Our Story
Our story is like any other: Father quits successful law practice, falls in love with making chocolate from scratch and dumps his entire life savings into starting one of the first craft chocolate companies in the US. Daughter thinks he might have lost his mind but works alongside him part-time while attending university. Father travels to remote regions of Ecuador, the Amazon, Tanzania and the Philippines to source exotic cocoa beans directly from smallholder farmers and share profits with them; daughter joins, and focuses specifically on empowering women cocoa farmers and the girls in their communities. 
The chocolate, made by hand in small batches at a micro-factory in Southwest Missouri, gets some recognition, wins some awards and lands on the shelves of shops and specialty groceries around the country. Father and daughter write a book together about Father’s story and the mission of their company. Their message of delicious, ethical chocolate that directly supports cocoa farmers spreads far and wide. Who knows what the next decade will bring!
As business owners, our greatest opportunity and challenge has been weaving social responsibility into everything we do; it’s not just a buzzword, it’s who we are. Askinosie Chocolate was born committed to fairness, sustainability, minimal environmental impact, and community enhancement. Those commitments will be in place as long as the company is. We’re dedicated not just to making the best quality chocolate you can buy, but to making it in such a way that the more you learn about it, the better you feel about it. And we’re so glad you’re here.Â
—Shawn Askinosie, Founder & CEO & Lawren Askinosie, CMO
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Click here to watch Shawn’ TEDx talk and hear more about our story and our mission.
Listen to Shawn as a guest on over 100 podcasts.
Check out Meaningful Work, Shawn & Lawren’s book about how business leaders can find their calling and feed their soul.