While traveling in Oaxaca, Mexico, Alex Whitmore took his first bite
of stone-ground chocolate and was captivated by its rustic intensity.
Inspired to bring this bold, unrefined chocolate back home, he learned
to hand-carve granite millstones and opened a chocolate factory in
Somerville, Mass.
Alex wasn't content simply
making great chocolate — he wanted to change how it was sourced. By
rejecting predatory middlemen and abusive labor practices, he created
the chocola
While traveling in Oaxaca, Mexico, Alex Whitmore took his first bite
of stone-ground chocolate and was captivated by its rustic intensity.
Inspired to bring this bold, unrefined chocolate back home, he learned
to hand-carve granite millstones and opened a chocolate factory in
Somerville, Mass.
Alex wasn't content simply
making great chocolate — he wanted to change how it was sourced. By
rejecting predatory middlemen and abusive labor practices, he created
the chocolate industry's first third-party certified Direct Trade cacao
sourcing program. Through face-to-face relationships with growers who
respect the environment and fair labor practices, Taza pays prices
significantly higher than Fair Trade, ensuring the best organic cacao
reaches their factory.
At their Somerville
facility, Alex uses vintage roasters and hand-carved granite millstones
to lightly grind cacao beans into perfectly unrefined chocolate with
bold flavor and signature gritty texture. His philosophy is simple: do
less processing to let the complex flavors of Direct Trade cacao shout
loud and proud, creating seriously good chocolate that's fair for all.
