What do Dream Chocolate, friends and black holes have in common? Well, at the onset at least we are dealing with the unknown. When we started a company called Salmon Rivers Foods in the early winter of 1999 I never dreamed 9 years later I would be in the chocolate business. Sure I liked good chocolate, and my son who was employed by a German company was bringing me back bars from Europe.

 

With my wife and friends we were spending many an extended weekend rafting the white water rivers of Idaho. I had sold my old business and my friends counseled that if I must work to earn a living, why not do something I liked: rafting. I used to be in the food business so why not sell food to rafting outfitters?

 

One of our first products was a chocolate river bar. A client goes on a guided trip and is looking for inexpensive souvenirs for friends and family. Why not a Salmon River bar, and Arkansas River bar or a custom bar for the outfitter? The idea worked and we bought a chocolate factory.

 

The first black hole I encountered was the factory. Along the way in my working life I had plenty of help learning new jobs including the food rep and distribution business. But manufacturing is far more complex and demanding and expensive. There are many things that must be done to get a company to the point it can sell to chain stores. To build a support staff with a limited budget and little sales takes time and money.

 

Today we are starting to see a return as we now can produce a vast array of chocolate bars to meet the needs of the most discerning palate.

 

 

More to come-----