As we reflect back on 10+ years of Zak’s Chocolate, we are so grateful for all of you who have tried, shared and loved our style of craft chocolate, and who have become our chocolate friends and family. We are also amazed that our chocolate has been shipped, or hand-carried, to all 50 States, DC, Puerto Rico, + 30 other Countires (that we know of becaause you've told us). And, we have been so fortunate to be able to collaborate with other local craftspeople and to receive recognition for our craft in so many local and national publications. We started to make a list and decided to share that here.

Also, during our initial years in business, we entered some award competitions to see how our creations compared with others and to obtain Judges’ feedback. We were fortunate to have received award recognition for virtually every item we entered, including dark, milk and white chocolate bars, bars made with locally roasted coffee, our signature "Simply Chocolate" truffle and our Cacao Nib Caramel, and it helped us to feel comfortable with our own taste instincts. Due to this, plus the cost of entering and shipping product, we stopped entering these competitions. We figured we didn’t need award stickers on our chocolate bars anymore since we don’t compete for shelf space in someone else’s store.

Some of these recognitions and awards are listed as separate entries with links in our News & Video Section, so we did not include links here, it’s just a list

With so much appreciation,

Maureen & Jim

We are thrilled to be included in Frommer's 2025 Edition of their Guide to Arizona.

And...we received a 3-Star recommendation, which according to Frommer's, means "A must! Don't miss!"

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Besides dealing with a third consecutive year of a global cacao shortage (due to supply issues driven by weather, disease and a historical lack of investment) that has driven up prices to 3X the price from two years ago, what is the impact of tariffs on America’s artisan chocolate businesses when huge duties raise the cost of cacao, an ingredient that only grows some 20 degrees above and below the equator?

Cacao CANNOT be sourced from the United States in the quantities needed. There are ~5.0 million MT of cacao produced globally, and less than 100 tons of production in Hawaii and Puerto Rico combined - a tiny, tiny fraction of global production. There is no domestic production that is being protected by the tariffs. Refusing to exempt raw materials that cannot be grown in the US makes absolutely no sense for the chocolate industry.

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