Description: Erin Andrews has been making chocolate since taking her family to Belize in 2008 to learn where chocolate came from. Recently, her brand indi chocolate, has launched a visible and working chocolate factory and cafe space in 'Marketfront' an offshoot of Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. Formerly a senior manager and CPA at PwC (Price Waterhouse Cooper), she's developed alongside her business, a passion for chocolate-making machines, and is one of the foremost distributors of chocolate refiners in the United States, leading thousands to take up bean to bar chocolate making.
Podcast RSSThemes discussed in this episode:
Starting a chocolate business and hiring at origin (impact of dollars on local economy) via her experience with Cottontree in Belize
How she became a "machine geek" on the cusp of a boom of small-batch bean to bar movement
Her coffee partnership with La Colombe
Why certifications are not top priority when sourcing for indi chocolate & collaborative trade
The power of people; your dream tenfold when you're hiring the right people
Getting your customers to appreciate origin, and breaking the 'dark chocolate' myth
Initiating a chocolate company in an unlikely way...with body care
Group of 'no's'
Photo credit: indi chocolate
Links from the episode:
- Glenn Petriello (formerly of Glennmade Chocolate and now of Chocotastery) was hired by Erin to take the Head Chocolate Maker position at indi chocolate the summer of July '17
- The story of how Marketfront was created around existing Pike Place Market, one of the world's premiere public markets
- Montana Ironworks, designer of her railroad and transportation inspired table piece in the current space
- Repurposed Pod, (since closed) cacao* juice in bottled format (*I can't confirm the varietal/genetics)
- Current indi single origins at the cafe (subject to change!); Matagalpa, Nicaragua from Gifford Laube, Hacienda Limon, Ecuador managed by Samuel von Rutte, Amazonas, Peru, & Marañón Chocolate (also Peru) managed and exported by Dan Pearson and Brian Horsley
What Erin will take to the Cosmos:
1) cacao mucilage (also known as baba), commonly consumed as a drink (fresh cocoa beans straight from the pod are hung in a cheesecloth type fabric and rung dry)
2) a 72% indi chocolate bar
3) the yet to be discovered bean
More from indi
indi chocolate Website
Chocolate Making Machines & Replacement Parts
Social Media:
indi chocolate on facebook
indi chocolate on instagram
indi chocolate on twitter
Where to find Lauren, host of Well Tempered and chocolate maker at WKND Chocolate:
Instagram & Twitter: @wkndchocolate
New podcasts, chocolate recipes, and Conversations in Cocoa at laurenonthewknd.substack.com