’s chocolate factory till he could afford to buy his own chocolate making equipment.  Already skilled as a chocolate manufacturer, Etienne established the Guittard Chocolate Factory in San Francisco in 1868.

1906 Guittard Chocolate Company was destroyed by the earthquake.  But, Horace, Etienne’s son, who was running the company then quickly rebuilt on Main Street.  Here he introduced coffee, tea and spices as well as chocolate.

The facility was moved from along the San Francisco waterfront where Guittard Chocolates opened for business on prestigious Commercial Street in 1868 to Burlingame, California by Horace’s son Horace A. Guittard.

Horace A. was instrumental in bring the company into the era of automation.  But he continued to operate in old world fashion by producing small batches and tailoring products to his customer needs.  This approach allowed the company to be at the forefront of innovation for several American food trends.

Perhaps Guittard’s earlies and most important innovations was their propiertary Guittard Sweet Ground Chocolate.  San Francisco’s Cliff House used the blend with their Cliff House Vanilla.

Guittard milk chocolate chips, white chips and super-sized chips and the idea of truffles were some of their other innovations.

The Guittard family has continued as the oldest family owned and operated chocolate company in the US to manufacture a great variety of chocolate and chocolate products for chocolatiers and chefs.  And today is only one of ten chocolate makers in the U.S.

Their Gourmet Bittersweet Chocolate, High Sierra White Chocolate and French Vanilla were each awarded 1992 Gold medals by the Chefs in America Awards Foundation.

So, perhaps, Etienne did find his gold.

Technorati Tags: bittersweet chocolate, chocolate, fine chocolate, gourmet chocolate, guittard

Scharffen Berger Chocolate manufacturer was founded in 1996 by wine manufacturer John Scharffenberger and physician Robert Steinberg with one simple goal:  to make the finest chocolates possible using traditional methods and the most flavorful, natural ingredients.  Their goal – to highlight the true flavor of cacao instead of masking it with sugar and other flavors.

The first American company founded in the past 50 years to make chocolate from “bean to bar”, Scharffen Berger primarily produces chocolate bars, using small-batch processing and focusing on dark chocolate varieties with high cocoa solid content.

In 1997 they made the first batch in the South San Francisco factory using vintage European equipment and basic ingredients including Venezuelan criollo beans and whole Tahitian vanilla. Today, Scharffen Berger produces a wide selection of products and makes about a half million pounds (200 tonnes) of chocolate a year.

Scharffen Berger moved to its permanent home, a 27,000-square-foot, 1906 vintage-brick warehouse in Berkeley, California, in 2001.

The Hershey Company, the largest confectionary conglomerate in North America, announced in July of 2005, it had purchased Scharffen Berger Chocolate manufacturer, Inc.

Technorati Tags: chocolate bars, dark chocolate, fine chocolate, gourmet chocolate

Valrhona is a French chocolate manufacturer based in the small town of Tain L’Hermitage in Hermitage, a wine growing district near Lyon. Valrhona  produces 10 tons of product per day as compared to 100 – 150 tons for a large, European manufacturer.

Known in the industry as a supplier of high quality raw chocolate for chocolatiers they took the name Valrhona (from valley and Rhone) in the early 1950s. Valrhona has been producing fine chocolate couvertures since 1922.

Couverture is easiest to understand as a coating, shell or covering.  But in reality the topic is as complex as making chocolate is.

Famous with chefs the world over, Valrhona formerly known as La Chocolaterie de Vivarais – was founded by Monsieur Guironnet, a pastry chef from the Rhone valley in 1924.

Valrhona focuses mainly on top-quality luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption.  Though considered one of the finest chocolate makers in the world, it is roughly in line price wise with Godiva and Neuhaus.

To maintain their top quality chocolates their buyer searches the cocoa-cultivating nations for special cocoa beans.  If a country grows 500,000 tons of beans in a year but only 50 tons are good, it is Valrhona’s mission to find those 50 tons and leave the rest behind.

Valrhona pioneered the production of high quality chocolate from carefully controlled sources and started the trend of featuring the percentage of the cocoa solids in chocolate.

With the introduction of their ‘grand cru’ chocolates in the eighties they led the way towards chocolate from known origins and quality beans.

The company also maintains the Ecole du Grand Chocolat.  This is a school for professional chefs with a focus on chocolate-based dishes and pastries.

Technorati Tags: cocoa beans, couvertures, fine chocolate, gourmet chocolate, luxury chocolate

Leonidas Kesdekidis, nothing more than an ordinary Greek citizen, was the founder of Leonidas Belgian Chocolates. His company  makes wonderful delights like pralines, truffles and other heavenly chocolate assortments.

Mr. Kesdekidis arrived at Brussels in the year 1910 and short while later married a local and decide to settle there. He made a large array of pralines in his place situated close to Rempart de Moines.

Mr. Kesdikidis and his descendants’ goal was to get his home-made wonderful delights of pralines as close as possible to as many consumers, not to mention every creator’s dream to let the rest of the world know of their chocolate concoctions. His strategy of combining world-class quality and the best price is still unbeatable today.

Leonidas’ products are far different from the chocolates of other brands.  Leonidas  concern for the freshness of its chocolates makes it unique and unbeatable.   While most other brands’ practiced the  strategy to make their products appear fresh by repackaging the chocolate in a different box daily to make them look fresh.  Yes, the package is fresh but the content is still the same…yesterday’s chocolate. Whereas at Leonidas, the chocolates will only be boxed on the day that the customer’s order is received.

Other chocolate makers quality of freshness may be risked for the necessity of longevity.   They do this so that the chocolate can be pre-packed with the intention for it to be on a shelf in department stores or supermarkets.

Because of Leonidas’s very high standards they were able to obtain an ISO 9001 certificate for the produce’s quality.   Which, by the way, is very much over the needed requirement for the production of chocolates.

Leonidas delivers only where there are Leonidas outlets.  Places like Hollywood, the United Kingdom and Belgium.  They do not export for the reason that they do not want to risk the freshness of the chocolate that goes out of their stores.

To date there is only a small number of sellers of Leonidas chocolates because of the high standard requirement that every seller has to comply with for the very cautious storing and freshness concerns.

The chocolates are wrapped in 500grams, 750grams, and one kilogram boxes.

Upon order you will not be experiencing the hassle of putting it in gift or presentation boxes for the box alone that Leonidas use will suffice for they are already gift wrapped and they also offer different sorts of gift wrapping, luxury and or seasonal choices.

These chocolates need to be consumed within 21 days after it is purchased.   Otherwise the freshness and or the quality will not be the same of what is expected of it, although keeping it refrigerated will prolong the shelf life.

When storing in the refrigerator, you have to keep it away from other foods that have a very prominent smell or odor, otherwise the chocolate will be ruined because it will absorb the odor and it will affect the taste and quality.

Technorati Tags: belgian chocolates, chocolate, fine chocolate, gourmet chocolate, luxury chocolate