This is the next in our series of Supply Side Innovators featured in our Bake Twentyfive issue. Each weekday, we will spotlight a new Supply Side Innovator that can help you create the flavors, textures, and designs your customers will love

Guittard Chocolate Company is a San Francisco Bay Area chocolate maker celebrated for crafting world-class couverture chocolate based on traditional French methods. Founded in San Francisco in 1868, Guittard Chocolate Company is the oldest continuously family-owned and operated chocolate-making business in the United States. Guittard is an industry leader in its global efforts to promote sustainability of the environment of the cocoa-growing regions and the well-being of cocoa workers.

Guittard supplies pastry chefs, artisan chocolatiers, patisseries, restaurants, caterers and hotels with a premium line of single origin and blended chocolates.

Collection Etienne is made in small batches in the centuries-old, French artisan tradition. A variety of styles designed to meet the various demands of the pastry kitchen, every Collection Etienne chocolate is carefully crafted for taste, quality and performance. Looking for a chocolate for a particular application? Search by percentage or application to discover what Guittard’s pastry experts have found to work best. These recommendations take into account viscosity, fat and flavor. 

Josh Johnson is the Pastry Chef of Guittard Chocolate Company, where he brings his celebrated craft, artistry and palate in developing new recipes and ideas with Executive Pastry Chef Donald Wressell. Earlier this year, these Guittard Chocolate Company pastry chefs wowed the crowds at the 2019 Kentucky Derby where they crafted innovative chocolates and pastries. The pastry chefs made it happen with a creative work-around that involved a true team effort.

Johnson made up laminated dough at the College of DuPage in Chicago, stored the dough sheets in a chest freezer and loaded up for a 5½ hour drive to Louisville. Wressell manufactured pan goods to bring with him from Los Angeles. He explained that there would be no way to produce intricate laminated dough pastries in the industrial kitchen at Churchill Downs. “We were doing this delicate work in and around cooks making 6,000 pounds of beef, bringing in pallets of asparagus and other products. It was quite a thing to behold.”

Fast facts

Guittard Chocolate, the family company that has expertly crafted chocolate in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1868, is proud to announce that its manufacturing facility is tree nut free. Throughout its 151-year history, Guittard Chocolate has worked to represent quality and innovation at every level of its production and product line. Guittard’s tree nut free certification joins the company’s existing Cultivate Better commitments including non-GMO, peanut free, gluten free, sunflower lecithin and Fair Trade Certified with the goal of bringing thoughtfully sourced and allergen-friendly products to customers.

The tree nut free claim applies to Guittard Chocolate products produced after July 31, 2018. All Guittard Chocolate consumer products are now tree nut free, including the entire line of baking chips, organic baking wafers, baking bars and cocoa powders.