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THE NEW EUROPEAN CHOCOLATE MAKERS CHOCOLATE NAIVE {LITHUANIA} 45km north of Vilnius, in a small town called Giedraiciai (Brightville) is the home base for Chocolate Naive, a small bean to bar operation that got its start in 2010. Lithuania may not come to mind when you think of chocolate but it is one that has earned a spot thanks to the energetic Domantas Uzpalis. “I bought one ton of beans, carried the bags to my garage and wondered what on earth I was going to do with this cacao?” says Uzpalis. The answer: Create a chocolate brand that educates customers about the bean to bar process. Each bar is labeled with the percent of cacao, number of hours conched, roast characteristics, tasting notes and the origin of the bean which holds true to Domantas’ pursuit of crafting high quality bars that teaches customers about what they are eating. chocolatenaive.com
Credit: Alma Galinskaite (Almu)
LEVY CHOCOLATE {FINLAND} It took a YouTube video about the beanto-bar chocolate making process, plus a bit of luck and hard work to motivate Tom Jakobsson, a graphic designer (and now a chocolate maker), together with Tuukka Koski and Aki Arjola, to launch Levy Chocolate in Helsinki in July 2012. “I thought all chocolate makers made their own chocolate until I became interested in chocolate and learning about the bean-to-bar process” says Tom. The trio prefers to keep operations small. Levy Chocolate’s first bar, the Madagascar 71%, reflects the craft-like quality of their single estate, single origin bar reminiscent of the brand. levychocolate.com
Lithuania may not come to mind when you think of chocolate, but it is a country that has earned a spot on the map
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