Hand crafted vs factory made chocolate

December 14, 2022 by Tess Pitzer0
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Hand crafted chocolates are created individually, meaning no large production lines or industrial machinery is involved in the process. The outcome will mean that each and every chocolate will turn out unique in its own way. Factory made chocolate is the opposite- generally producing larger amounts of chocolate, using industrial machinery, and each chocolate looking perfect and almost identical each time. In order to lower the cost of production, certain factories may replace the natural ingredients for artificial ones. They will also add preservatives, allowing the food to stay “perfect” for longer.
Think of it like cooking at home, versus eating processed foods on the shelf. Both taste good, we know that a home made meal is always better and healthier for you! You can taste the love put into hand crafted chocolates, and they are as pure as it gets.  Here at Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours we are proud to call ourselves “handcrafters”! Keep reading more to learn about hand crafted vs factory made chocolate.

Benefits of hand-crafted chocolate

Well, if we didn’t already answer this question from the above paragraph, let’s talk about it more in depth. There is a sort of art to chocolate, as there is to wine. Chocolate has unique and quite amazing tastes, aromas, and sensations. It’s a treat that’s produced by the most natural and fresh ingredients. Expertise and knowledge are required to achieve such delicious taste.
Chocolate that’s produced in a factory is mass produced. We aren’t saying that it won’t be tasty, I mean who doesn’t love all chocolate am I right? However, you can taste the difference. Hand crafted chocolate is fresh and pure. Someone made it with their hands. They put a lot of time into perfecting a small batch of chocolate, that can’t possibly be exactly the same as the next. No preservatives, no artificial flavors, and the highest quality of ingredients.

Hand crafted chocolate is typically made with natural flavors such as real hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, etc. But, commercial chocolate is filled with many different artificial flavors, syrups, or chemical fillings. Some chocolate factories also use cocoa butter as a substitute, taking away from the chocolates natural taste and quality.

Island Sharks Chocolate – Hand Crafted Hawai’i chocolate

Island Sharks Chocolate is a hand-crafted, black owned, Hawai’i grown and made chocolate business. They make everything in small batches, and they are based in Hilo, Hawai’i. Everyone in the Island Sharks Ohana are chocolate lovers that live and breathe the island lifestyle. Ethan Swift is the guy at Island Shark Chocolate! He makes the chocolate, designs the packaging, website, and runs all the social media. You go Ethan!

Their Hawai’i cacao is grown along the beautiful slopes of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai’i, and the chocolate is made just down the road. Island Sharks Chocolate support’s Hawaii’s local farmers. By purchasing Hawai’i cacao beans at an industry premium, they create livable wages for our community. We love Island Sharks Chocolate, and if you are looking for some Hawaiian hand-crafted, one of a kind chocolate for this holiday season, or just anytime, we couldn’t think of a better business to support!

The other amazing thing about their chocolate is that it’s all vegan, gluten free, soy free, non gmo, ethically sourced and made. Click here to shop Island Shark Chocolate! 

hand-crafted vs factory made chocolate

hand-crafted vs factory made chocolate

Manoa Chocolate – Commercial Hawai’i chocolate 

Manoa Chocolate has been crafting bean-to-bar chocolate on Oahu since 2010. Their cacao beans are ethically sourced from Hawai’i and other parts of the world. Their goal is to “bring out the best” in each bean. They craft all of their chocolate in house, so they have complete control during the entire process. What sets Manoa chocolate apart is that they buy their cacao beans straight from the farmer. This means while sourcing cacao ethically, the farmers get paid better, and they are able to get the highest quality of cacao. Their chocolate factory is based in Kailua, Oahu. They have their cacao farm, with about 130 cacao trees.

As we do at MCCT, their bean to bar experience is able to tell the story of where the chocolate is grown, which is important to us. Although they are factory produced chocolate, they still strive to make high quality chocolate with the least amount of “bad” ingredients. How cute is their packaging?!

Manoa chocolate

A Manoa chocolate isn’t a Hershey’s chocolate since it is produced on a much smaller scale and in the Aloha state! However, if you do decide to shop for single origin commercial chocolate, make sure  of it’s ingredients, it’s the origin you are interested, the products are sourced ethically and that the growers truly care about how their fruit is handled from start to finish. When chocolate factories in Hawaii have the opportunity  to make their chocolate with Hawaiian grown cacao, you are in for a very special treat because the producers in Hawaii get to ferment the fruit where bean to bar producers on the mainland simply get to roast their beans that have been fermented and dried from a far away place.

Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours

We are Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours, and the cacao for our 70% handcrafted chocolate bars is grown in Haiku. The cacao will continue to be sourced from there until the trees at Kupa’a Farms are producing.  Kupa’a Farms is where MCCT enhances the tour with our hands on chocolate making demonstration along with other educational fun that happens on our tours!  You will get to see everything from the farm to the table, and how we make the chocolate in between. And yes, that’s right, we create hand crafted chocolate! Reserve a tour, or surprise someone with one as a gift, because this experience will be one that you won’t forget!

hand-crafted vs factory made chocolate


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