I'm sure that when you think of the chocolate and technology pair, what comes to mind are chocolate-like iPhone and iPad covers, Instagram photos of delicious treats, and mouthwatering recipes pinned on Pinterest; but that's not all that there is when considering this union.
Before telling you about the innovative idea developed by Tcho, let me narrate for you a little story that was reported on Mashable and on Discover: Stefan Madgalinski decided to gift his wife an iPad... covered in chocolate.
He commissioned a bakery in the UK to create this bizarre present and had it shipped all the way to South Africa. No need to say that the wife was quite confused to see a tablet of chocolate, only to discover that it contained a brand new iPad.
Now let's get to business: Tcho is a chocolate company based in San Francisco and it revolutionized the world of chocolate.
They aim at using iPhones and other technologies to reinvent the production system.
At the basis of this process there is an app that allows to turn on and off the factory's mixers and grinders. Furthermore, they inserted various cameras inside the factory and on some machines, which send a live streaming on the Internet and allows to check that everything runs without a hitch; and they can even control the temperatures though the web.
But the innovative thinking of Tcho's founders, Timothy Childs and Karl Bittong, didn't stop there.
They also revolutionized the production process of chocolate from the cocoa beans themselves; in fact, they don't search through different chocolate farmers to find the best one, but instead, through their "Tcho Source" program, they provide growers with tools and devices to taste the chocolate during the harvesting and processing of the beans, such as roasters and grinders; in this way, they create a small laboratory where farmers can taste the chocolate and its quality first and decide which variety to sell to chocolate makers.
Thus, growers will learn to recognize the difference flavor and aromas, allowing to develop and structure a more efficient production process and to create goods of higher quality.
On their website, they state that their idea was born after discovering that:
Most cacao farmers have never tasted chocolate, even fewer have tasted chocolate made from their own cacao beans. Crazy, right?!
Most cacao farmers aren’t paid enough to make a decent living, let alone invest in their cacao crops and processes: new drying beds, fermentation boxes, lab equipment, and more.
The lack of tools and know-how is the main barrier to increasing the quality of cacao produced.
The distinction and appreciation of different flavors is also particularly important for Tcho, who produces many exotic chocolate bars that possess peculiar aromas, such as chocolatey, citrus, fruity, floral, earthy, and nutty.
The company affirms: "TCHO was founded on the idea that focusing on flavor, rather than percentage of cacao, as the defining feature of our single-origin chocolates was not only more user friendly, but also more transparent. We source from different regions of the world to get the best beans that highlight each of the inherent flavors found in cacao."
The connections between chocolate and technology, therefore, are numerous and very interesting, whether you focus on the social media aspect, or go deeper into the value chain of a company.
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