September 7, 2005
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 Frederick Schilling.
Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli
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Setting the bar: Ashland chocolate company is a thriving international business
By GREG STILES
Mail Tribune
In the three years since Frederick Schilling moved his fledgling organic chocolate company to the Rogue Valley from Colorado, Dagoba Chocolate has snowballed into a thriving international business with distribution on four continents.
Where the 34-year-old Schilling once hand-poured and hand-wrapped each chocolate bar, Dagoba is now approaching 750,000 pounds of chocolate in its manufacturing and wholesaling operation.
The 14,000-square-foot chocolate factory now includes a retail area, something Schilling had neither room nor time for in his former 3,000-square-foot Central Point location, where work went on ran around the clock.
Dagoba currently has a staff of 30 and Schilling expects to add another four employees between now and the end of the year.
Organic chocolate is just a fragment of the roughly $15 billion chocolate industry. But it is growing, while mass makers such as Hershey are branching out to keep market share. Hershey Company is paying between $46 million and $61 million for specialty manufacturers Scharffen Berger ofBerkeley, Calif., and Joseph Schmidt Confections of San Francisco. "It’s the specialty, high-end chocolate market that is definitely growing," Schilling says. "... The organic industry is growing 20 to 30 percent annually and chocolate is growing with it."
That growth has helped Dagoba expand its market into Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Canada.
Locally, distributor Gary Beardsley of Beardsley Natural Foods, finds Dagoba goods are popular among his more than two dozen Southern Oregon retail and restaurant clients.
"Dagoba is not a difficult sell," Beardsley says. "They have developed a very loyal following. There is receptivity due to the fact they’re organic and made locally."
Dagoba produces 15 bars, a new line of single-origin chocolates from one country or farm, drinking chocolates, baking powder, cacao nibs, chocolate covered beans and syrup.
It’s now gearing up to make truffles for the first time, taking advantage of demand for high-end chocolate.
"When I first started the company four years ago (in Colorado), coming out with a new flavor or product you could just do it," Schilling says. "Now it’s a lot more complex because we are growing so quickly."
"We may have to go to two shifts during the holidays," Schilling says. "We’re making thousands of (pieces/units) a day and our capacity is in the tens of thousands."
Cacao beans from summer and winter harvests are roasted in ground in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Peru. The resulting mass is hardened into 55-pound blocks and shipped to Oregon, with orders taking anywhere from four to 12 weeks to arrive in Ashland.
The distinct cacao flavor from each country’s beans has led to the development of single-origin chocolate in 2-ounce bars and 9-gram tasting squares.
When it comes to production facts and figures, Schilling is admittedly elusive. But he has a keen understanding of the numbers and what they mean for his company.
"We’re growing and to keep up with the demand is a challenge," Schilling says. "Not keeping up with demand is a good thing, because people are wanting more, but if people can’t get our products, they can get frustrated."
He’s contemplated adding a second shift, but worries what it means if demand drops off.
"I’m not into firing people," he says.
Business Card
Name: Dagoba Chocolate
Business: Organic chocolate maker
Location: 1105 Benson Way, Ashland
Hours: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Phone number: 482-2001
Owners: Frederick Schilling.
Web site www.dagobachocolate.com
Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail business@mailtribune.com.
Setting the bar: Ashland chocolate company is a thriving international business - September 7, 2005
