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When we launched our first chocolate in December 2007 (at the Entertainment Gathering at the Getty Center in Los Angeles), we decided we wanted to engage with our first tasters by requesting their feedback. Since a lot of us have tech backgrounds, we adopted a familiar idea: we encouraged our users to help us make the chocolate they wanted, in much the same way software developers engage beta testers. We called what we were doing...

Aside from constantly nibbling on fresh chocolate, one of the many things I appreciate about working here is that we‘re telling a different story about chocolate than you might typically hear: the story of flavor. While most of us think of chocolate as having one flavor, in actual fact, pure chocolate can have any of a kaleidoscope of flavors, depending on the cacao's genetics and terroir, as well as how it was harvested, fermented, dried,...

Great chocolate begins with great cacao beans. And great beans begin on the farm, with the farmers. TCHOSource is a program we developed to invest in the farmers who grow our cacao.   It's built on the most powerful motivator for development, mutual self-interest: growers need to raise their incomes; and our need to secure long-term sources of great cacao so we can make the best chocolate. What a difference a year makes. A year...