Dagoba Chocolate

Dagoba Organic Chocolate is an organic brand of high-quality chocolate, founded in 2001 by Frederick Schilling. It has been owned by The Hershey Company since 2006. Its founders are no longer involved but Hershey has maintained the brand's factory in Ashland, Oregon. The name Dagoba is a Sinhalese corruption of dhatu-garbha, a Sanskrit word for stupa.^[1][2] (The similarly named fictional Dagobah in the Star Wars universe was derived from the same inspiration.) The brand was founded with a commitment to socially responsible business.^[3] Like coffee, the production of chocolate retains vestiges of colonial relationships, so issues of social equity and "fair trade" arise.

In 2003 CNN/Money called them one of the world's best chocolates.^[4]

Products

Dagoba currently sells specialty chocolate bars, baking chocolate, cacao powder, chocodrops, drinking chocolate, and syrup.

Chocolate bars

Dagoba's specialty is their line of two-ounce flavor-infused bars created by what the company calls "The Art of Chocolate Alchemy TM". Here is a list of the current product line of Dagoba chocolate bars. Percentages indicate the cacao content.

• Eclipse 87% Pure extra Bittersweet
• New Moon 74% Bittersweet
• Beaucoup Berries 74%: Sun dried cherries and cranberries with vanilla.
• Superfruit 74%: Contains açaí, goji berries, and currants. All of these fruits contain large amounts of antioxidants.
• Xocolatl 74%: Spicy chocolate containing chilies, cacao nibs, maca, nutmeg, and vanilla.
• Conacado 73%: Single origin from Dominican Republic
• Lemon-Ginger 68%: Contains crystallized ginger and lemon.
• Dark 59% Semisweet
• Roseberry 59%: Dried raspberries and rosehips.
• Lavender Blueberry 59%: Contains blueberries and flavored with lavender oil
• Mint 59%: Flavored with oil from peppermint and rosemary.
• Milk 37%
• Chai 37%: Contains chai spices and crystallized ginger.
• Hazelnut 37%: Has crunchy toasted hazelnuts and toasted rice crisps.

Dagoba Chocolate also produces a line of Drinking Chocolates:

• Unsweetened: Non-dutched cacao powder with bits of 100% dark chocolate
• Authentic: Non-dutched cacao powder with bits of 100% dark chocolate, and cane sugar
• Chai: Bits of ginger and chai spices in non-dutched cacao and bits of 100% dark chocolate, lightly sweetened
• Xocolatl: Non-dutched cacao powder, 100% chocolate bits, sugar, chiles & cinnamon

Dagoba Chocolate also produces

• Cacao powder, non-dutched
• ChocoDrops, 73% Single Origin from Dominican Republic
• Chocolate Drops, 74% bittersweet
• Chocolate Syrup
• Baking Bars in 59% and 100%
• Chocolate Syrup

Hershey's

In October 2006, Dagoba was acquired by The Hershey Company. Hershey's CEO Richard H. Lenny stated in a press release "Organic chocolate products are experiencing dramatic growth as consumers continue to trade up for indulgent, high-quality products."^[5]

References

1. ^ Dagoba Organic Chocolate
2. ^ Stupa or Chorten
3. ^ Dagoba Organic Chocolate
4. ^ High-end chocolate: worth the price? - Apr. 17, 2003
5. ^ Hershey's press release on acquiring Dagoba

External links

• Official site