When Etienne Guittard left his home in Tournus, France for California, he —like so many others — had gold fever.
Upon landing on the Barbary Coast, Guittard had initially hoped to trade his uncle’s chocolate for mining supplies. It didn’t take long before he realized that the shiny and gleaming chocolate he had brought over was equally valuable. As he discovered, wealthy miners were more than willing to pay a premium for the sweet and dark “gold.”