Rockland Shop First in Maine to Make Bean-to-Bar

Located One Sea Street Place in Rockland, Bixby & Co is doing making chocolate in a way no one else in the state has done before.

“We're sourcing the coco beans, the fruit of the coco tree, and making chocolate from the bean through to the end chocolate bar,” explains owner Kate McAleer

“We are the first in Maine and one of the first 100 in the United States.”

McAleer says bean to bar chocolate is an expansion to her business she’s thought about for a few years. Now that her new retail shop is up and running, she’s looking to share the experience with all her customers.

“We wanted to put it on display, have that educational component to everything so people could come and see and learn about chocolate.”

The idea behind Bixby & Co. is to provide traceable, healthier ingredients that are not found in an average chocolate bar.

“Really trying to get the highest quality flavor profile developed and using the best beans.”

The process requires several complicated steps….

“We're making 70% organic dark chocolate. So that means 70 percent is coco nibs, 30 percent is cane sugar.”

“Basically, it takes the coco nibs and does this stone grinding for about three days. And so it does this particle reduction, releases some of the fats and coco solids and it starts what we know as chocolate.”

After the all is said and done, the final product is a rich and fruity dark chocolate bar.

“Chocolate provides that nice, sweet treat without being over the top.”

“It takes your mouth on a whole new adventure.”