Art Pollard may be the next Willy Wonka.

Since the BYU alumnus began his quest to make the perfect chocolate bar more than 10 years ago, he has created his own chocolate factory in Orem and won national recognition for his fine confections.

Launched in December 2006, Amano Artisan Chocolate began shipping to fine food retailers in February 2007.

But his chocolate is not for the regular Hershey crowd. Like a finely aged cheese, Amano Artisan chocolate contains nuances of rich flavor that tastes as if it's had a century to develop its wisdom of flavor.

At the National Association for Specialty Food Trade's 2007 Fancy Food Show, Amano Artisan Chocolate was one of 10 finalists for "Outstanding New Product." The Fancy Food Show, held in New York City, is the largest food trade show in the U.S.

Since starting shipment in February, Pollard says Amano has representation in specialty food stores in nearly every state in the U.S.

"We are selling to the finest connoisseurs and people who are looking for the finest chocolate," said Pollard.

Currently, Amano has three varieties of chocolate: the Ocumare, Madagascar and Cuyagua bar, which are each 70 percent dark cacao content.

"We hope to be the finest chocolate makers in the world and be wherever fine food is sold," Pollard said.

As a student, Pollard took a variety of classes in photography, Near Eastern anthropology, computer science, physics and English before graduating with a degree in anthropology in 1996. Pollard, who also worked in the BYU Physics Department for seven years, said his education fueled his desire to do something he really loved. "I wanted to get an education, not just a degree," Pollard said.

However, contrary to what one's childhood imaginations may entail, the chocolate business is not full of bright, shiny edible gardens of treats with a waterfall cascading chocolate-y goodness.

The process, Pollard said, is labor intensive on both the business and farming sides of the cacao bean. The quality of business is contingent on the quality of the relationships with the farmers. Pollard personally developed these relationships all over the world, and has had to overcome the language and cultural barriers where cacao is grown in the best environments. Amano Artisan Chocolate imports its cacao beans from farmers in Madagascar, Venezuela, Mexico and Ghana.

The chocolate industry is all about supply and demand, Pollard said.

"When supply is threatened, the price goes up," he said. "It's all due to economics."

Quality cacao can only be harvested in nutrient-dense soil -- soil that it usually used by industrial centers of the world. The area where the cacao can be harvested is limited, and the countries where it can be found are poorer.

Pollard estimates he pays up to five times more than larger commercial chocolate companies for their cacao beans, and Pollard said his customers would easily be able to taste the difference.

Larger chocolate producers, Pollard said, do not handle their chocolate at an intimate setting during every crucial step of the process. Everything is regulated through pipes, and often their machinery is not clean so there is residue that, along with lower quality beans and other ingredients, lessens the overall quality of the chocolate.

Pollard said he hopes the public can come to an appreciation of fine chocolate and return to an ancient tradition of creating and enjoying high quality chocolate.

In fact, the most satisfying thing to Pollard about making chocolate all comes back to the love of the substance.

"I love when I hear people tell me 'I love your chocolate!'" Pollard said.

For more information or to order, visit www.amanochocolate.com.

The Chocolate-Making Process:

1- Beans are sorted

2- Roasted in roaster (1962 Portuguese model).

3- Beans removed when slightly under-roasted. They will continue to roast as they cool.

4- Place beans on cooling table.

5- Winnowing machine breaks and separates cacao husk from bean flesh

6- 1930s mellanger grinds beans into a paste

7- Paste mixed in general mixing machine at 115 degrees.

8- Roll refiner refines mixture

9- Chocolate stirred to improve flavor

10- Distributed to molder in five-gallon buckets (smaller quantities ensure higher quality)



Copyright Brigham Young University 11 Oct 2007