Megan A. Costello, founder, former co-owner and Chief Chocolate Officer at Easton Malloy, Inc., maker of the Williams Sonoma Original Peppermint Bark, has launched the Megan A. Costello brand.

"I am an entrepreneur at heart so, for me, the thrill is in envisioning a company, designing equipment, building factories and creating products and flavor profiles,” she said. “To be a creator, one has to be free to create and leave behind the day-to-day duties." 

The new Megan A. Costello brand leverages Costello’s expertise in product and flavor design and includes collaborations alongside established industry colleagues. The brand also aims to give back by sharing Costello’s expertise with the next generation of burgeoning entrepreneurs.

"It was more than a sugar rush to build my first factory in San Francisco,” she said. “The city had just taken a major hit from the first tech bubble bursting, and there was plenty of space to grow. It was perfect timing for burgeoning food entrepreneurs bootstrapping businesses, and for those of us in food (especially chocolate), we helped each other. We didn't have role models for some of what we were doing and making. We were not descendants from generations of chocolatiers, but we were passionate and determined. Chocolate has rules and boundaries, and when you are fortunate enough to have millions of pounds to play with, testing those rules and boundaries is half the fun." 

Costello is a Master Chocolatier formerly trained at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone with experience creating millions of pounds of confections for clients worldwide, such as Williams Sonoma. Costello is a product consultant, speaker, flavor profile designer, food safety educator, equipment developer and past Good Food Awards judge.