did you like their products? i've been following their new products and have enjoyed their 99% offering - but it's too expensive at this point and not available in bulk.
Thanks. I do know their product and i met them a while back in NYC. Thanks! Mimi
I recommend TCHO. They are a great company doing very innovative things from their factory right here in San Francisco. I have been eating and baking with their chocolate for years now and it never disappoints. It's got an overall more fruity taste but their flavors vary.
some products are organic, some fair trade certified and others go beyond since they work with farmers directly.
see:
Mimi- I've been buying the Akoma brand from Guittard because they're fair-trade and will let me buy in 50# bags if I talk to someone personally. I'm curious about the ones you've found. Would you tell me about them?
Rhoda
HI Joe,
My posting is quite old and since then I have expanded to use chocolate from other south american countries. I am all set right no- but thanks. Unfortunately Norm and I will not be coming to Ecuador this spring- tickets became too expensive because we acted late on shopping. I might be coming down in November. I hope that you and Barbara are well! I advertise Mindo Chocolate when I can!
Warm regards, Mimi
Mimi
I am working with a group of local farmers close to Mindo. We practice what we call direct trade. I pay these farmers 3 times what they are getting from middle men. We can produce quite a bit of couverture and we can make it to your specifications. If you are interested we can talk more about it.
Mimi,
Sweet Earth Chocolates is a good source for Fair Trade/Organic certified bulk couverture chips (65%, 54%, 34% milk, and white). Other companies that I know of (Ciranda, Puratos) have minimum orders that are several thousand dollars.
Sweet Earth's contact info:
Sweet Earth Chocolates
1491 Monterey St.
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401Phone (805) 544-7759
info@sweetearthchocolates.com
Fax (805) 544-7756
http://www.sweetearthchocolates.com
Wholesale orders:
Chips come in 25 lb increments (full bag), but can be ordered by the pound (for more).
5% off 50 lb orders
10% off 100 lb orders
Hope that this helps,
Dale Anderson
Confections With Convictions
116 W. Crosstown Pkwy., Ste. 101
Kalamazoo, MI 49001
Check out some of the older posts on this forum and on the Chocolate Alchemy forum. One of the first things you will need to decide is how much chocolate you want to make - and how much money you will have to spend. Until you have answered those questions every answer is conditional. Do you want to make 50kg a week or 5,000kg, for example. Do you have a million dollars or ten thousand? Can you make any equipment yourself?
Can I suggest that you take some time to read some older posts and then ask very specific questions?
Duffy
We will bepresent again in the Salon at the booth of Brazil, if you are there please stop by and say hello. Try our chocolate made withFazenda Venturosabeans, These are the same beans that will receive an award for "Excellence" during the show.
Hi Jessica. I believe that Madre is now using a commercial tempering machine, so I'd guess that they haven't done any further work on this idea.
I tempered for a while using a santha with one of the wheels removed, a thermometer, and a space heater/fan. I usually started with melted chocolate and would dump it into the room temperature santha. The process was basically to cool the chocolate down with the fan and seed chocolate. Once it was in temper, I'd just monitor the temperature and adjust as necessary using either the fan or the heater.
It worked pretty well, except that it added a lot of bubbles to the chocolate.
Erin,
I happened by this post. I know I am a few years late, but I'm curious about your process. Have you developed this idea further? Do you have anything in the works?
Jessica
