Passion in Chocolate, Passion in Life

Some words from the the Tessieri family, master chocolatiers of Tuscany:

There are precious few things in life that make a person truly happy.  Many settle for compromises, give up before even trying.  Others aim for their goals.

And aiming for your goal means starting from scratch: questioning commonly held beliefs about everything and everybody, questioning ourselves first and foremost.

Starting.  With a destination in mind and suitcase full of uncertainty:  yes, doubts.

People talk about the beauty that lies in uncertainty:  it is sometimes difficult to see the more subtle beauty that is found in doubts.

Believing can be very monotonous; doubt is infinitely more interesting.

A travel case brimming with doubt then.

Yes, because we all know that a journey can often be fairly unpredictable, unimaginable. We are certain of our departure point, but once we have taken the first step we don't know where and especially how it will all end up.  So then, whatever the destination, one thing should always be at hand:  dedication.

The history at Amedei is none other than this:  this history of an immense dedication, the spirit of research and enthusiasm.

Everything Matters

In a product of the highest caliber, everything matters. Every ingredient, every step in the journey from sun and soil to cocoa plant to bean handling to transportation to processing to equipment to recipe to the spirit and passion and love of the workers and artisans to the packaging to trusted business partners to the taste experience and enjoyment of our valued customers.

It is continuous effort to go beyond, to keep searching for the most exceptional varieties such as Criollo and Trinitario and the most delicate beans like Porcelana. To work continually with the plantations, with agronomists and the laborers, to improve life and teach in a way that improves your taste experience with Amedei products.

And it does not stop there.

An Obsession with Quality

Creating great chocolate takes great dedication, and great patience. And it requires a near-fanatical obsession with quality at every step, in every input.

Quality begins in the sunshine, soil, ecology and agronomics of extraordinary gifts of nature: the plantations where Amedei's beans are born, mature and are carefully harvested and carefully handled, gentled packaged and shipped to Europe. The Tessieris of Amedei spent many years scouring the earth for the sources of the best beans in all nature, years helping redevelop the plantations and educate their workers about quality, years to research and develop chocolate blends in their laboratory, and years perfecting their processes for producing extraordinary taste sensations from the beans to the bar, and to the praline.

At the Amedei laboratory in La Rotta, Tuscany, delicate processing procedures commence to transform the cocoa into unique creations with an unequalled flavour.

Amedei chocolates demand extremely patient production, using painstakingly sourced and rehabilitated craft-intensive machinery of the types used by the great chocolatiers of old, to achieve their ultimate perfection. Roasting, grinding, refining, and lengthy conching: each phase is supervised step-by-step and executed slowly and meticulously with fully restored classic chocolate-making machinery under the personal supervision of master chocolatier Cecilia Tessieri. Each phase is allowed its due time, using time-tested and precise methods.

The result? Imagine the mellowest, most velvety and intense flavour possible. Imagine a nectar that melts luxuriously in your mouth and leaves you utterly satisfied, yet with a secret yearning to taste again. This is quality, and quality is Amedei's passion.

And in developing new chocolates, one must devote the same obsession to sourcing the ideal complementary ingredients and experimenting, through dozens of incarnations and countless tastings, to achieve the perfect recipe, with the perfect processing and pacing, to go exceed the existing definition of "'the best."

Ultimately, perfection of the artistry and poetry of taste is what Amedei chocolates are all about.

Fair Trade

Motivated by the desire to work directly with key cocoa plantations and to help them and their communities thrive, while learning and implementing the best, highest quality practices, the Tessieris committed Amedei not only to the fair trade concept but to local development and investment. As a policy, Amedei is committed to paying above the accepted "fair trade" level - not just living wages, but wages to bring prosperity, to allow communities to reinvest in themselves. In Venezuela, for example, Amedei has worked to ease local debts, develop local education, and engage local workers in their own betterment as businesspeople and the beginning of one of the world's highest-quality supply chains.

As Stefano Gambardella, manager at the Amedei factory in Tuscany, puts it well, Amedei has pursued a "sustainable agricultural project with social positive consequences. We wanted to create a reality where farmers and workers are thinking about their activity, to represent their future."

Together, the plantations and their communities, and Amedei, and our gracious customers, journey into a brighter future through a shared concern for quality, and passion, in everything.

The Future

Some last words from the Tessieri family, for now:

But what's this?  Another suitcase.  This one holds the desire to discover, to look forward, and to surprise yet again.

Ask Cecilia, "What is the most delicious chocolate you have ever made?", and she will answer:  "The one I have yet to make."