To Ben and Becca Snyder, chocolate is a special experience that should brighten the day of whomever it comes across.

Hence, they started Lumineux Chocolate for that exact purpose – to brighten the day of the customer through the transformative power of chocolate. Their careers began in the restaurant industry, specifically in the pastry department; Ben as a pastry chef and Becca as a baker. Working with chocolate every day sparked a discussion of what could happen if they created their own artisan chocolate.

Starting off with no first-hand experience creating chocolate, their first batch was a 70% Ivory Coast dark chocolate. Though the batch was a little rough around the edges and underwhelming in flavor, the potential was exciting. It sparked in them the desire to continue trying to bring to life cocoa beans that were underused and left behind, but had a flavor so distinctly their own.

They continued to press on, through trial and error, to create a chocolate that would be distinctive. They started off with a single 8 pound refiner, cracking and tempering by hand. Starting off small and crafting by hand strengthened the passion they had for artisan chocolate.

Lumineux Chocolate chooses to work only with African and Asian beans. The distinctive qualities move from bold, punchy fruit flavors of a Tanzanian bean to the rich, luxurious brownie notes of a bean from Ghana. Currently, Lumineux Chocolate focuses on single-origin bars with a few inclusion bars. These bars showcase the beautiful and diverse flavors of the beans from Africa and Asia.