I was first introduced to Theo’s chocolate by Lyndi Thompson last year. The company is named after the Theobroma Cacao tree. Theo is the …
I was first introduced to Theo’s chocolate by Lyndi Thompson last year. The company is named after the Theobroma Cacao tree. Theo is the only organic and fair trade chocolate maker out there today. My favorite Theo bars are the dark chocolate coconut and the spicy chile. I also got a chance to sample the orange spice drinking chocolate for the first time this week, its an amazing treat on a cold and rainy day!
Theo has several lines of chocolate bars both dark and milk chocolates, and a number of confections such as truffles. The bars also have a number of inclusions ranging from french bread to coconut curry. I’d highly recommend touring the factory and store to try out the variety of bars and confections Theo has to offer. The store in Seattle, WA is right next door to the factory where they manufacture all the chocolates. The factory gives tours during the week. Each tour is about 1 hour long. During the tour you can learn the entire process of how Theo makes its chocolate:
- The company sources its beans from several countries, but since all its chocolate is fair trade it does not buy from the Ivory Coast or Ghana.
- Unlike most large American chocolate makers such as Hershey’s, Theo’s has a smaller factory, so it purchases most of its chocolate making machinery from Europe because American machinery will not fit in the factory,.
- The factory runs nearly 24 hours a day 6 days a week.
I highly recommend checking out both the shop and the factory tour if you’re ever in Seattle, or adding it to your own chocolate tour of the Pacific Northwest. Next stop for me Portland, OR!
