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A Utah company has just won gold in what's equivalent to the Olympics of making chocolate.
Seem strange that a warehouse in Orem competes with companies in Belgium and Switzerland? For Amano Chocolate, Utah provides a secret weapon.
Amano Artisan Chocolate won awards for every bar they make last week at the prestigious Academy of Chocolate Awards in London.
"Right from the start, I thought there was a whole other level in flavor that we can achieve, and that's what I set out to do. And apparently, that's what we've been able to pull off," Art Pollard said.
Pollard started as a BYU student on a quest for better chocolate. That led him on a 10-year quest to Europe to find rare, antique machinery and expertise, and then to South America to find the world's finest cocoa beans.
"We just need to make sure everything is just perfect before we start to process them," he said. "For better or worse, I'm on the project until I find a solution."
But part of Pollard's secret was in his own backyard: Utah's high altitude and dry climate. "A lot of the process is trying to get rid of the humidity, so Utah is perfectly suited for making chocolate," he said.
Pollard admits, when faced with a problem, he jumps in 100 percent. His recipe and hard work have a great aftertaste.
E-mail: dwimmer@ksl.com
