LA TIMES

Raising the Bar on Chocolate

Specialty chocolatiers are introducing darker arid not-so-sweet 'varietal' and 'estate' products, hoping profits will flow like wine.

What Americans are eating is a little more expensive than it has been in years past, says food marketing consultant Joan Steuer. Given the rising sales of companies such as Godiva, she believes that consumers are indulging in small bits of finer chocolate more often.

Steuer calls it the "class-going-mass" phenomenon. As gourmet items such as Ghirardelli chocolate have found their way into supermarkets and drugstores, people's expectations have been raised.
"It's the same trend that has been going on with artisan cheese, breads and microbreweries," she says. "There's a desire to look at the origins of things and how they are made."

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