Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Valentine Connection
Hello Cocoa pairs bean-to-bar treats with bubbly
Like when tasting wine or coffee, the flavor is affected by the soil and where it’s grown. Similarly, the flavor in bean-to-bar chocolate is greatly affected by the entire process,” says Lauren Blanco, one of the founders of Hello Cocoa, a local chocolate-making company located off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the new kid on the hand-crafted block in Fayetteville. “Chocolate making has always been far away and intangible. I think the bean-to-bar industry is up and coming like the craft coffee scene. There’s a lot of room in Fayetteville for that because Fayetteville is thriving. There’s creativity here; there’s energy here. People want locally crafted foods and products.”
The term bean-to-bar refers to the process with which Hello Cocoa creates chocolate bars. The cacao beans are imported from one of three areas growing ethically sourced beans. The rest of the process is done completely in-house at the Hello Cocoa factory in Fayetteville. By controlling every step of the process, the business is able to create a small-batch chocolate containing only three ingredients: cacao, cocoa butter and sugar.
“Every conversation starts with ‘hello,’” Blanco says. “The business is inspired by our collective experiences through travel and meeting people. We wanted to create a company to connect people and flavors and that invited people into that sophisticated experience with chocolate.”
One way the company is bringing people into that chocolate-coated experience is by hosting events at the factory like the Chocolate and Bubbly Tour taking place on Saturday. Although Hello Cocoa is only a year and a half old, this will be its second year to host the Valentine’s Day-inspired event.
“We thought of the idea only about two weeks before Valentine’s Day last year, but we somehow whipped up something I thought was really fun,” Blanco says, laughing. “So we’ve been thinking how can we make [the event] better this year and make it a really worthwhile event for someone’s Valentine weekend. I love having events and bringing people in house. It’s really fun and just makes people happy, and that’s what we want to do.”
This year, the company has partnered with local businesses PH Alchemy and Mia Tarts to add a “Bubbly Bar” and handmade chocolate tarts to pair with the other chocolate offerings. Product samples, factory tours, a photo booth and dancing will all be part of the event.
“One of our company cultures that drives us is creating community around chocolate. We love people. We want to create something that makes people happy and lets them have that experience. This event is really an expression of our values.”