New collaboration brings new chocolate to USU
The Aggie Chocolate Factory recently announced a new collaboration with Twenty Degrees Chocolates, a sustainable cocoa bean supplier, which has not only brought new study abroad opportunities, but a tasty new chocolate bar.
The Aggie Chocolate Factory is a facility to learn about the chocolatier craft. Over 100 students each year go through the chocolate lab as a part of a class offered through Utah State University where they learn about the chocolate-making process.
The factory is part of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, and it is the only bean-to-bar chocolate facility at a university in all of North and South America.
All the workers in the factory, other than the manager, Steven Bernet, are students at USU.
Some students have even done internships in Europe. Bernet hopes they can keep building on that with the new collaboration with Twenty Degrees Chocolates.
“I really think there’s an opportunity for us to collaborate — work together on small projects involving sustainability,” Bernet said.
He also said the factory is working on creating a study abroad program with the College of Agriculture so students can do work and service in less-developed countries.
Twenty Degrees is a small piece of Olam International, a major food and agri-business company in 60 countries where they supply food and raw materials.
“People are very interested in the finer aspects of the chocolate and the nuances of flavors between beans from different origins,” Bernet said. “Twenty Degrees specializes in its specialty cocoa beans of very high quality from different origins that are ethically produced.”
Chocolate comes from the fruit of the cacao tree, which can only grow 20 degrees from the equator. These trees are native to Central and South America and therefore have a very narrow growing region.
Villa Riva is the farming group based in the Duarte province of the Dominican Republic, where the cocoa beans for the new chocolate bar are coming from.
The process from the cacao tree to the hands of USU is long and complicated but, according to Bernet, it’s worth it.
The farmers harvest the cocoa pods and then ferment them before they are sent off to the distributor. Through Twenty Degrees, the factory has access to the beans and the rest is done at the chocolate lab in Logan.
The bags of cocoa beans come in and are sorted by hand. Only whole — and therefore the best — cocoa beans are used to make chocolate. After the beans are sorted, they go into a machine to be winnowed, meaning their outer shell is shed. Then the beans can go through the five-day grinding process. Finally, the chocolate is put in a tempering unit, bringing the chocolate to the smooth texture customers love.
“When you buy a Hershey bar you want it to taste like a Hershey bar every time, right? You don’t want it to taste different,” Bernet said. “You know you want it to taste exactly the same every time. So, that’s what they do, and we do the opposite. We try to find unique flavors.”
The new Villa Riva chocolate bar has been out for about four weeks and is still available for all those who want to stop by the factory and give it a try.
Aspen Curtis, a junior at USU, recently tried the new Villa Riva chocolate bar and recommends it to dark chocolate lovers.
“I really like it,” she said. “It’s super rich but it’s not overpowering and it tastes like what real chocolate should taste like.”
-Brielle.Carr@usu.edu