Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker
Encyclopedia
Product lining
Product lining is the marketing strategy of offering for sale several related products. Unlike product bundling, where several products are combined into one, lining involves offering several related products individually. A line can comprise related products of various sizes, types, colors,...
of chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
produced by Artisan Confections Company, a subsidiary of The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S...
. Acquired by Hershey
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S...
in 2005, it was formerly produced by Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, an independent Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
-based chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
maker, founded in 1996 by sparkling wine
Sparkling wine
Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise, in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved , or as a result of carbon dioxide...
maker John Scharffenberger and physician Robert Steinberg
Robert Steinberg (chocolate maker)
Robert Wayne Steinberg was an American physician who co-founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker in 1996 with John Scharffenberger, his friend and former patient.- Early life :...
.
The company was a manufacturer of chocolate — as opposed to the far more common chocolatier
Chocolatier
A chocolatier is someone who makes confectionery from chocolate. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other ingredients.Professional chocolatiers study topics including the following:...
s, who make their products using chocolate acquired from wholesalers and manufacturers — the first American company founded in the past 50 years to make chocolate "from bean to bar". Scharffen Berger primarily produced chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
bars, using small-batch processing and focusing on dark chocolate varieties with high cocoa solid content.
History
The company's origins lie with founders John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. In 1989, Steinberg, a physicianPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, was diagnosed with cancer and given a 50% chance of dying within ten years of the diagnosis
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of anything. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines with variations in the use of logics, analytics, and experience to determine the cause and effect relationships...
. Steinberg promptly sold his practice and began exploring other career options. He read through a 600 page chocolate cookbook at the urging of a friend, which sparked Steinberg's interest in chocolate making. He began travelling to study the process of chocolate making. Steinberg toured the Bernachon chocolate company in Lyon, France, in 1993. He soon composed a letter in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
asking Bernachon for an internship and was granted a brief two weeks with the small company.
Steinberg returned from his internship in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and soon ran into John Scharffenberger, his former patient
Patient
A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
and neighbor. Scharffenberger, a winemaker
Winemaker
A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:*Cooperating with viticulturists...
and businessman, was selling his winery
Winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...
, Scharffenberger Cellars, and was exploring potential new business opportunities. Steinberg offered Scharffenberger a piece of French chocolate which he happened to have in his pocket
Pocket
A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets may also be attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items...
. "Robert had this chunk of chocolate in his pocket that I think he'd been carrying for months. But it tasted better than anything I'd ever had," Scharffenberger later recalled in a 1998 interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
with People Magazine.
Scharffenberger and Steinberg soon partnered together to begin making chocolate. They began creating their first experimental batches of chocolate in Steinberg's own home kitchen using over 30 varieties of cacao beans. Their basic chocolate making instruments included a mortar and pestle
Mortar and pestle
A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix solid substances . The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone...
, coffee grinder and a hair dryer to keep the chocolate viscous.
They decided to name their new company Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker because Scharffenberger's name was already a known brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
in the marketplace
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
due to his winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
.
By 1997 they made the first batch in a small South San Francisco factory using vintage German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
equipment and basic ingredients including Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n Criollo beans and whole Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
an vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
. The company relocated to a new facility at a historic factory complex in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, within four years.
The company selected its cacao beans from specific growers around the world and then performed every step to transform those beans into chocolate bars itself: from roasting, to conching, to tempering and molding. Scharffen Berger was the first American chocolate maker to prominently feature a chocolate bar's cacao content on the label
Label
A label is a piece of paper, polymer, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or article, on which is printed a legend, information concerning the product, addresses, etc. A label may also be printed directly on the container or article....
, the higher the number the darker and more bitter the chocolate bar. Cacao content on labels is now common in the industry.
On July 25, 2005, Scharffen Berger announced that it was being bought by The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S...
On 2005 August 15, Hershey announced the completion of the acquisition. Hershey purchased Scharffen Berger for about two times the company's annual revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
, which was approximately $10 million a year at the time of the 2005 acquisition. The same year Hershey's also bought another San Francisco company, Joseph Schmidt Confections
Joseph Schmidt Confections
Joseph Schmidt Confections was a San Francisco-based chocolatier, which produced gourmet confections using imported Belgian chocolate. The line of confections includes large, mini and petit truffles, slicks, and mosaics. Joseph Schmidt confections ceased operations 2009.-Early:Joseph Schmidt...
, and combined the two smaller companies into a wholly owned subsidiary, Artisan Confections Company. In 2006 Hershey's purchased Dagoba
Dagoba Chocolate
Dagoba Organic Chocolate is an organic brand of high-quality chocolate, founded in 2001 by Frederick Schilling. It has been owned by The Hershey Company since 2006. Its founders are no longer involved but Hershey has maintained the brand's factory in Ashland, Oregon. The name Dagoba is a Sinhalese...
, an Ashland, Oregon
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and located in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other...
-based manufacturer of organic chocolate. Hershey's subsequently began manufacturing its new artisan brands in a factory in Robinson, Illinois
Robinson, Illinois
Robinson is a city in Crawford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,822 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Crawford County.-Geography:Robinson is located at ....
and in early 2009 announced plans to close both Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
factories, lay off approximately 150 local employees, and transfer remaining production to Illinois, effectively keeping the company alive in name only.
Scharffen Berger founder Robert Steinberg
Robert Steinberg (chocolate maker)
Robert Wayne Steinberg was an American physician who co-founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker in 1996 with John Scharffenberger, his friend and former patient.- Early life :...
died on September 17, 2008 in San Francisco, California.
About the Chocolate
Scharffen Berger Chocolates are made from imported beans from a range of cacao-growing countries and regions, including VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Each bean variety is individually roasted and mélanged in small batches, then blended with large-crystal cane sugar and whole bean Tahitian and Bourbon vanillas before being conched into liquid chocolate. Manufacturing takes about 40 hours.
Reviews
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and wife of Prince Charles received a basket of Scharffen Berger chocolate while on a trip to San Francisco. She was so impressed with the product that she instructed her staff to have a regular shipment delivered to her back in the UK. Chef Julia ChildJulia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
reportedly once remarked that Scharffen Berger was the best chocolate she had tasted in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
External links
- Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker
- "Calif. Chocolatiers Boost Premium Boom" by Lisa Leff, Associated Press (Accessed 28 August 2007)
- "Robert Steinberg, Chocolate Maker, Dies at 61" by Dennis Hevesi, The New York Times, September 18, 2008
- "Robert Steinberg, 1947 – 2008" by John Scharffenberger, Scharffen Berger Chocolate