As we reflect back on 10+ years of Zak’s Chocolate, we are so grateful for all of you who have tried, shared & loved our style of craft chocolate, and who have become our chocolate friends & 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). And, we have been fortunate to be able to collaborate with other local craftspeople & to receive recognition for our craft in local & national publications. 

During our initial years in business, we entered several competitions to see how our creations compared with others & to obtain Judges’ feedback. We were fortunate to have received award recognition for almost every item we entered (21 awards in 4 years), including for our dark, milk & white chocolate bars, bars made with locally roasted coffee, our signature "Simply Chocolate" truffle and our Cacao Nib Caramel. This helped us to feel comfortable with our own taste instincts. That, plus the cost of entering & shipping product, led to not entering any more competitions. Wealso figured we didn’t need award stickers on our chocolate bars since we don’t compete for shelf space in someone else’s store. Some of these recognitions & awards are listed as separate entries with links in our News & Video Section.

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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