About Us: Manifesto

family resume |manifesto | our name

small

Small Luxuries

In short, that is what we strive to create for our customers. Even in a tough economy, people still feel the desire to treat themselves to luxury. They may not be able to afford a new car or even a four-star meal, but there’s definitely room in the budget for a box of truffles or decadent brownies.

Small Business

We started this business as two, husband and wife, operating our business and making chocolates in our home in Asheville, NC. In 2008, we opened the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, and created a beautiful space for customers to come and enjoy our desserts alongside an espresso or glass of wine. A year later, we reached capacity for customer seating as well as production, so we expanded into the second and third floors of the building, doubled our dining space and built a gorgeous kitchen. Now all systems are under one roof. We continue to make our truffles and pastries in small batches, employing the same artisan methods as when we started.

Speaking of small, it bears mentioning that we advocate reasonable but sufficient portion size. You will not find anything gargantuan at French Broad Chocolate Lounge, perhaps other than our selection. You will leave satisfied, not stuffed. We believe decadent desserts can be part of a healthy diet. Small luxuries are part of having a positive relationship with food, and one’s body.

local

One of our primary company directives is to be a part of the local business community. We are fortunate and proud to be part of a vibrant culture of small food producers here in western North Carolina. Fertile soil and evolved consciousness make this area ripe for the local food movement. Farmers, artisan bakers, cheese makers, chefs, tailgate markets, nonprofit organizations all work side-by-side to support one another.

In our chocolate kitchen and bakery, we buy fruits and berries and free-range eggs from WNC farms, and pick herbs out of our back yard. We pick up our wildflower honey from an honor-system shack on the other side of town, and our milk is processed less than 5 miles from our chocolate kitchen. At French Broad Chocolate Lounge, we sell locally made Ultimate Ice Cream, Pisgah Brewing Company organic beers, and locally roasted Counter Culture Coffee. The point is: we always have our eyes and ears open to find ingredients from within our regional foodshed. We believe we vote with our dollars, and try to live within our local economy as much possible.

But, um, isn’t chocolate grown in the tropics? You got us. Cacao, an awfully finicky tree, will only grow ten degrees north and south of the equator. But even the most die-hard locavores agree that some foods are worth making an exception. Anyone want to live without coffee? Black pepper? Vanilla? Chocolate?! …We thought not. We buy locally what we can when we can: we do our best.

organic

The organic movement embodies principles of responsible food production and earth stewardship. Since the USDA developed their National Organic Program, the word is laden with controversy and many small farmers and producers feel that the spirit of the movement has been legislated away. Did you know that even if our chocolates are made with 100% certified organic ingredients, we cannot say they’re “organic,” or even “made with organic ingredients,” without ourselves being certified under the federal rules? We believe that using organic methods of production is the right thing to do, and we buy organically produced foods most of the time. We take earth stewardship seriously, as evidenced by the growing pile of eggshells and coffee grounds behind our house that will be the soil in next year’s herb garden, or by the compostability of most of our takeout packaging.

We were certified organic under the USDA NOP for the first year of our operation, but our honey had to come from Brazil, because that was the only certified organic honey we could buy. Now, we can look Greg, of Haw Creek Honey, in the eyes and ask about the purity of his operation. By creating local relationships with our food producers, the specter of “food security” loses its ominous underpinnings. We value the USDA organic certification for keeping a watchful eye on producers that we can know nothing about, but all the better if we can visit Alex up at Full Sun Farm and ask if he sprays his berries. His farm may not be “certified organic,” though he does in fact use organic methods.

fair

Farm-direct

The best way to get farmers the compensation they deserve is by establishing a direct relationship with them. This way, we can encourage farming methods that will improve the value of their products, increasing their profitability while procuring a better ingredient for our operation. Among the ingredients we source directly from the farmer: hazelnuts, pistachios, butter, maple syrup, lavender, fruits and berries.

Fair trade certified

Across the planet, the lion’s share of cacao is grown on farms smaller than 5 acres. It is inherently the business of small farmers. Furthermore, the nature of the plant makes the mechanization of harvest impossible; every pod must be removed by hand, with a machete. Many chocolate manufacturers are showing leadership by protecting the interests of small farmers through such organizations as the World Cocoa Foundation and TransFair USA.

One degree removed

Sometimes we have to rely on a manufacturer in absence of third-party certifiction. In lieu of certification, we must ask pointed questions of our processors: “Do you have direct, long-term relationships with the farmers or farmers’ cooperatives? Are they paid and treated fairly? How do you contribute to the vitality of the farmers’ community?”

In any case, we are rewarded for taking an active role in sourcing responsibly produced ingredients. It gives us good food karma.

superb

All of the above factors are considered in selecting our chocolate and other ingredients. There is often a compromise; and when there is, we err on the side of excellent taste. Take milk chocolate. We have in the past used a very good organic milk chocolate made by Dagoba. Then we met Kokoleka, a divine 38 percent single origin, single estate American-grown chocolate from Hawaii made by Guittard, a San Francisco chocolatier. While not organic, it blows our minds.

We cannot help but take our food choices personally; our products are a reflection of who we are.