French Broad Chocolate


French Broad's Story and Philosophy
In 2003, Dan Rattigan and Jael Skeffington met at a wedding which changed their lives forever. After a trip to Costa Rica, they left graduate school, converted a 40-foot school bus to run on vegetable oil, and drove south to buy an abandoned cacao plantation. In Puerto Viejo de Limon, they opened Bread & Chocolate, where their first son, Sam, was born and their passion for cacao flourished. They eventually sold the café to focus on their journey as chocolate missionaries, landing in Asheville, North Carolina, where French Broad Chocolate was established. What began in their home kitchen quickly grew, leading to the opening of the French Broad Chocolate Lounge in 2008 and its expansion in 2009 due to popularity. In 2012, they realized their dream of becoming bean-to-bar chocolate makers with the opening of the French Broad Chocolate Factory and Tasting Room. The factory sources cacao from trusted farmers to create fine chocolates and an array of confections served to patrons near and far. Expanding their operations, the factory moved to the Ramp Studios in 2018, where they can produce nearly 50 tons of chocolate annually.
French Broad's Bean-to-Bar Chocolate
Crafting Excellence
In French Broad’s Asheville Chocolate Factory, they roast, winnow, refine, grind, conche, and temper direct-sourced cacao. Here’s a peek into how they create delicious small batch chocolate.




1. Clean
Although their cacao partners provide consistent, clean beans, French Broad passes all cacao though a cleaning step before roasting. This process removes dust and debris using vibration and air filtration, ensuring pure raw material.
2. Roast
With gentle heat, they can develop and enhance the unique flavor potential in every bean. Roasting removes residual moisture, sterilizes, and creates new aromas. They carefully monitor temperature and taste test for optimal production.
3. Winnow
First the roasted seed is cracked, then the cacao “nibs” are separated from the seed’s papery husk in a process called winnowing. Husks can be used for tisanes, brewery infusions, and as a soil amendment. The nibs are the raw materials used for making chocolate.
4. Pre-Refine
Nibs are first passed through a two-roll granite mill, to reduce their particle size, express some of the nib’s fat (cocoa butter), and facilitate fast liquefaction in the ball mill.




5. Grind
Thousands of pea-sized stainless steel balls are stirred in a water-jacketed drum, grinding and reducing the cacao particles to desired fineness. Here, they mix in other ingredients like sugar, milk powder, and additional cocoa butter.
6. Conche
Through exposure to heat and air, they can subdue, alter and even create new flavors from the cacao. The agitation also has the effect of rounding particles which improves texture and workability.
7. Sieve
Liquid chocolate is pumped onto a vibrating mesh screen to remove under-refined particles, ensuring a smooth finished chocolate.
8. Press
Pure chocolate liquor is placed in a filter bag then pressed in a cylindrical chamber to extract the cocoa butter (about 50-55% of a cacao bean is fat). They use this single origin cacao butter in their origin chocolates.




9. Temper
The chocolate is taken through a series of temperature changes in order to coax the cocoa butter into its most stable crystalline form, resulting in chocolate with a shiny appearance, pleasing melt, and good “snap”.
10. Deposit
The tempered chocolate is pumped to a hopper, where chocolate is dosed into bar molds or directly onto the belt for chips and drops. It enters a cooling tunnel and exits ready for a quality check and packaging.
11. Enrobing
Ganache centers and caramels are fed through a small conveyer under a curtain of dark, milk, or white chocolate, resulting in a thin outer shell. Once enrobed in chocolate, they’re garnished by hand.
12. Taste
Each bar, bonbon, or confection is carefully wrapped and boxed; marking the end of its journey.
Distinctive Flavor Profiles
High Quality Cocoa
Exotic Origins
French Broad brings out the unique flavor of each cocoa origin, all designed to celebrate the richness of cacao and offer a truly memorable tasting experience.
Unique Flavors
Explore French Broad's Chocolate Creations
Chocolate Delights Gallery
Indulge in French Broad's Exquisite Selection
