At one end of the room, grubby brown beans are being dumped unceremoniously down a metal chute. At the room’s other end, a cooling tunnel is gently disgorging elegant brown bars. A funk of heavenly, tropical aromas fills the air. Changing those humble beans into luscious, expensive chocolate is alchemy.
Provo-based Coleman & Davis is but one example in the growing trend of the bean-to-bar movement. These artisans make chocolate from scratch; that is, buying the beans and processing them into the finished, go-to-market product. In the trade, they are called chocolate makers to differentiate them from chocolatiers who buy couverture and mould it into bars or bonbons.