What to Look for When Searching For Chocolate Manufacturers

Chocolatiers love to tell tall tales. They love to tell you about their fascinating history and the challenges that they’ve faced in making chocolate. This is because they, too, are fond of chocolate, and it’s one of their most loved products, particularly during special occasions like Valentine’s Day. And why shouldn’t people be fond of chocolate? It’s delicious, luxurious and quite the stimulant (in a positive way!)

If you’re going to follow the career of a chocolate manufacturer, you’ll find that you need to get your hands on as much chocolate as possible. Why? Well, chocolate making factories (whether small or large, big or small) have to continually make batches of chocolate each batch made with slightly different ingredients, of a slightly different quality and using a slightly different method. So you can imagine how upsetting it would be if after a couple of weeks of chocolate production, your factory suddenly decided not to renew its contract with the chocolate maker and it was closed down! For most people, this would be devastating news – not because chocolate is unique and unlike wine, like cheese or mustard it should be made in the same way every time, but because we all want to know that next time we get chocolates, we’ll taste nothing else.

In order to protect their business interests, most chocolate manufacturers tend to hire in “third-party” chocolatiers who produce the bulk of their chocolate. It’s not a bad idea really; in fact, it’s been done by lots of companies. The downside is that sometimes these “cheap chocolate making factories” can turn out a product that tastes nowhere near as good as it got sent from the factory. It’s happened in the past for many chocolatiers, and it’s likely to happen again, so what exactly should you be looking for when choosing a third-party chocolate making factory?

The first thing is to make sure that the chocolate making factory produces the kind of chocolate you want. If you want a very high quality chocolate, then it’s advisable to find one of the more expensive third-party factories – they’ll have more chocolates working for them, and so will know exactly what they’re doing. On the other hand, if you only want to get a certain type of chocolate, like a bitter-chocolate or a dark brown, then a more budget-friendly chocolate making factory might be able to help. Ask them what they prefer, and see if they can tell you where to buy their chocolate wholesale chocolate from.

There’s another thing to look for in chocolate makers – how much chocolate are they making? Some factories might be too small, and even smaller ones can make less chocolate than larger facilities, which means you could be missing out on chocolate that you’d like to buy. Chocolate manufacturers that aren’t too big also tend to have more spare chocolate on hand, which can come in handy if you run out of a particular flavor or chocolate type. Finally, ask them about their warehouse. Ideally, you should find a place that can hold enough chocolate for the whole year. Most factory locations will have seasonal storage facilities that are used only during certain seasons.

You don’t have to buy your chocolate directly from chocolate manufacturers. Sometimes, it’s more convenient to simply buy chocolate from one of their suppliers. When this happens, check the chocolate manufacturer’s website carefully. You’ll likely find a list of the different types of chocolates they produce, as well as a list of their suppliers, and an overview of what each has to offer. By shopping online, you can save yourself time, money and stress.