Breaking the Chocolate Mold – The Story and Values Behind Mānoa Chocolate Hawaii (Part 1 of 2)

Tamara and Dylan Butterbaugh are the founders and owners of Mānoa Chocolate Hawaii, a bean-to-bar house of craft chocolate set-up like a winery in Kailua. By sourcing cacao like wineries source grapes, they seek quality beans from across the Hawaiian Islands and around the world through socially responsible, direct trade. The Butterbaugh's were exposed to craft chocolate at the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture where a friend was studying the crop, theobroma cacao. With a passion for sustainability, forestry, and the vision of a Hawai‘i-based manufacturing industry with global potential, they launched the company in 2010 to process cacao for emerging farmers. With little resources and a lot of determination (such as tricycle and barbecue powered equipment) the company has steadily grown to be in the top ten largest craft chocolate makers in the U.S. In 2019, Mānoa Chocolate was recognized as the Hawaii Venture Capital Association’s Consumer Packaged Goods Entrepreneur of the Year. Mānoa Chocolate website: https://manoachocolate.com/ *** Founded in 2000 at the Shidler College of Business, the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) is the home for a set of experiential entrepreneurship programs at the University of Hawaii (UH). The Center’s 20+ programs offer mentorship, training and resources to all UH students and faculty, and are designed to encourage entrepreneurial thinking across disciplines and inspire entrepreneurs to move their ideas from conceptualization to commercialization. Website: pace.shidler.hawaii.edu Email: [email protected] Instagram:   / pacehawaii   Facebook:   / pacehawaii   Twitter:   / pacehawaii