Part 3: What Bean-to-Bar, Craft, and Artisan Mean

In Part 1 I proposed definitions for bean-to-bar and tree/farm-to-bar. In Part 2 I proposed definitions for Craft and Artisan. In this part I will propose definitions for chocolatier, batch size, and single-origin. But before I do:

One of my main reasons for writing this series was to take a look, not just at the definition of bean-to-bar, but also at its related definitions as a group. I wanted to create a comprehensive, coherent, framework for the definitions that was not arbitrarily restrictive. I undertook this effort because I felt it important that:

• Each definition should stand alone and focus on a single idea, and not conflate concepts that could be covered in other definitions — better, more simply, and understandably; and
• The set of definitions be internally consistent.

I also stayed away, when not inherent to the definition, from:

• Setting strict upper and lower numerical bounds:
• Creating adjective clouds that were not an inherent requirement of the definition.

 With all that taken care of, it's time to get to the definitions.

What is a Chocolatier?

Traditionally, in France for hundreds of years and until relatively recently, a chocolatier was a person who makes chocolate, from cocoa beans. Today, however, it now has become to generically mean anyone who works with chocolate products.

To avoid confusion, I suggest “Chocolate Maker” to refer to a person who makes chocolate from cocoa beans. This does create problems in Latin languages because “chocolate maker’ literally translates to:

French: chocolatier
Italian: cioccolatiere
Spanish: chocolatero

The way around this, in Latin-derived languages, is to translate the phrase “maker of chocolate” instead of chocolate maker:

Spanish: Fabricante del chocolate
Italian: Creatore della cioccolato
French: Fabricant de chocolat
English: Chocolate maker
German/Dutch: Chocolademaker

Note:

The translations for “candy maker” / “confectioner”:

French: confiseur / confiseur (and fondeur for someone who melts couverture)
Italian: creatore della caramella / pasticcieri
Spanish: fabricante del caramelos / confitero

Thinking about Batch Sizes

After thinking about this long and hard, and knowing the ranges that most chocolate–making equipment falls into, the definitions come from the capacities of the machines.

A micro-batch chocolate maker is one who uses machines whose nominal batch capacity is 10kg or less. 

A small–batch chocolate maker is one who uses machines whose nominal batch capacity is greater than 10kg and less than 100kg.

A large–batch chocolate maker is one who uses machines whose nominal batch capacity is greater than 100kg and less than 1000kg.

A very—large–batch chocolate maker is one who uses machines whose nominal batch capacity is greater than 1000kg.

Notes:

Batch size is often determined by the melangeur or conche; more generally it’s the largest vessel in use, not including a mixer/melter. Machines whose throughput is measured per hour are not considered.

We are also not talking about any specific combination of equipment here. The chocolate maker could be using a ball mill and/or a three-roll refiner or both, or a melangeur or a Universal. The type of equipment and the order it is used in processing does not matter to the definition.

What it means to be an Origin Chocolate

An origin chocolate is one where the origin of the cocoa beans is stated. Added cocoa ingredients (e.g., cocoa butter and cocoa butter) in the recipe can come from a different origin and that origin does not need to be stated.

Origin Peru: the cocoa beans were grown in Peru. Any added cocoa butter or powder can come from another origin (e.g., Ghanaian butter).

What it means to be a Single-Origin Chocolate

All of the cocoa ingredients — beans and any added butter and powder — must come from beans grown in the same named “place.” That place name can be very large (an entire country), large (a single province), or small (a single finca).

Single-Origin Venezuela: the cocoa beans, and any added cocoa butter/powder, are made from beans grown in Venezuela.

Single-Origin Esmeraldas: the cocoa beans, and any added cocoa butter/powder, are made from beans grown in the province of Esmeraldas in Ecuador.

Single-Estate Hacienda Los Ancones: the beans, and any added butter/powder, are made from beans grown on the finca of the Hacienda Los Ancones in the Dominican Republic.

Single-Varietal. A chocolate made from beans of the same variety. Some origin chocolates are also single-varietals; some single-varietal chocolates are also single-origin.

Notes:

Some origins are used confusingly. When a bars says Chuao does it refer to Chuao village or Chuao valley—there is a big difference.

Thoughts on Bean–to–Bar Itself

I am not a fan of the phrase “bean–to–bar” because it limits thinking: I prefer the phrases “from–beans” and “from–the–bean.”

One reason is that it extends naturally to, “I make chocolate from liquor,” and “I make chocolate from nibs,” as opposed to liquor–to–bar and nib–to–bar which I think are clumsier to say.

The other reason is that there’s a lot more to be made from chocolate than just bars. Saying that you are a bean–to–bar chocolate maker can (and often does) canalize your thinking. Why not make chocolate bark, for example? The requirements for the chocolate itself can be lower (you can use beans that cost less if you’re making a bark), and you can use inclusions that are far less expensive than the chocolate, which results in products that have a lot higher profit margin, especially when you consider differences in the labor costs of packaging. If you are not making a salted–caramel something you are missing out on one of the biggest flavor categories of the last decade and missing solid income–generating opportunities. Also, learn how to pan.

Why is This Effort to Create Accepted Definitions Important?

I asked this question of a reporter colleague and she told me that she often has to include definitions in her articles. The definitions are important because they help her readers (mostly consumers) better understand what she's writing about. Without an accepted set of definitions that she can refer to, she has to make them up, and they don't necessarily match the way the industry itself thinks about itself.

Having an accepted (dare I day “reference standard”?) set of definitions helps reduce confusion at all levels of the market, from the smallest to the largest maker, from the most aware to the “don’t bother me I don’t want to know” consumer.