Top Ten American Craft Chocolate Makers
This is the top 10 American Craft Chocolate Makers list — the very best bean-to-bar chocolate makers based in the United States.
These views represent personal viewpoints only.
This page honours America’s bean-to-bar craft chocolate makers — the companies who take raw cacao through to a finished chocolate bar, under their own roof, rather than working with chocolate someone else has already made (couverture). Below is our top ten list, the very best working in the US today, followed by a wider field of companies working alongside them.
You may differ on the rankings, but probably agree on the list.
- Dandelion Chocolate — San Francisco, California — dandelionchocolate.com — Founded by Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring, two tech entrepreneurs who sold their company to Comcast and turned their attention to a shared obsession instead. What began as roasting beans in a garage and growing cacao plants in an apartment became one of the most recognisable names in American craft chocolate, now working from a large factory and café in the Mission District. Their signature discipline — just cocoa beans and organic cane sugar, nothing else, not even added cocoa butter or vanilla — is as much a philosophy as a recipe, and it’s made them something of a reference point for the whole movement. The scale they’ve reached is unusual for the category, and some longtime fans feel the intimacy of the early days has given way to something closer to a proper factory brand. Where there is real tension to their marketing claims is that the two-ingredient bars are now being pushed way down the pecking order on their website, while higher value orders items, in terms of chocolatier work, conversely containing many ingredients, are increasingly being promoted. However, the bars remain a genuine benchmark for letting the bean speak for itself. At the time of writing, some third-party made products they sell on their website contain emulsifiers. Our advice: seek out their single-origin chocolate bars, they are exceptional in terms of character, and the people behind the sourcing and making of them show an incredibly knowledge. Founded in 2010.
- Askinosie Chocolate — Springfield, Missouri — askinosie.com — Founded by Shawn Askinosie, a criminal defence lawyer who walked away from a twenty-year courtroom career after a trip to the Amazon showed him how much a farmer’s post-harvest handling shapes the flavour of a bean. Askinosie pioneered direct trade in American bean-to-bar chocolate, publishing what it pays farmers and profit-sharing with them, and later brought his daughter Lawren into the business to expand its work with women cocoa farmers. Askinosie will perhaps leave a more lasting bean-to-bar chocolate legacy than most other companies. The single-origin bars, mostly from Tanzania, the Philippines and Ecuador, are well made and consistent, though the company’s identity leans as heavily on its social mission — school lunch programmes, farmer partnerships — as on flavour innovation, which is either the whole point or a slight distraction depending on what you’re looking for in a bar. The packaging stands out as unique, interesting in terms of genuine statement making, and it has yet to be copied or the style bettered. This is a company that you should try, the chocolate making is solid, and each product is made of a deeper meaning than just the chocolate you eat. Founded in 2007.
- Amano Artisan Chocolate — Utah — amanochocolate.com — The only thing stopping Amano ranking higher is a lack of availability, and the constant out-of-stock notices. Is this in itself a bad thing, or an indication of how highly regarded they are? Amano focuses on flavour first — sourcing distinctive cacao, making chocolate in small batches, and taking the time needed to develop texture, aroma, and balance. And this is the secret as to why their chocolate tastes so good. They do not set a clock to the chocolate they make, batch by batch, it is done, when it is done. Amano is one of the most highly regarded craft bean-to-bar chocolate makers in the USA and chocolate from them should be considered an experience worth tracking down. The packaging designs are ‘safe’ — and while there is obviously a theme running through the designs, this is the one area that seems like an after-thought, like it was something decided years ago, and not really updated since, apart from a new font. But you buy Amano chocolate for the chocolate.
- Manoa Chocolate — Kailua, Hawaii — manoachocolate.com — Founded by Dylan Butterbaugh, who didn’t even like chocolate until he wandered into a University of Hawaii cacao lab and tasted beans that carried cherry and spice notes with nothing added. Hawaii is the only US state where cacao actually grows, and Manoa has built its identity around that fact — sourcing both Hawaiian-grown beans and beans from other origins, and even offering estate-traceable bars from individual local farms, something almost no other American maker can do. The Hawaiian-origin bars are the clear point of difference and worth seeking out specifically for that reason, though the wider range (inclusions, other origins) is more variable and closer to what’s available from mainland makers. Founded in 2010.
- Ritual Chocolate — Park City, Utah — ritualchocolate.com — Founded by Robbie Stout and Anna Seear, who started out making chocolate in a 400-square-foot Colorado apartment with a PVC-pipe winnower and a converted rotisserie oven before relocating to Utah in 2015. The name is a nod to the Mayan, Aztec and Olmec ceremonial use of cacao, and the company has built a loyal following on heirloom, sustainably sourced beans and an outdoorsy, mountain-inspired identity that runs through the packaging as much as the chocolate. The single-origin bars are consistently well regarded, though the brand’s growth into two cafés and hundreds of retail accounts means it now reads more as an established regional chocolate house than a scrappy start-up. The bars are not innovative, rather, almost conservative, but they are well made. Founded in 2010.
- French Broad Chocolates — Asheville, North Carolina — frenchbroadchocolates.com — Founded by Dan and Jael Rattigan, who dropped out of graduate school, converted a school bus to run on used vegetable oil, and drove it to Costa Rica to open a café before eventually settling in Asheville. What started as a chocolate lounge selling truffles grew into a full bean-to-bar factory, and the business has become one of the most visited craft chocolate destinations in the country, with a factory tour, tasting room and café built around the experience as much as the product. That scale and the confectionery-heavy menu (cakes, bonbons, drinking chocolate) put it closer to a chocolate destination than a narrowly focused bean-to-bar producer, but the single-origin bars that started it all remain well made and worth seeking out. For that reason it features in our top ten list. Founded in 2012.
- Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate — Eureka, California — dicktaylorchocolate.com — Founded by Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor, former carpenters and boat builders who came to chocolate after hearing a podcast on a road trip and deciding to give it a go. Their woodworking background shows in how they talk about the craft — treating cacao the way they once treated raw timber — and their two-ingredient, single-origin bars have long carried a reputation among chocolate insiders as some of the most consistently well-made in the country. It’s a small operation on the Humboldt County waterfront, and the focus stays narrow — mostly plain bars and a few inclusions — rather than chasing the wider confectionery range some competitors offer. While the plain bars are approachable for nearly everyone, the bars with inclusions scattered on the back are more hit and miss in quality and consistency. The packaging is looking a little dated now, but still gift worthy. Founded in 2010.
- Fruition Chocolate Works — Shokan, New York — fruitionchocolateworks.com — Founded by Bryan Graham, a Culinary Institute of America graduate whose interest in chocolate was sparked while making a tiny batch from bean to bar with one of his instructors. Now run with his wife, Dahlia, out of a small shop and factory in the Catskills, Fruition built its name by going against the two-ingredient orthodoxy of the wider bean-to-bar scene — introducing milk and white chocolate, bourbon-barrel ageing, and unconventional inclusions well before that was common in the craft. The wider product range can sometimes feel closer to confectionery than to purist single-origin bars, which won’t suit everyone looking for a stripped-back bean-to-bar experience, but the dark milk chocolate in particular has become something of a benchmark for what American milk chocolate can be. Although, perhaps the higher prices, compared to other equally proficient brands, might be off-putting. Founded in 2011.
- Taza Chocolate — Somerville, Massachusetts — tazachocolate.com — Founded by Alex Whitmore and Kathleen Fulton after Alex tasted traditional stone-ground chocolate on a trip to Oaxaca and apprenticed with a local molinero to learn how to hand-carve the granite mill stones himself. Taza’s own chocolate is deliberately rustic — coarser and grittier than the smooth, conched bars most other makers on this list produce, kept to cocoa beans and cane sugar with no emulsifiers, which several independent reviewers have flagged as among the least-processed chocolate on the market. That texture is the whole point, but it also means Taza isn’t for everyone; if you’re expecting the silky snap of a typical craft bar, the stone-ground style can come as a surprise. Their Direct Trade Cacao Certification, the first of its kind for a US maker, remains a genuine point of difference in an industry not always transparent about what it pays farmers. However, Taza also make a “smooth” chocolate, using different machinery, and this is the same as modern craft chocolate in terms of texture and taste, and more commercially appealing. They also make chocolate for other brands, under white labelling, using their other machinery, for example (at the time of writing) for Mast, and that is closer to what a traditional craft chocolate is expected to be, and some of it seems to include emulsifiers. Founded in 2005.
- Raaka Chocolate — Brooklyn, New York — raakachocolate.com — Founded by Ryan Cheney and Nate Hodge, who met making chocolate by hand in a Bushwick apartment after Ryan encountered unroasted “raw” chocolate on a trip through Thailand. Raaka’s whole identity rests on that un-roasted process — bringing out brighter, fruitier notes that most makers roast away — paired with unusual inclusions like ghost chiles, bourbon cask ageing, and cacao steamed over simmering wine. It’s a genuinely different style of bar, and worth trying on that basis alone, though the un-roasted profile is polarising: some tasters find it vivid and alive, others find the flavour unfamiliar or under-developed compared with a conventionally roasted bar. However, for a while now they have claimed their un-roasted chocolate is fully conched, to remove the astringency. But this removes some of the polyphenols, just like roasting. They have also branched out into other product lines, which seem to have a more commercial intent. Having dropped the raw chocolate descriptions that the company started with, Rakka is allowed to change and commercialise, and we should judge them on what they now make, not what they used to say, and their chocolate is well made and worth a try — they really do have a passion and desire for more people to try un-roasted chocolate. Founded in 2010.
Honourable Mention
- Goodnow Farms Chocolate — Sudbury, Massachusetts — goodnowfarms.com — Founded by Tom and Monica Rogan, who discovered craft chocolate in a Los Angeles vintage furniture shop of all places, then bought a 225-year-old farm outside Boston and rebuilt part of the barn into a chocolate kitchen. Unusually for a maker this size, Goodnow presses its own cocoa butter on site from the same beans used in each bar, giving them tighter control over flavour than most competitors who buy butter in separately. The single-origin and collaboration bars (made with regional distilleries and cider producers) are meticulously made and highly regarded within the craft chocolate world, though the operation is small enough that availability outside New England and specialty retailers can be limited. Yet, using the double-standards of judging a book by its cover, the packaging and design of the bars is one of the reasons holding Goodnow Farms back from making it into the top 10 – it’s just not very ‘good’. Founded in 2015.
Other Notable Craft Chocolate Makers
Here is a list of other American bean-to-bar chocolate makers.
| Name | Location | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Bar Au Chocolat | Manhattan Beach, California | barauchocolat.com |
| Brasstown Fine Artisan Chocolate | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | brasstownchocolate.com |
| Castronovo Chocolate | Stuart, Florida | castronovochocolate.com |
| Chequessett Chocolate | North Truro, Massachusetts | chequessettchocolate.shop |
| Christopher Elbow Chocolates | Kansas City, Missouri | elbowchocolates.com |
| Cloudforest Chocolate | Portland, Oregon | cloudforest.shop |
| Creo Chocolate | Portland, Oregon | creochocolate.com |
| Cultura Craft Chocolate | Denver, Colorado | culturachocolate.com |
| Enna Chocolate | Exeter, New Hampshire | ennachocolate.com |
| Escazu Artisan Chocolates | Raleigh, North Carolina | escazuchocolates.com |
| Ethereal Confections | Woodstock, Illinois | etherealconfections.com |
| 5150 Chocolate Co. | Delray Beach, Florida | 5150chocolate.com |
| Fresco Chocolate | Lynden, Washington | frescochocolate.com |
| Kahkow USA | Brooklyn, New York | kahkow.com |
| Lillie Belle Farms Chocolate | Central Point, Oregon | lilliebellefarms.com |
| Lonohana Estate Chocolate | Honolulu, Hawaii | lonohana.com |
| Madhu Chocolate | Austin, Texas | madhuchocolate.com |
| Madre Chocolate | O’ahu, Hawaii | madrechocolate.com |
| Map Chocolate Co. | Willamette Valley, Oregon | mapchocolate.com |
| Markham & Fitz Chocolate | Bentonville, Arkansas | markhamandfitz.com |
| Maverick Chocolate Co. | Cincinnati, Ohio | maverickchocolate.com |
| 9th and Larkin | San Francisco, California | 9thandlarkin.com |
| Nuance Chocolate | Fort Collins, Colorado | nuancechocolate.com |
| Parliament Chocolate | Redlands, California | parliamentchocolate.com |
| Piety and Desire Chocolate | New Orleans, Louisiana | pietyanddesirechocolate.com |
| Potomac Chocolate | Woodbridge, Virginia | potomacchocolate.com |
| Raphio Chocolate | Fresno, California | raphiochocolate.com |
| Solstice Chocolate | Salt Lake City, Utah | solsticechocolate.com |
| SPAGnVOLA Chocolatier | Gaithersburg, Maryland | spagnvola.com |
| Terroir / TC Chocolate | Fergus Falls, Minnesota | tcchocolate.com |
| White Label Chocolate | Santa Cruz, California | whitelabelchocolate.com |