Where did the name "Askinosie" come from?
It's my last name; so it came from my parents. It was originally, Ashkenazi but my grandfather changed it to Askinosie when he came to the U.S.A. It is pronounced ask-i-no-see.
Where can I buy your products?
You can visit us at 514 E. Commercial Street, Springfield, MO. Our storefront hours are M-F 10-6 and Saturday 11-3. Or call us at 417.862.9900, and we will tell you where all the closest retailers are to your location. You can also shop online from our website askinosie.com.
If you want to make a trip to Springfield for an overnight, accomadations can be made at Springfield's best bed & breakfast, the Walnut Street Inn.
Is your chocolate Kosher certified?
No, our chocolate is not yet Kosher certified. However, we are looking into Kosher certification.
Do you have any sugar-free chocolate?
We do not have sugar free or sugar substitute chocolate bars. Our chocolate contains three (two, really, since the cocoa butter comesfrom the same cocoa beans) ingredients: cocoa beans, organic cane juice, andcocoa butter (that comes from the cocoa beans). We make the cocoa butter ourselves and we are the first small batch chocolate maker in the US to do this.
Do you make milk chocolate?
In November 2008 we released our first dark milk chocolate bar. It has a 62% cocoa content and is made with goat's milk powder, organic sugar, cocoa butter (that we press in our factory) and a touch of Fleur de Sel sea salt.
Is your chocolate gluten-free?
To the best of our knowledge, our chocolate is gluten-free. Our chocolate contains only three ingredients: cocoa beans, organic cane juice, and cocoa butter(made from the very same beans). Our White Chocolate does contain goat's milk powder. We don't use lecithin, vanilla, or any other additives.
Does your chocolate contain nuts?
Our chocolate is made on equipment that may have been in contact with nuts. Additionally, we make one chocolate bar that contains nuts, our White Chocolate Bar + Pistachios. Therefore our other chocolate products may contain traces of peanuts and/or tree nuts.
Does your chocolate contain additives or emulsifiers such as vanilla or lecithin?
We do not add any vanilla or lecithin of any kind to our products. In fact, we don't add any additives to our chocolate; beans and sugar that's it.
Is your chocolate certified organic?
Our dark chocolate is made from two ingredients: cocoa beans and certified organic evaporated cane juice (from Paraguay). Our cocoa butter is pressed from the same cocoa beans that we use to make our chocolate. Our chocolate is unofficially organic. We go to great lengths to make sure the farmers do not use chemicals and pesticides. We are not certified, however, in part for the same reason we aren't Fair Trade certified -- the certification process for the beans is very expensive and our farmers can't afford it. Though we are not certified organic, our beans can be traced completely back to their origin. We have the name of every farmer who contributed to each crop. We state the bean origin, the bean variety, the percentage of cocoa content, the process (bean to bar), and a choc-o-lot number that our customers can use to trace their chocolate from the origin of the bean through each step to the final product. Our customers can literally visit our website, submit the Choc-o-lot number from their chocolate product, and read all the steps that lead up to the very moment their product was packaged.
What's the big deal about your cocoa butter and your natural cocoa powder?
The big deal is -- we are the first small batch chocolate maker in the U.S. to press our own cocoa butter AND the only makers of natural cocoa powder. Our Natural Cocoa Powder is made right in our factory using the same beans we use to make our dark chocolate.We have a custom press in our factory that we use to make the cocoa press cake from chocolate liquor that we create with beans from SanJose Del Tambo, Ecuador and Soconusco, Mexico. The cake is then refined to a powder that is easy to bake with. It is an authentic single origin powder that is unsweetened and non-alkalized. The true flavor of the beans translate into a rich dark cocoa powder great for baking.
Our cocoa butter is also pressed in our factory using the same custom press as the natural cocoa powder and we are the only small batch chocolate maker to do this. But don't take our word for it. Emily "Duff"Anderson, chocolate guru for Zingerman's Delicatessen, writes--
When I found out that Shawn and his team from Askinosie are actuallypressing their own cocoa butter from the San Jose Del Tambo and Soconusco beans, I was pretty impressed. This means that the"cocoa butter" on the ingredient list of the bars is coming from the same beans used to make the chocolate, which is pretty cool.
Who designed your packaging?
The package design is something very important to us. I designed the packaging and engaged a local graphics company to execute it. I source all of the package materials. The entire chocolate bar packaging and our “marketing identity” has been carefully considered to reflect who we are. More importantly, the packaging was designed to honor the farmers. In fact, the package itself impacts the taste of our chocolate bar.
Our packaging has been mentioned in multiple reviews around the world writing about our unique packaging design and website, which is then quickly followed by mention of the taste of chocolate that is equal to the quality of the design. We were recently honored with a highly complimentary review of our package design in the famous design blog (in the trade) thedieline.com. They said, “As you can see, besides being a virtuous chocolate maker, their packaging is equally impressive.”
No other chocolate maker, that we are aware of in the U.S., is receiving this kind of attention regarding the packaging design. This is a key competitive advantage. We do not use a marketing firm to originate design any of our product or packaging ideas. Again, this goes back to knowing who we are.
It's my last name; so it came from my parents. It was originally, Ashkenazi but my grandfather changed it to Askinosie when he came to the U.S.A. It is pronounced ask-i-no-see.
Where can I buy your products?
You can visit us at 514 E. Commercial Street, Springfield, MO. Our storefront hours are M-F 10-6 and Saturday 11-3. Or call us at 417.862.9900, and we will tell you where all the closest retailers are to your location. You can also shop online from our website askinosie.com.
If you want to make a trip to Springfield for an overnight, accomadations can be made at Springfield's best bed & breakfast, the Walnut Street Inn.
Is your chocolate Kosher certified?
No, our chocolate is not yet Kosher certified. However, we are looking into Kosher certification.
Do you have any sugar-free chocolate?
We do not have sugar free or sugar substitute chocolate bars. Our chocolate contains three (two, really, since the cocoa butter comesfrom the same cocoa beans) ingredients: cocoa beans, organic cane juice, andcocoa butter (that comes from the cocoa beans). We make the cocoa butter ourselves and we are the first small batch chocolate maker in the US to do this.
Do you make milk chocolate?
In November 2008 we released our first dark milk chocolate bar. It has a 62% cocoa content and is made with goat's milk powder, organic sugar, cocoa butter (that we press in our factory) and a touch of Fleur de Sel sea salt.
Is your chocolate gluten-free?
To the best of our knowledge, our chocolate is gluten-free. Our chocolate contains only three ingredients: cocoa beans, organic cane juice, and cocoa butter(made from the very same beans). Our White Chocolate does contain goat's milk powder. We don't use lecithin, vanilla, or any other additives.
Does your chocolate contain nuts?
Our chocolate is made on equipment that may have been in contact with nuts. Additionally, we make one chocolate bar that contains nuts, our White Chocolate Bar + Pistachios. Therefore our other chocolate products may contain traces of peanuts and/or tree nuts.
Does your chocolate contain additives or emulsifiers such as vanilla or lecithin?
We do not add any vanilla or lecithin of any kind to our products. In fact, we don't add any additives to our chocolate; beans and sugar that's it.
Is your chocolate certified organic?
Our dark chocolate is made from two ingredients: cocoa beans and certified organic evaporated cane juice (from Paraguay). Our cocoa butter is pressed from the same cocoa beans that we use to make our chocolate. Our chocolate is unofficially organic. We go to great lengths to make sure the farmers do not use chemicals and pesticides. We are not certified, however, in part for the same reason we aren't Fair Trade certified -- the certification process for the beans is very expensive and our farmers can't afford it. Though we are not certified organic, our beans can be traced completely back to their origin. We have the name of every farmer who contributed to each crop. We state the bean origin, the bean variety, the percentage of cocoa content, the process (bean to bar), and a choc-o-lot number that our customers can use to trace their chocolate from the origin of the bean through each step to the final product. Our customers can literally visit our website, submit the Choc-o-lot number from their chocolate product, and read all the steps that lead up to the very moment their product was packaged.
What's the big deal about your cocoa butter and your natural cocoa powder?
The big deal is -- we are the first small batch chocolate maker in the U.S. to press our own cocoa butter AND the only makers of natural cocoa powder. Our Natural Cocoa Powder is made right in our factory using the same beans we use to make our dark chocolate.We have a custom press in our factory that we use to make the cocoa press cake from chocolate liquor that we create with beans from SanJose Del Tambo, Ecuador and Soconusco, Mexico. The cake is then refined to a powder that is easy to bake with. It is an authentic single origin powder that is unsweetened and non-alkalized. The true flavor of the beans translate into a rich dark cocoa powder great for baking.
Our cocoa butter is also pressed in our factory using the same custom press as the natural cocoa powder and we are the only small batch chocolate maker to do this. But don't take our word for it. Emily "Duff"Anderson, chocolate guru for Zingerman's Delicatessen, writes--
When I found out that Shawn and his team from Askinosie are actuallypressing their own cocoa butter from the San Jose Del Tambo and Soconusco beans, I was pretty impressed. This means that the"cocoa butter" on the ingredient list of the bars is coming from the same beans used to make the chocolate, which is pretty cool.
Who designed your packaging?
The package design is something very important to us. I designed the packaging and engaged a local graphics company to execute it. I source all of the package materials. The entire chocolate bar packaging and our “marketing identity” has been carefully considered to reflect who we are. More importantly, the packaging was designed to honor the farmers. In fact, the package itself impacts the taste of our chocolate bar.
Our packaging has been mentioned in multiple reviews around the world writing about our unique packaging design and website, which is then quickly followed by mention of the taste of chocolate that is equal to the quality of the design. We were recently honored with a highly complimentary review of our package design in the famous design blog (in the trade) thedieline.com. They said, “As you can see, besides being a virtuous chocolate maker, their packaging is equally impressive.”
No other chocolate maker, that we are aware of in the U.S., is receiving this kind of attention regarding the packaging design. This is a key competitive advantage. We do not use a marketing firm to originate design any of our product or packaging ideas. Again, this goes back to knowing who we are.
What is the significance of the strings on the top of your chocolate package?
These strings come from our bags of cocoa beans delivered to our factory. They are biodegradable but we reuse them. The women at a local shelter, Victory House New Life Program, make these strings for us from the bags. We pay them for this work and collectively they decide what to do with the money.
What do the "1-2-3" and "toot-toot" mean on the back of the bar packaging?
1-2-3 is something that my wife and I have been writing in cards and notes to each other for nearly 25 years. Nobody but us knows what it means and this was my little tribute to her on the package. Our daughter says that we need to put the meaning in our will or safe deposit box so they can know what it means someday. As for "toot-toot", when our daughter Lawren was little and we tucked her in at night we would leave her room and say "night night" and she responded "toot-toot" for some odd unexplainable reason. This phrase has carried on with us now for years. Putting "toot-toot" on the package was my way of remembering her in those days long ago.
I shop fair trade as much as possible. How do you pay your farmers and how do they share in the profits?
I love the Fair Trade idea. I believe that we have to be vigilant that Fair Trade does not become a marketing gimmick or reduced to a bumpersticker. We must ask the questions and dig deeper to find out how the company treats those that supply them raw materials AND how they treat their own employees. Fair Trade has been scrutinized because some question if the money ever finds its way to the farmer in the field and not coop bureaucrats. My chocolate is not "certified" Fair Trademainly because the farmers I deal with cannot afford the certification and they are very very loosely organized. They are very poor. I go wayway beyond Fair Trade and here is how I do it--
- Ideal DIRECT with the farmers 100%. I have a rule that I will not buybeans from farmers I have not met - in person. This is hard because I travel a lot and while it is fun it's not always easy. The travel is not the hard part; it is the complicated nature of importing that I do myself. I have a local company that handles shipping and customs clearing, but other than that it is all me. I am the only chocolate factory in the US (that I am aware of) that sources 100% of their beans direct. There maybe one other person who does this, but I cannot verify this and he is a much smaller company. When I go to these origins I see the farms and determine myself the issues that a Fair Trade certifier would look at.The main thing is that I am building relationships with the farmers and their families. This is hard and takes time, but it is worth it.
- I pay far above the Fair Trade market price (which is set above the world market price) for beans.
- I have implemented a program called Stake in the OutcomeTM (a profit sharing program for the farmers) which is described below and on our website at The Farmers. This guarantees to the farmers open books. This is not a negotiation tactic to get them to lower the price on the beans; it isin ADDITION to what I pay them for the beans. I know the name of every farmer who contributed to the crop in both locations. This is something that I doubt any other chocolate maker in the world can say. You can't share with someone if you don't know their name. I distributed my first profits in Ecuador in December 2007 and in Mexico in January2008. These were, by far, my best days yetin the chocolate business! They said that nobody had ever come back to thank them let alone share money with them and show the books.
- Whyis Stake in the Outcome important? This directly affects the quality of the cocoa beans I buy. It affects quality in a way that Fair Trade never will. One day farmers will give me higher quality beans to my specifications when they see that they will make more money if I make more money. They will literally share in my success. I have a very detailed specification now for the beans I buy, but I know that what I buy will be even higher quality than what I have now. I have done this with my law practice for nearly a decade. My secretaries, for example, knew the details of our income statement and made more money when I did. Why should companies in the US buy raw materials, jack up the price, and not share the profits with those who they source from? My prayer is that one day a small company from another industry will ask me how to implement this model. If I can inspire evenone other company to adopt Stake In the Outcome then I will been a success in this business. I have had the "career" and it is not about that now. If I was doing this business to get rich I would have stayed in my law practice. This program will not change the world but it might change the life of a farmer or two or three.
What is A Stake in the OutcomeTM?
Aside from the title of his popular book, A Stake in the Outcome™, (SITO) is a business philosophy founded by Jack Stack, based on the principal that if workers share in the end success, they will hold a greater stake in the process along the way. SITO was originally intended for employees in the workplace, but I have taken A Stake in the Outcome™"upstream" to farmers, thereby linking quality, price, and profit share. I travel to Ecuador and Mexico to meet with farmers and to share 10% of the net profits from the chocolate that was made with beans grown on their farms. We have the name of each of the twenty farmers in bothlocations. We pay higher than Fair Trade prices, but that is simply not enough and is never a guarantee of quality and taste. Our hope is that, through SITO, our farmers will share in the success and ultimately we will have the opportunity to make higher quality chocolate with higher quality beans while sharing with the farmers who make it possible.
The key here is more than a distribution of profit but showing the farmers how we arrived at the number. We had our financial statements translated into Spanish and I went over this material, line by line, with the farmers when I distributed money to them. This program has revolutionary potential because it’s simple and it ties quality with price and profit share unlike anything that Fair Trade could everaccomplish. Why should companies in the U.S. buy raw materials, jack up the price and not share with those they source from? My prayer is that one day a small company from another industry will ask me how to implement this model. If I can inspire even one other company to adopt A Stake In the Outcome then I will have been a success in this business.
The impact of this model has already been realized. Each farmer group told me that they wantedto make sure we obtained the premium crop and other farmers wanted toknow if it was “too late” to join in.
Who is Jack Stack and why do you talk about him so much?
Jack is the CEO of SRC HoldingsCorporation and co-author of The Great Game of Business and A Stake in the Outcome. Inc.Magazine calls him the "Father of Open-Book Management" and the "smartest strategist in America." He is a Judge for the Ernst &Young World Entrepreneur competition and has been featured by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, CBS, CNN, PBS and more. He is a highly sought-after speaker on the subject of building great companies with open-book management and its profound effect on people's lives. Jack has been a mentor of mine for years. He first attended the Great Game of Business Seminar and implemented OBM in my law firm in 1998. Over the years Jack has challenged me, instructed me, and inspired me.
What is Open Book Management?
Open Book Management (OBM) is NOT about full financial transparency; OBM is about giving employees the key measures of business success and teaching employees to understand those measures and use them to improve business performance. It’s about fully engaging employees in the business. It’s about teaching employees how the business works and what is critical to success. It’s about getting employees to openly discuss wins and losses so they can keep learning and getting better.
OBM works because employees get a chance to act, to take responsibility rather than just “doing their job”. Each employee knows how they can contribute to the financial performance of the company and understands that they have a direct stake in the company’s success. Each week we review the numbers and other metrics at our factory so we can all measure our success. Click here to learn more about OBM.
What is Chocolate University?
Chocolate University is a collaborative partnership of Askinosie Chocolate, Boyd Elementary School, and Drury University formed with the vision to provide a trans-disciplinary learning experience to Boyd Elementary students through the lens of artisan chocolate-making. I was motivated to found this program because of the neighborhood where our factory is located. Our factory is in the Historic Commercial Street District and one block from Springfield's largest homeless shelter, the Missouri Hotel, where more than 80 children sleep on any given night. Many of the kids attend Boyd Elementary School just three blocks from our factory and just across the street from Drury University. We wanted the children of the neighborhood to be exposed to what we do and how we do it. Chocolate University is more than a tour for the kids. We really involve them so they are a part of our company, and in turn we are a part of their education and development. When I travel to other countries, for example, I email the kids with daily reports and pictures. When I return, I come to the classroom and answer questions. About a month ago we went to their class and used our numbers to teach them the basics of balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements.
Askinosie Chocolate is the sole funding source of Chocolate University. We fund it by offering public and private tours of our factory. We average four tours per week. Each tour lasts about an hour and 100% of the proceeds go to Drury University to administer this program. We hope that this model of business and school partnership can be easily duplicated.
In what ways is Askinosie Chocolate a Green Company?
There are three primary areas in which we have focused our attention in order to become a green company.
- Packaging. Our packaging is designed with environmental consciousness. Part of ourmission as a company is to leave this world a better place than wefound it. Some of the ways we try to implement that value is bysourcing packaging that has the smallest negative impact on theenvironment as possible. The outer bag that we use to package our barsis a natural waxed kraft paper bag that is non GM, containing no bleach(which can be harmful to the environment). We look for packaging thatis biodegradable and compostable, such as the NatureFlex™ bags that weuse to package our bars. The inner wrap is 100% home-compostable, nonGM packaging from a sustainable source. The tie that binds the packageis from a biodegradable bag of beans shipped to our factory. We reusethe strings from the bags on our packaging in our attempt to avoidunnecessary waste. The strings not only tie our bags – they also tie usto our community. We pay the women from the Victory Mission Women’sShelter to tie the strings for the packaging.
- Construction. We used Green construction practices when renovating our building. Were-used many of the materials we demolished from the original structure; for example, we used 2x12s that we had removed from the original wood structure to reinforce the center girders, both for aesthetics, since we were putting larger posts in, and for added structure. We used windows which had been removed from the Wilhoit building, and which would have been headed for the scrap yard had we not salvaged them. We re-purposed the original posts from the building,which had some termite damage, into a conference table and a retail table. We recycled all materials possible, including all plastics, glass,cardboard, metal, and wood. The sheet rock scraps were composted. The cut-offs from trim and framing lumber were used for home heat. The bricks from the expanded window cuts in the brick wall were re-used as patio pavers. The concrete slab cuts from the in-slab plumbing were used as pavers in another construction project. Our efforts in this area meant that we only took one medium sized flatbed trailer to the landfill and did not need an on-site dumpster.
- No waste in the process. The only possible waste our factory might generate is the shell around the beans. However, we don’t throw these away. Last year we gave nearly three tons of shells to the Commercial Street Farmers Market and the shells are packaged and sold as mulch.
I'm interested in touring your factory. Do you have public tours? What if I'd like to bring a group? Do you schedule private tours as well?
We have tours every Tuesday at 3pm that are open to the public. The cost is $3./adult and $2./students and children. All the proceeds from our tours go to fund our Chocolate University program with Boyd Elementary School and Drury University. If you plan to bring a group to one of our public tours, please call ahead so that we know how many people to expect.
Private tours are available for $75.00 or $5.00/person--whichever is greater. Private tours can be scheduled by emailing us at info@askinosie.com.
How are my products shipped in warm weather?
Our normal shipping days during the warm months (holidays excluded) for overnight, 2-day, and ground shipments are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Overnight shipments are also sent on Thursday, and Saturday Delivery shipments are sent on Friday. This schedule is designed soyour chocolate does not sit over the weekend in a warehouse without temperature controls. We may ship on Thursday or Friday if cool temperatures allow your chocolate to be safely transported. We also include polar packs in your order to help maintain the integrity of the chocolate during the warmer months. Click here to read more about ourshipping.
Do you have international shipping available?
We do have international shipping available. We ship through DHL using International Express. The prices are based off of the size and weight of the package, as well as the destination. We also offer USPS as an alternative shipping method, but it is at the customers' risk. USPS isa less expensive shipping alternative, but it is also less reliable and does not offer tracking. Click here to read more about our shipping.
Do you have any recipes?
Yes. We've gathered recipes from friends, family, and customers. Click here for a list of recipes. Here are some a few links to fantastic photos of some of these recipes made by the Food Channel. And feel free to send us your own tasty Askinosie recipes by emailing info@askinosie.com.
Cookies, Brownies, Pie and more at the foodchannel.com!
Recipes and photos at the foodchannel.com.
Video story about Askinosie Chocolate at the foodchannel.com.
