Brandy Love, of the South Bend Chocolate Company, visited the Henry F. Schricker Library in Knox yesterday to talk about chocolate.
South Bend Chocolate was established in 1991 with Notre Dame products. Since that time, they have added to that and now have over 350 products sold at 20 locally owned or franchise stores.
Brandy showed those gathered the fruit that helps produce chocolate.
“Chocolate starts from a cacao pod,” she explained. “It’s actually a fruit. Inside the fruit is 30-50 seeds and chocolate comes from the seeds.”
She explained how the chocolate product is extracted from the fruit.
“The company we purchase from sends the seeds through a machine that cracks open the shell and takes the middle which is known as the cacao nib. The nib is the only thing inside the seed used to make chocolate.”
We asked where the plant comes from.
“We get the product from the Ivory Coast in Africa, along the equator. This is the best spot for the cacao tree.”
Brandy was asked what a day without chocolate is like.
“It’s a sad day. You have to have chocolate to make it a good day.”
