By Greg Gonzales
Olive and Sinclair is the first and only bean-to-bar brand in Tennessee, using Fair Trade and organic chocolate from the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Ecuador and Madagascar. “We’re first and foremost Tennessee’s, and arguably the South’s, first bean-to-bar chocolate company,” said Owner Scott Witherow. While bean-to-bar is nothing new in itself, Witherow’s creative take on chocolate and infusion of Southern-inspired flavors bring something new to the confection world.
Some of these infusions are the result of partnerships and friendships. Allen Benton, Owner of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams, smokes Olive and Sinclair’s cacao beans that go into the brand’s Smoked Nib Brittle. Some of Witherow’s Kentuckian distiller friends came down to the factory with used bourbon barrels; he aged some cacao in them, and the result was the Bourbon Nib Brittle. Pappy Van Winkle sends some its own barrels to Olive and Sinclair so they can order their own version of the brittle, and local breweries make some flavorful stouts using these Nashville nibs.
Olive and Sinclair also produces the Seersucker Candy Co. line, which includes the Original Seersucker, a chocolate sphere with sea salt chocolate ganache inside. Muzzle Loaders are a new take on the bourbon ball, filled with liquid salted bourbon caramel, and Cherry Bombs are like cherry cordials, but have a pickled Maraschino cherry inside, which is coated with buttermilk fondant and a dark chocolate finish. All of them are packaged in a recreation of an old gramophone tube, in a celebration of Nashville’s music scene.
Other creations include Chocuterie ― a small-batch product that looks exactly like dried salumi inside and out, but is actually chocolate made with other ingredients, depending on when it’s made ― and the fresh limited-edition bars.
“When I started on this, I wanted it to sound and feel timeless,” Witherow said, from classic packaging to stone-grinding the chocolate, the name of the company and the flavor of the product. “It’s gone over well for us.”
Maine’s first bean to bar chocolate manufacturing company, Bixby & Co., is looking for wholesale opportunities for a new fall/winter collection of luxury bonbons. Bixby was founded by mother-daughter team Kate and Donna McAleer in late 2011, and its products are manufactured in a 125-year-old former ice plant located on the working waterfront on the mid-coast of Maine.
All bonbons are made with non-GMO and gluten-free chocolate. They also incorporate local Maine ingredients such as blueberries, lavender, roses, honey, strawberries, maple syrup, sea salt, potatoes and more.
New for fall 2019 are the following bonbon flavors: Maine Blueberry Jam, Espresso Tahini, Maine Maple Vanilla, Coffee Brandy Truffle, Pecan Pie Truffle, Cranberry Orange Smash, Maine Apple Cider Caramel, Fig and Balsamic Truffle, Peppermint Dark Chocolate and also Champagne. Bonbons are available in six-piece collections with a suggested retail price of $16 or 12-piece collections with a $32 suggested retail price. Choose from all of one flavor or assorted flavors.
Bixby & Co. is committed to fairness, sustainability, minimal environmental impact and community enhancement by sourcing ingredients locally and seasonally. The company makes luxury chocolate confections that are clean and natural, with a conscience.
For more information, visit www.bixbyco.com or to place a wholesale order, call 207.691.2634 or email info@bixbyco.com.
Maine’s first bean to bar chocolate manufacturing company, Bixby & Co., is looking for wholesale opportunities for a new fall/winter collection of luxury bonbons. Bixby was founded by mother-daughter team Kate and Donna McAleer in late 2011, and its products are manufactured in a 125-year-old former ice plant located on the working waterfront on the mid-coast of Maine.
All bonbons are made with non-GMO and gluten-free chocolate. They also incorporate local Maine ingredients such as blueberries, lavender, roses, honey, strawberries, maple syrup, sea salt, potatoes and more.
New for fall 2019 are the following bonbon flavors: Maine Blueberry Jam, Espresso Tahini, Maine Maple Vanilla, Coffee Brandy Truffle, Pecan Pie Truffle, Cranberry Orange Smash, Maine Apple Cider Caramel, Fig and Balsamic Truffle, Peppermint Dark Chocolate and also Champagne. Bonbons are available in six-piece collections with a suggested retail price of $16 or 12-piece collections with a $32 suggested retail price. Choose from all of one flavor or assorted flavors.
Bixby & Co. is committed to fairness, sustainability, minimal environmental impact and community enhancement by sourcing ingredients locally and seasonally. The company makes luxury chocolate confections that are clean and natural, with a conscience.
For more information, visit www.bixbyco.com or to place a wholesale order, call 207.691.2634 or email info@bixbyco.com.