Number of locations Over 400 retailers Headquarters Pasadena Parent organization SheerBliss Ice Cream, LLC | Area served Nationwide Founded 2007 | |
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Owners Michael Leb, Nancy Hytone Leb, Robert Michero Website | ||
Choctál LLC is a single-origin ice cream company that produces four varieties of chocolate and four varieties of vanilla in pints and 4-ounce single-serve cups. The 4-ounce cups are also packaged separately in Chocolate and Vanilla Tours. (4 cups per package). Choctál is known for being the only single-origin ice cream company; each type of ice cream is made from a single variety of cacao or vanilla beans, creating more complex flavor than traditional ice cream. Single origin is a concept often found in coffee. Choctál is headquartered in Pasadena, California. The ice cream is produced in Cedarburg, Wisconsin with no artificial additives, eggs, or gluten and rBST-free milk. Choctál ice cream is Kosher.
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Choctál is a member of One Percent for the Planet.
History
Choctál debuted at the Specialty Food Association's Winter Fancy Food Show 2007. The name Choctál is derived from the indigenous Aztec word Xocolatl, a sacred chocolate drink made from cacao.
Choctál's ownership changed in 2013 and the brand was relaunched at the Specialty Food Association's Winter Fancy Food Show in 2014.
Origins
Awards
In 2014, Choctál's Ghana Chocolate was named one of The Gourmet Retailer's Editor's Picks.
In 2015, Choctál's Kalimantan Chocolate was a finalist for a sofi Award in the "Ice Cream, Gelato, or Frozen Treats" category.
In 2016, Food & Wine named Choctál as one of their Top 10 Ice Creams and said, "Choctál focuses on two flavors, chocolate and vanilla, highlighting sustainable cacao and vanlla beans from different regions around the world."
Distribution
As of mid-2016, Choctál is available in over 400 stores, including AJ's Fine Foods (Arizona), Bristol Farms, Gelson's Markets, Target, Albertsons and Vons in Southern California, Metropolitan Markets and Whole Foods in the Pacific Northwest, Kowalski's Markets in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Straub's Markets in St. Louis and countless independent gourmet retailers throughout the country. Choctál is carried by frozen food distributors DPI Specialty Foods, Nature's Best/Kehe and other local distributors.
The company also sells online through its website.
Reviews
San Jose Mercury News gave Choctál's Papua New Guinea Vanilla "4 Stars" and called it "perfection on a spoon" (2014). Choctál was featured in exclusive articles on Eat Something Sexy (2015), ForbesLife (2015) which called Choctál "the finest, most luscious and flavorful ice creams," and Pasadena Magazine (2015).
Sunset Magazine featured Choctál in July 2015 in an article entitled "Not Just Plain Vanilla"
Choctál's chocolate ice creams were mentioned by MarketWatch as one of "14 Valentine's Day chocolates better than a kiss" (2014).
Choctál was featured by the Wall Street Journal as one of America's best mail-order ice creams (2015).