Ghirardelli dark chocolate is some of the smoothest you'll find. As America's longest continuosly operating chocolate manufacturer, Ghirardelli has a fascinating history, and a great line of dark chocolates!
Ghirardely & Girard was incorporated in 1852 in San Francisco, primarily to provide luxury items, including chocolate, to the mining community. In 1865 they "discovered" the Broma process, now generally used in chocolate manufacturing, by observing that a bag of chocolate left hanging in a warm room will drip out cocoa butter until only the cocoa solids residue remains. By 1884 Ghirardelli was shipping their products all over the US, as well as to China, Japan, and Mexico.
From 1900 to 1923 the company built up an entire city block of manufacturing, processing, and administrative buildings, including 15 foot high letters spelling "Ghirardelli" that can be seen prominantly by ships passing through the Golden Gate. These properties, "Ghirardelli Square", were renovated in the early 1960s, named an official San Francisco landmark in 1965, and added to the National Historic Register in 1982. Although Ghirardelli production moved to San Leandro, California in 1967, Ghirardelli Square as a "festival marketplace" is still a tourist, shopping, and cultural destination, where, by the way, the original chocolate making equipment can still be seen in operation.
The company was purchased by the Golden Grain Macaroni Company in 1963, by the Quaker Oats company in 1986, by a private investment group in 1992, and finally by Lindt and Sprüngli in 1998.
In the last 20 years, Ghirardelli has added several retail stores, and has increased their product selection, which now includes many dark chocolate items such as:
Ghirardelli use a highly selective proprietary blend of cocoa beans, a unique roasting process (roasting the nibs instead of the beans), and an intensive refining process (to 19 microns vs 40 microns many others use) to ensure a truely smooth and unique taste.
"As America's longest continuously operating chocolate manufacturer, Ghirardelli has established its position as America's premium chocolate company for more than 150 years."
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