Original subtitles

We have taken confectionery and chocolate making to another level by

piece beautiful, hand -painted, decorated.

We want people to kind of take a pause when they get a box of our chocolates

before they start eating them. We go through about 20 to 24 tons of chocolate

year. So this is it all melted.

It's a very sensorial experience on the visuals of what we do.

Now, behind that, we put just as much effort into how these chocolates taste,

into the ingredients that we've painstakingly sourced from around the

the years.

So we often refer to our craft and what we do, and it's not just cooking.

We are creating edible pieces of art.

So this is a mold that's been airbrushed and painted, ready to go out to the

production floor and go to the next step of the chocolate -making process, which

would be to actually form the shell.

So we'll actually use colored cocoa butter, and we'll paint the molds, and

once that's done, we'll fill these molds with chocolate, we'll create a shell,

and then we'll fill it with whatever particular filling we're going to do.

And then at the end of this process, you end up with a really beautiful bonbon

that would look something like that.

really vivid, that's really shiny.

So when you open that box, you almost don't even want to eat them.

I didn't set out to be a chocolatier. I didn't set out to open a chocolate

company. It was never a childhood dream of mine.

I actually wanted to be a chef.

I wanted to own restaurants.

You know, and I thought that's the direction that I would go, and it's the

I started going down in college. And once I graduated from college, I went

on into it, you know, worked with a lot of really great famous chefs around the

country. So now we've got to create the shell that's going to hold the filling.

I got thrown into the pastry kitchen at one of my jobs.

And we do that by just flooding the mold with chocolate.

You know, he said, look, work in the pastry kitchen for a while, you know,

we'll move you over to the savory side.

And it was such a well -known, reputable chef that I didn't want to pass up the

opportunity to be able to work for them.

And I never went back to cooking savory food after that.

Constantly flowing, it's held at a very specific temperature for us.

Temperatures and humidity are super important. They have a lot of effects on

chocolate, so we are very careful to control that. There was a precision to

That is a little different than savory cooking, right? In baking and chocolate

making, it's a science. It's exact.

One degree up or down makes a massive difference in the final outcome of a

product. There's a lot that can go wrong in chocolate making. You've got to be

so precise. And I think that fed into my personality of being detail -oriented.

A lot of our fillings are pretty loose, runny caramels.

So we try to get...

A very even, thin shell that's going to create a better eating experience for

the bonbon. I fell in love with the fact that chocolate could be worked with,

you know, like an art medium, like maybe a painter does with paints or clay.

This is probably going to take about 20 minutes for it to set up, and then it's

going to be ready for us to fill.

Perfect. I was working as a pastry chef, and we would make chocolates and small

things to send out at the end of the meal. And customers started asking if

could buy them. And that's literally when the light bulb went off.

And I was like, oh, I could do this for a living. Only this. Only make

chocolates. So this would be a caramel that we've infused with fresh lemon

and lemon zest to get a really good lemon flavor.

Six months later, Christopher Bravo Chocolates was born in 2003.

And I started in a 400 -square -foot room above a restaurant. I thought I

be there for five or six years. I didn't anticipate what would happen. But in

2004, we won a chocolate competition in New York. So once we filled them with

the caramel or ganache or the filling or whatever we're putting inside, they

have to set overnight to crystallize so we can actually come back and seal this

bonbon up. We call it capping. This will become the bottom.

That really started this upward trajectory.

ultimately picked up by oprah magazine so i was on the phone all day long

orders and then making chocolate at night to fulfill those orders and ship

out that allowed us to move down the street to a bigger facility and within a

year and a half being in there We were already outgrowing that space.

Because we've done the right tempering process on it, it's already starting to

set. In about 10 minutes, these will be ready to flip out. So in 2006, we opened

up our existing retail store where we are now.

The building was 3 ,700 square feet, and we thought we would never fill that

space.

We produced everything here.

Lo and behold, you know, in three to four years, we were bursting at the

And then after that, it was just...

holding on by the seat of our pants, trying to keep up. So this is kind of

moment of truth, right?

If we've done everything correct, right? We've painted, temperatures are good,

we've molded right, we've filled it right.

We ended up opening our second refill store out in San Francisco in 2008.

And that's what we're looking for, really shiny, clean, beautiful -looking

bonbons.

So this is a two -layer one that we do. We have a cookie praline and a vanilla

bean ganache.

We used to think, you know, when we made a batch of flavor and we would pack up,

you know, 100 boxes of chocolates, we used to think that was pretty stellar.

Like, wow, we just boxed 100 chocolates and sold them, you know, the day we

boxed them.

And now it's in the thousands.

We like customers coming into our stores because we're able to tell the full

story. They get the full experience of walking into a really cool design space,

seeing all the chocolates on the counter, experiencing in a way that you

if you just get a box shipped to you. But that's great.

They're still delicious.

But it's a whole other level in here when we're serving hot chocolate and

and they're able to take their time and pick out their chocolates and really

have a different interaction with our brand.

Welcome to the Kakao Experience.

My name is Ethan. I'll be doing the presentation for you today. The Kakao

Experience was started by Chris to have a place to educate people about where

chocolate comes from, some history about it, where it's grown, how it's grown on

the farms it harvested, and then ultimately how we turn it into chocolate

we get to enjoy.

Cacao has essentially been around forever, and it's been really important

Mesoamerican cultures of Central and South America for over 5 ,000 years.

would have taken the beans and ground them on a stone, similar to this one,

chilies and spices and vanilla and corn and mixed it with water and consumed it

that way. Into the 1500s, that's when the Spanish started to explore, and they

got introduced to cacao through the indigenous cultures, and they took it

to Spain, where they did start adding the addition of sugar and honey to it

make it more palatable.

Chocolate houses started popping up, kind of predecessors of modern -day

shops. Then into the 1700s, that's when milk chocolate was invented and also the

first production of chocolate bars were being made. Twelve years into the

business, we were focused so intently on creating these confections that we kind

of stopped and were like, well.

What is this stuff we're working with, right? Where does it come from? Cacao is

a tropical plant, and it grows all the way around the Earth along the equator,

about 20 degrees north and south. In the 1700s, they tried to find other places

that it would grow, and they found they grew really well on the Ivory Coast in

Africa. Kind of back then, it really wasn't heard of for a chocolatier like

to go to a chocolate farm in Central America or South America or Africa.

So all these pictures were taken by Chris on his travels, except for this

where he's there.

cutting a pod out of a tree.

So we started going to the farms where we know our chocolate comes from to meet

the farmers, to see the fruit in the field.

We really wanted to have a deep understanding of where it comes from,

grown. The plant itself is really interesting because in the wild it's

to 35 feet tall.

When the fruits fully ripen, they never fall from the tree. So if you do want

them out of your tree, you have to chop them out with a machete. I always like

to make sure that people understand how difficult it is to do this.

Behind the looks, behind that artistic aspect of our product, we put just as

much time and effort into how we source ingredients.

We seek out the world's best chocolate.

No compromises there.

This is a proprietary blend unique to us, and the reason we wanted to

something that's unique to our brand is we do a lot of different flavors with

this chocolate.

So we wanted something that was going to be big enough and bold enough to stand

up to hundreds of different flavor combinations.

Use natural flavors and not extracts. This is where we actually make all the

caramel and all the fillings. And that's just a big part of, I think, the

success of our business is sticking to those.

guidelines and and never wavering from that one of the most expensive

ingredients that we use are real vanilla beans there's times when those are on

par like per ounce just as expensive as like real silver so this is a actual

vanilla bean it's a member of the orchid family The real flavor comes when you

split this pod open and there's these little seeds in there. So we scrape that

out and that's what we infuse into the caramel for this particular bonbon

flavor. We choose to make everything.

We don't buy our caramel from somebody else. We make it ourselves because we

control the flavor and the process and the texture.

Caramel is one of the few things that I go by sight.

smell and sound.

As it gets quieter and quieter, that means the caramelization level is

higher and higher. You'll actually start getting some of that kind of smoky,

burnt aroma going here shortly.

It's definitely taking on a more amber color here. Smells like we're pretty

there.

We're slowly adding the hot cream that's been infused with vanilla bean into the

caramelized sugar. It's called deglazing. We work really hard. We've

these flavors to work by using natural ingredients, and you get an authentic

flavor. But you can see all of the vanilla bean specs in there. I think

know, like, we have customers that have been buying our product for 22 years

since the day we opened.

Temper them with a little bit of chocolate, and then we'll let them sit

overnight. And then tomorrow, these will be ready to go into our filling into a

bonbon. We owe it to them to continue that tradition, even as we grow and get

bigger and bigger and bigger every year.

We're still never going to cut corners. So good.

This is my adventure vehicle.

The sprinter van that I built out, and the sole purpose of it was to take me to

some amazing fly fishing destinations in the mountain.

But I've got a full -on kitchen, refrigerator, freezer.

This case carries most of the rods I fish with, anywhere from a three -weight

six -weight in different strengths and flexes, different tapers, different

reels, different lines.

I can pretty much, out of this one case, fish anywhere in the United States.

Tying flies, though, the details of that, I think my training in chocolate

making, doing things on a very small scale over and over and over again have

really helped me in that world.

You know, when I'm on the river, I'm thinking about nothing other than that

that I'm fishing to.

How am I going to get in a position to be able to cast to them? What are the

currents doing?

Everything has to happen perfectly in this natural world that I'm inserting

myself into.

When I got out and started fly fishing, I realized that was a big part of my

life that was missing.

Getting away from the TV, getting away from the cities and slowing down a bit.

It's changed the trajectory of my life in the best way possible.

Because that's the vehicle that got me out into nature and wanting to connect

with the natural world.

The similarities between chocolate and fly fishing that have culminated to me,

the attention to detail, how precise you need to be in casting, right? I got to

get this.

fly six inches in front of this fish in a certain current. And the concentration

it takes is really what I love about both arts.

I see it in a lot of other chocolate makers that they're not paying

Anybody can pay attention once and make a good batch of chocolates, but to do

it... hundreds of thousands of times and still have that focus and attention.

I had that in me, and now my staff has that because they've watched me do it

over and over and over.

And I can see it in the product. If we haven't paid attention to every single

step of the process, it's going to be very apparent to me in the final

and we're just not going to.

Be proud of that and put that product out.

So this is a very, very special collection to me, the fly fishing

that we did to pay homage to my love of fly fishing.

So this is called a transfer sheet, and what it is is colored cocoa butter

that's been silk screened onto a sheet of acetate.

So when we run the filling of the bonbon through the enrobing machine, which is

essentially a waterfall of chocolate, we get a little thin coating on it, and

then we can place this on, and the gentle heat from the chocolate melts

and once it sets up, you pull it off and it leaves the design behind.

So I created this collection with four different types of trout patterns and

then four different flies.

The fly fishing geeks out there, they'll recognize that this is the life cycle

of a mayfly.

I'm probably just as big of a nerd of fly fishing as I am about chocolate.

We often refer to what we do as an art, a craft.

We create new designs, new flavors, and painstakingly paint.

So it's very much a labor of love for us.

You do somewhat.

Have to work quickly doing this. The chocolate sets up really quick. It's not

easy thing.

We don't take shortcuts. We actually take the long road.

We're all hand applied. Yep.

And that's been our mantra from day one. You can see all these incredible

flavors that we've got going on here. Ready to go now into the packaging.

This is one of our signature flavors. It's a lime and vanilla bean infused

caramel. If you scale things.

Things change. You have to make some sacrifices. Maybe it's on texture. Maybe

it's on flavor.

This is our fresh lemon. A fresh lemon marmalade that we make in -house. We

juice our own lemons.

And then a white chocolate lemon -infused ganache.

It's not about producing as much as we possibly can.

Our batch sizes are pretty close to the same as when I started the company.

This is a flavor we've done for a long time, passion fruit. We've just figured

out how to reproduce more batches.

Halloween -themed flavors.

Candy corn, chocolate chip, toasted vanilla.

Our staff basically doubles in the holiday season.

Two shifts a day, staggering.

It's pretty awesome to stand back and watch that.

It's still grown to a point that I never thought possible.

Once everything's finished, gets to packaging, the final step is to build

beautiful boxes for our customers.

So not only am I the accidental chocolatier, I call myself the reluctant

businessman as well.

I've had to kind of get my MBA over the last 22 years and make every mistake

under the sun to learn.

I often reflect on that and think, gosh, if I only had my MBA or understood

business going into this, you know, things could have been maybe a little

smoother sleeping on my... office floor during Christmas, you know, because I

was afraid to go home and miss production and fail to deliver to our

what we set out to do.

But I don't think we would be the same company. I don't think we would have the

same soul.

I think those things shape a company. I think that gets in our DNA, and the rest

of the team and staff see me doing that, and they want to work that hard and

care that much about the product that we're putting out.

So these are going in a very particular order, nymphal stage, the emerger, the

adult done. And then once that mayfly lays its eggs, falls back into the

and that's called the spinner stage.

It could have been a lot easier. I just think our company would have been a lot

different had we not had that kind of process of figuring it out on our own.

We worked so hard to create these beautiful and delicious bonbons that the

packaging has to match that experience.

You know, traditionally growing up, you would think of really fine, high -end

chocolate of coming out of France or Belgium or Switzerland. And it's true,

there is fantastic chocolate makers there. But why can't we do that in the

United States?

Why can't we be known for making some of the best chocolates and finest

confections in the world in the United States? Well, we can, and we do.

Unboxing the chocolates, you know, you kind of build up this anticipation of

like, oh, what's inside there?

We make chocolates, we make experiences, and it's different than candy.

Candy you kind of consume mindlessly, right? You pick up a candy bar at the

station, you just eat it, it's something you don't really think about, throw the

wrapper away.

Our product, our confections, our chocolates, you consume more mindfully,

that it makes you think about what things can be, what can chocolate be.

We hope you don't just pop it in your mouth and...

That's the end of it. We really think that you can sit down with our product

have a moment of your day that's just really special.

These will go over to shipping, and they'll get packed up and shipped out to

customer.

I want to be remembered, hopefully, as someone who's given a lot of joy to

people's lives.

We love that our product is part of...

people's Christmas celebrations and Valentine's and birthdays.

We've had a lot of great anecdotal stories over the years from customers.

Our product is so special to them because it was part of very special

their life.

And I hope that we continue to do that, and that's what we're remembered for.