Artisan Chocolatier Diane Pinder didn’t go looking for a new product, the product came looking for her.
“I regularly participate in chocolate sampling events at stores that carry my chocolates and caramels,” Pinder explains. “And found that more and more people were asking me about what was in my chocolate. Soy lecithin? Gluten? Processed sugar?”
Pinder explained how she follows the SlowFood philosophy, using locally-sourced ingredients when possible and never adding artificial preservatives – she even uses natural vegetable coloring instead of FD&C colorants. But some customers were seeking an even simpler, high quality chocolate experience.
“Many of the people asking about ingredients either had allergies and food intolerance issues themselves, or were a parent of a child who had such issues. Others were involved in training programs such as CrossFit or were following a Paleolithic diet,” said Pinder.
Draft packaging design for Fundamental Chocolate
A former critical care nurse, Pinder already knew about the health benefits of dark chocolate, including lowering blood pressure, due to the effect of antioxidants called flavanols that cocoa-rich dark chocolate contains. She was less familiar with the Paleolithic diet that relies upon non-processed foods which human ancestors of the Paleolithic period ate.
“After some research I learned that the offerings for very simple chocolate of high quality were extremely limited. And if I could find the right building blocks, then I should be able to make the chocolate that my customers were seeking,” Pinder said. Pinder makes her Fundamental dark chocolate from four basic ingredients:
- organic cocoa paste (ground roasted cacao)
- organic cocoa butter
- natural honey from local New Jersey apiaries (instead of soy lecithin or processed sugar)
- natural vanilla beans
Pinder fashions her unique dark chocolate into bite-sized squares of four types: plain, pistachio and cranberry, macadamia nut, pumpkin seed.
Fundamental does not include soy, gluten, dairy, processed sugars or artificial preservatives yet offers a rich, luxurious taste.
“The honey is magical in this chocolate,” Pinder said. “It imparts a light and earthy sweetness, and a unique creaminess. The plain Fundamental dark chocolate is ideal for the chocolate purist, while Fundamental dark chocolate with fruit, nuts and seeds offers omega-rich toppings for others.”
Pinder turned to Kickstarter in order to generate funding to bring her Fundamental chocolate to the market. She saw Kickstarter as a way to generate a communal support of a product that so many had been seeking. Funds from Kickstarter backers will permit Pinder to purchase a tempering machine that will be dedicated to Fundamental, finish packaging, and launch the product through her current and new resellers.
“We had our first backers minutes after launching Fundamental,” Pinder said. “Customers and resellers have sampled Fundamental and are anxiously awaiting it’s availability. Now we’re working to get the word out so others can participate in the launch of this unique chocolate. With more work and support from Kickstarter backers, I hope to have Fundamental in stores by the end of 2013.”
Link to Fundamental Chocolate on Kickstarter…
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/927176113/fundamental-simple-chocolate-for-a-complex-world
