Recently the A Beautiful Mess staff was invited on a private tour of the Askinosie Chocolate factory. I was particularly excited, because: 1.) I knew we would get to sample lots of amazing chocolate (!!!!!) and 2.) I really wanted Elsie to meet Shawn (the owner). He is such an inspiring business owner. Let me explain.Shawn Askinosie and his family are creators of Askinosie Chocolate. Elsie and I are suckers for small family businesses (I wonder why?). When we arrived we were immediately greeted by Shawn who was handing out dark chocolate and lavender truffles to everyone. He explained he had a business trip to Italy later that week where he would be showing off these truffles, so he needed to practice making them. They were AMAZING. He had our undivided attention after that. 🙂He gave us a tour of their small factory, located just down the street from our local shop. We got to see first hand the process of cocoa beans becoming chocolate. It is a fascinating process. Certain parts almost reminded me of coffee, having similar flavors and smells. We got to sample chocolate in various stages and even watch the molding process.For me, learning about how a food is made is always fascinating. I LOVE knowing the science behind how bread rises or why brewing coffee works. So to see chocolate being made from scratch was a dream come true. But even more impressive than watching chocolate being born was hearing Shawn's story and the passion in his voice for the business. Before Shawn was a chocolate maker, he was a successful lawyer. But along the way he got really into cooking and making chocolate desserts (like cupcakes!). The idea came to him to make chocolate from scratch, so, well, he did. As he learned more and more about how chocolate was made, he became more and more passionate about chocolate. Just like that, he decided to change careers and follow his passion. Not only is Askinosie chocolate amazingly delicious, it is also ethically made. Shawn flies all over the world meeting and working directly with cocoa farmers making it possibly to eliminate the need for layers and layers of brokers and middle men (and their fees). This ensures farmers are paid a fair wage for their work and that proper conditions are being upheld (like not using slave labor on farms). As you can imagine, all that travel, expense and language/cultural barriers makes this process difficult. But that's how they do it at Askinosie, and our hats are off to them! Shawn said he is constantly finding ways for his small business to do good and help others. Throughout the tour Shawn would explain little things here and there that showed his passion for others. It was inspiring. I think Elsie and I both teared up a couple times. It's hard to face someone with that kind of commitment and passion and not feel inspired. All of us at ABM want to say thank you to Shawn and his team for inviting us in, giving us chocolate and inspiring us with their story. You can read more about their journey here. And if you have any dark chocolate lovers in your family, I highly recommend checking out their online shop. 🙂 xo. Emma
*All photos by Alec Vanderboom
I just discovered Askinosie chocolate at Whole Foods, because I saw your logo on the wrapper and was intrigued!! Of course I bought it. It’s delicious. Love the coconut. Definitely buying more from them soon!! (And yes then I searched your blog after I ate it, so I could see what you guys had written about them! Lol)
the photos in this post are really lovely but the story is even better. 🙂
I usually get Divine chocolate which is free/fair-trade/anti-slave labor chocolate. Otherwise I don’t touch chocolate. It is great learning about this company. I thought Shawn at first was Richard Dryfuss in the smaller picture on bloglovin’. haha.
That looks like such a cute place! And I am a crazy fan of chocolate.. so I think I would like this place 😉
X
http://kendra-genevieve-rose.blogspot.com
Ohhh this looks magic! I love the expressions on everyone’s faces, so much joy 🙂 But now I want chocolate. Darn!
Alexandria
Thanks for sharing this story. I wish there were more businesses like this
Nice tour to visit a great chocolate world.
What a great place to have so close! I loved reading his story- so inspirational. I love how God sometimes puts dreams in your heart that you didn’t even know you had…it’s always an exciting adventure when you discover and chase them! Can’t wait to taste some of their chocolate. 🙂
This looks awesome! Y’all are so lucky!
now I’m super hungry! I bet that was super fun walking through the shop and learning the background! I love hearing start-up stories of wonderful businesses! especially when it involves food!
If you love small family owned businesses, you should check out my mom’s business Holy Donuts! Follow us on instagram: @holy_donuts or at facebook.com/holydonutsbakery for our story. We’re a small, family owned business as well! 🙂
This is so fantastic!
I love hearing about people who are making pretty small business decisions but absolutely changing the lives of others. For the best.
Massive fan 🙂
I have a fair trade wedding and engagement ring. It was a fair bit more expensive but I’m sure meant a lot more to the producers than the fact we don’t have favours at the wedding!
Esther x
www.esther-aw.tumblr.com
yummy!
xo Jennifer
http://seekingstyleblog.wordpress.com
This would be so awesome! I love sweets, especially chocolate. I am experimenting with some fall sweet drinks over on my blog, All Things Adorable.
“Cups of Comfort”
http://allthingsadorableblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/cups-of-comfort/
So inspiring! And so are some of the comments on here. Beautiful story for what looks like beautiful chocolate! I will make sure I try some when I cross the pond next year 🙂
I love this post! Everything about it makes me happy, people following their dreams and passions, chocolate, and lovely pictures to go along with it! Makes me wish I was there too 😉 Thanks for sharing such a fun and inspiring story 🙂
dark chocolate and lavender truffles? Heaven! So very lucky that this special shop is down the block!
Thanks Emma for sharing this story. I love hearing about business owners who use their product to make a difference. This is a business I will definitely support. I am glad you were able to share your touring experience with us as well. It makes me feel I am there myself. Thanks again!
-Nicky
lavender truffles? yummy! I want to try
yesterday I drank a green tea with lavender, was nice, i need to get more food with lavender. Great story and is nice to read about this man and passion, specially he is helping, there are many poor persons from Central America working hard, sometimes is not nice to see how Big factories takes prime material and paying few money, anyway good for this guy.
I love chocolate and thank from the gods for the gold of mayans.
Familiy businesses are the best! Especially delicious ones :)!