Handmade Luxury Chocolates from Melt

Mott - Research Stage

Mott's chocolate factory

The Research Stage

The creation of a micro-cocoa industry mirrors the micro-brewery movement - with greater attention to the quality of the bean - better chocolate can be produced
The first step in this amazing chocolate odyssey was to convince a couple of big U.S. chocolate factories to allow Mott Green to see their process and machines. Later, he located a couple of textbooks on chocolate manufacturing. Quickly it became clear to them that small-scale machinery for quality chocolate making is no longer manufactured - the industry had gone large scale and heavily industrialized. In the process loosing its local routes and local flavours and tastes - and certainly not making chocolate in its country of origin. The conversion of cocoa beans to bulk chocolate is only done at very large factories with very large machines these days, mainly in the european countries.

Mott goes one further than his chocolate dreams by adding renewable energy as well. The new vision was to build their own machines and a solar-powered chocolate factory.
Pouring cocoabutter into conche
Pouring cocoabutter into conche

A World First - A Solar Powered Chocolate Factory


We wanted the most efficient machines possible, because chocolate making is a very energy-intensive process for a solar-power system to handle. For over two years, we experimented with designing our own chocolate making machines, as well as refurbishing a couple of antique machines.

On all these machines, we used DC, permanent magnet motors, which allow efficient direct powering from the solar-power system. In my chocolate project partner and friend Doug’s barn in Oregon, we built and tested several generations of machines, including wood-fired roasters, winnowers, grinders, and cocoa butter presses.

We tested them by processing cocoa beans we imported from Grenada. After many months, lots of brainstorming, and a few dead ends, we had a machine line we were happy with, and chocolate we were addicted to. We packed up all our machinery and solar-electric equipment, and sent it on a ship to Grenada.
Mott Green in Grenada
The Finished Product
Mott and Local Team
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