Former Hopewell mayor opens chocolate manufacturing facility
CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — The former mayor of Hopewell, Steve Taylor, and his wife Kim recently opened a chocolate wholesale manufacturing and retail facility, Taylor Made Chocolate, in Chesterfield County.
The bean-to-bar artisan chocolate making process that unfolds in the back of the Taylor Made Chocolate store begins with cocoa beans that are imported from Haiti. Taylor and his employees sort through the beans, taking out the ones that will take away from the flavor of the chocolate, and then the best beans are roasted and winnowed in the facility. The beans are then taken through the final mixing and cooling stages before being packaged and sold on the shelves at the front of the store.