Chocolate makers, brands and manufacturers
Bean-to-bar, tree-to-bar, melters and private-label producers, from craft workshops to larger manufacturers. Each maker page shows what they make, where they are based, and the bars indexed on Chof.
Read our buying guide to choose better chocolate bars and makers.
Looking for a shortlist? See the Top 20 chocolate makers, browse makers by country or explore the makers map.
Types of chocolate makers
Not every chocolate brand actually makes chocolate. Here is the short version of what each label on Chof means, and why it matters when you read a wrapper.
- Bean-to-bar
- Owns the production chain from raw cacao bean to finished bar: roasting, winnowing, grinding, conching, refining and tempering. The signature of craft chocolate.
- Tree-to-bar
- Goes one step further than bean-to-bar: the maker also owns or directly manages the cacao trees and the post-harvest fermentation. Maximum origin transparency, but rare.
- Melter
- Buys finished couverture from a third party, melts it and reshapes it into bars. The bar quality depends almost entirely on the supplier's couverture.
- Private label
- Chocolate produced by one company and sold under another brand's name. Common for supermarket and retailer-branded bars.
- Industrial
- Mass-produced chocolate from large factories, also called chocolate manufacturers. These bars often use bulk-blended origins and longer ingredient lists, so the maker and origin story can be harder to trace.
Looking for chocolate makers in the Netherlands?
Chof is based in Amsterdam and tracks the Dutch bean-to-bar scene closely. See Original Beans, Heinde & Verre, The Chocolatemakers, Krak and other chocolade makers from the Netherlands.
Frequently asked
What is a bean-to-bar chocolate maker?
A bean-to-bar maker controls the entire production chain from raw cacao bean to finished bar: they roast, winnow, grind, conch, refine and temper themselves rather than melting and reshaping bulk couverture bought from someone else.
What is a tree-to-bar chocolate maker?
A tree-to-bar maker goes one step further than bean-to-bar: they own or directly manage the cacao trees, the post-harvest fermentation and the chocolate production. Tree-to-bar gives the deepest level of origin transparency, but is rare because it requires presence in both the cacao-growing region and the production region.
What is the difference between craft and industrial chocolate?
Craft chocolate is typically small-batch, made by a maker who is hands-on with sourcing and production, with named origins and short ingredient lists. Industrial chocolate is mass-produced at scale by larger chocolate manufacturers, often with longer ingredient lists, vegetable fats or vanillin, and bulk-blended origins.
What is the Dutch word for chocolate maker?
In Dutch, a chocolate maker is a "chocolademaker", plural "chocolademakers" or "chocolade makers". Chof lists Dutch chocolade makers from the Netherlands and Belgium alongside English-language entries on the same maker page.
Is a cocoa maker the same thing as a chocolate maker?
Loosely, yes: people sometimes use "cocoa maker" to mean a bean-to-bar or tree-to-bar chocolate maker. Strictly, "cocoa" refers to the bean and its powder, "chocolate" refers to the finished bar. A cocoa maker can also mean a producer of cocoa powder or cocoa products rather than chocolate bars.
Are there bean-to-bar chocolate makers in the Netherlands?
Yes. The Netherlands has a small but growing bean-to-bar scene including Original Beans, Heinde & Verre, The Chocolatemakers, Krak and other Dutch chocolade makers. See the Dutch chocolate makers page on Chof.
How does Chof verify a maker's claims?
Each maker page shows the maker type (bean-to-bar, tree-to-bar, melter, private label or industrial). Direct trade claims, organic and fairtrade certifications are shown separately so they can be checked against the source.