Guittard Chocolate Company
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
| Family business | |
| Founded | 1868 |
| Founder | Étienne Guittard |
| Headquarters | Burlingame, California, USA |
|
Key people
|
Gary Guittard (president and CEO since 1989) |
| Products | Couverture chocolate, Confectionery |
|
Number of employees
|
240[1] |
| Website | www |
The Guittard Chocolate Company is an American-based chocolate maker which produces couverture chocolate using original formulas and traditional French methods. The company is headquartered in Burlingame, California. It is the oldest continuously family-owned chocolate company in the United States,[2] family-owned for more than four generations.
Contents
History
The company was started by Étienne Guittard (1838-1899),[3] who emigrated from Lyon, France in the 1850s during the California Gold Rush.[2] He brought French chocolates with him, which he traded for supplies.[4] After trying without success for three years to strike gold in the Sierra, he returned to San Francisco, where shopkeepers with whom he had earlier traded his chocolate convinced him to become a chocolate maker; he returned to Paris, saved money to buy the equipment he needed, then returned to San Francisco[4] and opened for business at 405 Sansome Street[2] on the San Francisco waterfront. Initially, he didn't limit himself to chocolate, also selling "tea, coffee, spices, yeast powder and flavorings."[4]
Horace C. Guittard, Étienne's son, was in charge when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed the city. In the aftermath of the quake, a new plant was built on Commercial Street.[4] The company expanded in 1921 and 1936 onto property on Main Street south of Market.[4] In 1954, Guittard sold its property to the city so that Embarcadero Freeway could be built.[4] The company relocated to a 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m2) facility at the corner of Guittard and Rollins road in Burlingame, California, where it remains to this day.[5]
Gary Guittard began working full-time at the company in 1975; he took over for Horace A. Guittard (his father) in 1989, becoming president and CEO.[2]
Products
The company produces cocoa, chocolate syrup, milk chocolate balls and eggs, baking chips, as well as mints and mint wafers.[1] It sells to pastry chefs, consumers, and wholesale customers like See's Candies, Kellogg's and Baskin-Robbins, Recchiuti Confections, and Garrison Confections.[citation needed] Guittard is also the exclusive chocolate supplier to Williams-Sonoma.[2]
The E. Guittard Collection vintage product line contains blends and single bean varietal chocolates, including the Quevedo, a varietal couverture chocolate from Ecuador, the Chucuri from northwest Colombia, the Sur del Lago couverture chocolate from western Venezuela, and the Ambanja from Madagascar.[citation needed]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ www.findagrave.com
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Articles with unsourced statements from February 2012
- Chocolate companies
- Confectionery companies of the United States
- Companies based in Burlingame, California
- Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Companies established in 1868
- 1868 establishments in California
- Companies based in San Mateo County, California
