Chocolate With A Mission

There’s no Willy Wonka on the premises — and you won’t find Oompa Loompas working on the family’s modest factory floor. But what you will find at the Dripping Springs Chocolate Company is a couple, Bob and Tracey Wilson, who have dedicated themselves to producing delicious, delectable chocolates.

It’s a business referred in confectionary circles as bean-to-bar, or craft chocolates.

The Wilsons’ interest was piqued while on a church mission trip in Central America – Nicaragua.

“On the trip, we saw poverty on a level I’ve never seen before,” Tracey said. “Coming home, we felt like we needed to make a difference in areas where people struggle and have so little.”

So, the two began researching business opportunities where they could help those in impoverished parts of the world, when Bob came upon the idea of chocolate.

“The farmer is often paid the least of anyone in the chain; most of the time, not a fair wage,” Tracey said. “Farmers, most of the time, are at the mercy of what they can get for their product. We’d also hear horror stories about slave and child labor being used. So, we thought this might be what we were looking for – an area where we could help.”

Tracey and Bob Wilson at their Dripping Springs Chocolate Company with a cocoa pod. Most of their chocolate contains only two ingredients — cocoa and sugar.

With most cocoa found exclusively within 10 degrees of the equator, the Wilsons found a farm in Ecuador they could buy their beans – through a distributor in America.

“The beans are ethically sourced, which is very important to us,” Tracey said. “We buy them through a distributor who is very well respected and transparent. The farmer is paid a fair wage and there’s no slave labor. We’ve even emailed and spoken to the farmer.”

The pair, having never made chocolate before, weren’t intimidated. After all, they’ve owned numerous businesses and were both self-proclaimed foodies. But never in their wildest dreams did they realize how arduous it was to make the tasty morsels.

“This was very much a learning process,” Bob said. “The tempering aspect was tough to get down. Chocolate is basically a polymorph. Think of it as a six-sided puzzle piece. Depending on the temperature there are six ways it could turn out. Five of those ways the average consumer won’t like.”

When the Wilsons receive a shipment of cocoa beans they’ll roast and break apart the beans into cocoa nibs. The nibs, once separated from the cocoa husk — referred to as winnowing — will be ground smooth into silky chocolate, all from scratch. The grinding, or conching, often takes days to allow for outgassing of compounds from the fermentation process at the time of harvest, and later the roasting. It’s a tedious process but when complete the flavors of the finished product are much more intense than what most grew up remembering or purchasing at their local mega-mart.

Chocolate ready for sale.

Once they perfected the process, they entered into the cottage food industry and marketed their tasty creations at farmers markets.

“All of a sudden we began receiving requests to sell our chocolate at different shops and businesses and they really liked it,” Bob said. “But we couldn’t sell it commercially at that point, not until we established a business with a commercial kitchen.”

It wasn’t long after the couple did just that, all the while increasing their knowledge, and perfecting their craft.

Along their journey, they discovered not all cocoa beans were the same.

“What we grew up eating as kids are basically produced for yield rather than flavor,” Tracey said. “They’re commodity cocoa beans. They’re produced for consistency. If you’re going to buy a chocolate bar from the grocery store, then you want it to taste the same every single time.”

What sets Dripping Springs Chocolate Company apart from the mass producer, is they are considered a single source origin chocolate maker. For each batch of chocolate, they get their cocoa beans from one single source rather than a blend of beans that can come from a variety of locations.

“We have samples of chocolate that taste vastly different and yet have the same ingredients and undergo the same process, Tracey said. “It’s because the condition of the soils, rain and overall climate mixed together that make cocoa beans taste different.”

A lot of filler goes into commercial grade chocolate. But the Wilsons use two, at the most three, ingredients: cocoa beans and sugar. Add milk powder for milk chocolate – and that’s it.

Their success has been evident.

“What’s been a pleasant surprise has been the community’s connection to this — and our story,” Tracey said. “There has been a wonderful outpouring of support for it. It’s been amazing.”

Where to find them:

The Factory Store is open every Friday from noon to 6 p.m. to sample and buy chocolate and is located at 391 C Sportsplex Dr., Dripping Springs.

Where to buy it:

• Driftwood Winery 4001 Elder Hill Rd. – Driftwood
• Mazama Coffee Co., 301 Mercer St., Dripping Springs
• Navidad Farms. 1064-A Circle Dr., Austin
• Starrs on Mercer, 209 Mercer St., Dripping Springs
• Texas Hills Vineyard, 878 Ranch Rd. 2766, Johnson City
• Triple S Feed & General Store, 2111 W. Hwy. 290, Dripping Springs
• Westcave Cellars, 25711 Hamilton Pool Rd., Round Mountain
• Greater Goods Coffee Roasters, 12005 Bee Cave Rd., Bee Cave
• Greater Goods Coffee Roasters, 2501 E. 5th St., Austin
• Kiss the Cook, 201 Wimberley Square, Wimberley
• Los Olivos, 13904 Ranch Rd. 12, Wimberley
• Tenuta Bianco, 312 Pecan St., Blanco