Bean-to-bar

Starting in the 1970s and 1980s, some chocolate makers engaged in bean-to-bar manufacturing. They often used single-origin flavor cocoa and vintage equipment.{{Sfnp|Martin|Sampeck|2015|p=53}}

The term "bean-to-bar" emerged from the artisan and craft chocolate movement around 2010. It is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms "small batch chocolate" and "craft chocolate". Several hundred small chocolate manufacturing companies were started to meet the demand for bean-to-bar products and a wider variety of flavors emerging from new consumer requirements.{{Cite web|last=Fraser|first=Jinji|date=2020-10-22|title=Meet Four Craft Chocolate Makers Decolonizing the Industry|url=https://www.eater.com/21499205/black-indigenous-craft-chocolate-makers-history-industry|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Eater|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Chocolate: The Journey From Beans to Bar|url=https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/resource-item/chocolate-from-bean-to-bar/|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Rainforest Alliance|language=en-US}} Bean-to-bar manufacturers take great care in selecting their cacao beans{{Cite web|title=From Bean To Bar: The Bay Area's Chocolate Revolution|url=https://www.kalw.org/show/crosscurrents/2019-09-04/from-bean-to-bar-the-bay-areas-chocolate-revolution|access-date=2022-02-02|website=KALW|language=en}} with many traveling to plantations in tropical regions to meet with growers in order to establish direct-trade relationships, some have managed to gain access to control the fermentation process. Over 2,500 bean-to-bar manufacturers have emerged around the world in less than 20 years.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} Entrepreneurs from Australia, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom{{Cite web|date=2017-10-06|title=9 best British bean-to-bar chocolate makers|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/food-drink/chocolate/best-bean-to-bar-chocolate-british-london-makers-brands-bars-a7986971.html|access-date=2022-02-02|website=The Independent|language=en}} and the United States{{Cite web|date=2016-02-12|title=For A Missouri 'Bean To Bar' Chocolate Maker, It's Not Just About The Candy|url=https://www.kcur.org/community/2016-02-12/for-a-missouri-bean-to-bar-chocolate-maker-its-not-just-about-the-candy|access-date=2022-02-02|website=KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City. Local news, entertainment and podcasts.|language=en}} with aptitudes for culinary arts, science, technology have all proven to be successful as chocolate makers.

All bean-to-bar chocolate makers process whole cocoa beans into a final product versus melting chocolate or starting with ground cocoa mass for use as a base, coating, filling or for mixing and molding into truffles, pralines, or other chocolate confectionery.{{Cite news|last=Shute|first=Nancy|date=2013-02-14|title=Bean-To-Bar Chocolate Makers Dare To Bare How It's Done|language=en|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/02/13/171891081/bean-to-bar-chocolate-makers-dare-to-bare-how-its-done|access-date=2022-02-02}} One of the largest startups, the Mast Brothers, that was "widely credited for introducing artisanal chocolate to mainstream American culture" actually employed commercially produced chocolate from a third-party, making them better known as the creators of fake bean-to-bar chocolate in 2015.{{Cite magazine|date=2015-12-18|title=Celebrity Hipster Chocolatiers Reportedly Sold Remelted Commercial Chocolate|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/12/mast-brothers-chocolate-scandal|access-date=2022-02-02|magazine=Vanity Fair|language=en-US}} Big Chocolate has also been using the term to compete with the craft chocolate industry developed around the bean-to-bar concept.{{Cite web|last=Terenzi|first=Sharon|date=September 23, 2016|title=Big Manufacturers Cash In On Craft Chocolate Terms|url=https://www.thechocolatejournalist.com/blog/big-manufacturers-craft-chocolate-terms|url-status=live|website=The Chocolate Journalist|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202134022/https://www.thechocolatejournalist.com/blog/big-manufacturers-craft-chocolate-terms |archive-date=2 February 2022 }}

As a result of the rise in consumer demand for fine and aromatic dark chocolate created by bean-to-bar (craft chocolate movement) and the idea of small batch recipes, new types of processing equipment and machinery have been developed facilitating small business development. Bean-to-bar chocolate makers are revolutionizing the world of chocolate{{cn|date=August 2023}} leading to the development of many new legal marketing terms to better describe their products to match consumer demand and expectations. Schools and universities have developed classes and courses in bean-to-bar chocolate making and business development. New certifications, endorsements and labelling schemes based on ethical consumer values have also appeared.{{Cite news|last=Wells|first=Pete|date=2015-12-29|title=Picking the Best in Bean-to-Bar Chocolate|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/dining/mast-brothers-taste-test-bean-to-bar-chocolate.html|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=0362-4331}} Big Chocolate has outright acquired several craft bean-to-bar operations.{{Cite news|last=Clark|first=Melissa|date=2020-02-11|title=Everything You Don't Know About Chocolate|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/dining/chocolate-bar.html|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=0362-4331}}

Some bean-to-bar producers are large companies that own the entire process for economic reasons; others aim to control the whole process to improve quality, working conditions, environmental impact, and the source. Some cacao farms in tropical America have incorporated the trade model to add-value to make the supply chain more sustainable by producing "tree-to-bar"{{Cite web|date=2021-11-18|title=Singapore Will Soon Get Its First Tree-To-Bar Chocolate Made From Local Cacao|url=https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/pure-imagination-singapore-cacao-chocolate/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=Green Queen|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Bean To Bar|url=https://chocolates-elrey.com/bean-to-bar/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=Chocolates El Rey|language=en}} and "farm-to-bar"{{Cite web|title=Farm-to-bar Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate wins gold|url=https://www.lahainanews.com/news/local-news/2022/01/28/farm-to-bar-maui-kuia-estate-chocolate-wins-gold/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=wetzelchronicle.com|language=en-US}} chocolate.

Cacao growers and buyers hire certification companies to inspect plantations, take soil samples, guarantee pricing to farmers and develop regional cooperative associations for cocoa growers. Bean-to-bar chocolate makers pay for these certified labels to address issues important to their consumers.{{Cite web|title=Rainforest Alliance Certification on Cocoa Farms in Côte d'Ivoire|url=https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/resource-item/evaluating-rainforest-alliance-certification-on-cocoa-farms-in-cote-divoire-impact-study/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=Rainforest Alliance|language=en-US}}

Unlike the large scale secondary processing from general chocolate liquor mass, the bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturing style must follow the guideline that the primary company handles the entire process from the purchase of cacao beans to the making of the chocolate bar. Because the term is not limited to small craft chocolate manufacturers, and in light of consumer demand for bean-to-bar brands, larger companies have adopted the term and some of the other related terms used by smaller chocolate makers.{{Cite book|last=Gordon|first=Clay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yqdPAAACAAJ|title=Discover Chocolate: The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Tasting, and Enjoying Fine Chocolates|date=2007|publisher=Gotham Books|isbn=978-1-59240-308-0|language=en}}

It is believed the industry was started in the late 90's, in San Francisco, where two men — John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg — spent a decade beginning a movement while building their business, and then spreading that movement by selling their business.{{Cite web|last=Dame|first=Max|date=2018-10-27|title=Craft Chocolate Will Continue to Grow.|url=https://damecacao.com/craft-chocolate-continue-to-grow/|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Dame Cacao|language=en-US}} The predominant theory of the start of the craft chocolate industry is that a boom occurred around the Mast Brothers, who entered the chocolate making industry after Scharffenberger from different industries in New York around 2008.{{Cite web|last=Filloon|first=Whitney|date=2015-12-21|title=Mast Brothers Admits It Hasn't Always Made 'Bean-to-Bar' Chocolate|url=https://www.eater.com/2015/12/21/10634270/mast-brothers-scandal-admitted-chocolate|access-date=2022-02-02|website=Eater|language=en}} By 2014 in Japan, the brand "Minimal", was introduced as a pioneer for the inspiration of bean-to-bar makers there, its taste has been recognized at international competitions.

Many bean-to-bar chocolate makers are based solely online, some have stores for their product, some use other retail locations to sell their product, some contract their facilities and some even private label chocolates for other companies.

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• {{Annotated link|Fair trade cocoa}}

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• {{Cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Carla D |last2=Sampeck |first2=Kathryn E |date=2015 |title=The bitter and sweet of chocolate in Europe |journal=Socio.hu Social Science Review |volume=5 |issue=SI3 |pages=37–60 |doi=10.18030/socio.hu.2015en.37 |eissn=2063-0468 |doi-access=free}}

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