This week's (October 29, 2007) New Yorker magazine has an article entitled "Food of the Gods" by foodie Bill Buford about artisanal chocolates. A slide show of pictures from the article is here. Yesterday, on the NPR program On Point with Tom Ashbrook, Mr. Buford was interviewed and the world of artisanal chocolates was laid open for all to break apart and taste (at least on the radio).
For those who do not already know, artisanal chocolates are the kinds of dark chocolates that contain as much cacao as possible and are defined by the percentages boldly printed on their labels. These chocolates are made with respect for the earth and the people who grow and harvest the beans. And the world of artisanal chocolate has as its current hero and villain, Frederick Schilling, former owner, with his mother and father, of Dagoba, an Oregon-based small manufacturer of sublime chocolates.
Mr. Schilling is a caring and concerned young man who, at the age of 30, in 2001, set out to become a chocolate alchemist: turning "exceptional cacao into edible gold." He grew the business and became involved in making the world a better place through the sale of chocolate. His business was a model in the Slow Food world. Then last year, after a year and a half of being courted by Hershey and others, he sold his company to Hershey, just as Scharffen Berger and Joseph Schmidt had done before him. The company was reported to have been sold for $17 million. It is a familiar story in the food world, Ben & Jerry's perhaps the most famous. And for those left behind, there is a sense of loss and disppointment that the Don Quixote has joined the Inquisition. In justifying his decision, Mr. Schilling wrote: "I'd like to offer some personal insight into my decision for passing the ownership onto Artisan Confection Co, a subsidiary of Hershey. First, I find it really saddening that people have very little faith in me and the decision made. Judgements are cast from the boat like fishing in the fog....I love the world of cacao. I've been involved with Transfair (fair trade certifications) since our inception... I've also been involved with the World Cocoa Foundation. I care about farmer welfare and making a difference at origin; both on the ecological side and also the equity side of the equation. When I first joined the WCF I was a skeptical chocolate company owner who had doubts about what the big boys were up to. I was taken aback when I attended my first conference. The programs that have been and are in place are quite amazing. I agree that they have a major PR issue, as the WCF is not getting the word out to the public about what is happening at origin. This will be changing soon. My point on this paragraph: a lot of these larger chocolate companies are doing amazing things in origin countries. Things that are way beyond what Dagoba could have ever done on our own."
As an entrepreneur, I understand the desire to cash in, although I am long past my thirties and am still waiting. I am interested in what happens to these companies when a giant like Hershey rolls them up. Someone at Scharffen Berger is reported as saying, "Hershey's was leaving the control of the operation pretty much alone where they said they would, but that they were also extremely pleased to have the Hershey bank account and helpful staff with them, since the day after they were bought, one of the machines broke down. Hershey's folks found the spare parts AND an extra machine within 24 hours." But what happens to the workers and the supply chain and the vision of making a more equitable world? Does that go away? A critic of the sale called what Hershey was doing, "greenwashing." But could it be part of a sea change? Schilling believes: "Now that we have the wind under our wings to take the company to the next level, Dagoba will be able to reach out to thousands, if not millions more farmers than we could have on our own. It's great to be able to say we work directly with farmers and look at the impact we're having in these 3 communities.... what about all the other farmers though, that we're not working with? It's my desire to work within the structure of the larger chocolate community to make the changes that need to be made. From my experience so far, I am not only optimistic about our ability to work within the structure, but excited!"
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I decided it would be important to taste the chocolate of change, so I went to our local Whole Foods Market (Bedford, MA) and bought a number of bars, lavender, xocolatl, and eclipse 87%. I set them out on our conference table and three of us tasted each. No doubt about it, the chocolate is rich and creamy. The lavender was subtle, with chunks of blueberry. The eclipse 87% dark and rich, with a tasteless beginning and a complex, bitter middle and a smooth finish. My favorite was the xocolatl, which contains chilies and bursts with spicy goodness. The least favorite of the group was the eclipse 87%; the most the lavender.
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