Chocolate on a Mission started out seven years ago as a job-training program and fundraising effort to help the homeless in Chinatown.
Today, it’s beginning to taste the sweetness of success as it churns out gourmet chocolates for an upscale clientele while continuing to restore broken lives under the River of Life Mission, said Bob Marchant, longtime pastor and executive director of the Christian nonprofit.
Acclaimed restaurateurs Roy Yamaguchi and Russell Siu have partnered with the factory to make signature chocolate products, and the upscale Dean & Deluca gourmet food franchise markets the chocolate under a private label in its Waikiki stores, Marchant said.
Siu, the chef-owner of 3660 on the Rise and Kakaako Kitchen, had the chocolate factory use his private label under Royal Kona Coffee to create two flavors — coffee and cream, and coffee crunch — available in heart shapes in the luxury line and in the new collection of barks.
“It was a way to help them out, and they do a really good job. It’s really good chocolate,” Siu said.
The mission also produces the “Roy’s Chocolates” brand with Yamaguchi, sold by catalog in Japan.
The chocolate factory, which employs seven people, made $150,000 in sales last year as its corporate accounts jumped, Marchant said. Retail sales were up 15 percent, attributed to the sale of thousands of Christmas gift boxes ordered by large companies. These received good feedback from clients last year, he added.
Wholesale customers include Don Quijote stores, the Navy Exchange at Pearl Harbor and Dean & Deluca in Waikiki, and Marchant is looking for more. After a hiatus, Chocolate on a Mission items will also be available again at the premium R. Field Wine Co. outlets at Foodland stores.
River of Life still pays the salaries of the factory workers, but the chocolate enterprise covers all its other expenses, Marchant said. “Next year, we hope to break even.”
“It’s a good product, and it’s growing,” he added. “We’ve built up a good reputation.”
In 2011, Marchant took a leap of faith to start making chocolate on the third floor of the historic Sumida Building at 101 Pauahi St., with the hope of funding the mission’s rehabilitation programs. An oasis for the down and out since 1986, the mission has provided free meals in the dining hall, as well as showers and clothing on the old building’s first floor.
The factory takes up a few cramped, converted rooms — accessed via winding stairwells and a funky freight elevator — but it is operated under immaculate standards. (For instance, no one wearing deodorant or cosmetics with fragrance may enter the production rooms, lest the odor affect the chocolate’s taste.)
Buoyed by the expertise of chocolatier Ana Sagadraca, Davi Teves has directed the operation since its inception.
“Since the chocolate shop opened in 2011, we’ve had quite a few exciting developments,” said Teves. “As far as the facility, we have really stepped up our food-safety practices with conversion of our candy-making areas into clean zones, and have added a new machine to ramp up our packing efficiency.
“We also have a beautiful new showroom for those interested in coming to visit … and offer a convenient curbside pickup service so customers don’t need to find parking. On the production side, we have upgraded our packaging for better shelf life and presentation.”
River of Life buys only premium chocolate from Guittard Chocolate Co. of San Francisco to make a proprietary blend, and Teves is proud of the awards it has garnered.
Among popular products are chocolate-covered fortune cookies that can be personalized for special occasions ($1.50 each to $6.99 for a 4-ounce bag), and gift baskets ($20 to $99). Also sold: a premium chocolate bar collection called “Footprints in the Sand” (about $8); chocolate- dipped mango and ginger (2-ounce bags, $4.99), and a 4.5-ounce bag of bark ($9.99).
