Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Jeffray D. Gardner.
Chef Jeffray D., we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began my journey after meeting my future wife while rollerblading on the strand in Newport Beach. Intros were made and when I shared with her my previous careers (hockey & chocolate), it was chocolate that seemed to win her over. I had no intentions of returning to my past career in chocolate but her enthusiasm made me think.
Shortly after Marsatta Chocolate was created while on a bus ride from Wilson Park to the Hollywood Bowl. So I brought along some wine, some chocolate and a pen and paper. My idea was to create a name for my newly formed chocolate company. So following a few glasses of wine and a few pieces of chocolate, we came up with a number of colorful words describing our euphoria we were experiencing. Yup, Tge name Marsatta was a total team effort, wine, chocolate and of course us. I started Marsatta Chocolate way back in 2003. Similar to most entrepreneurs, I had an idea of what I wanted to make and started experimenting right out of condo. Sure, there were challenges but your desire to succeed overpowers any roadblocks that are encountered. The size of our kitchen was definitely a factor and so shortly after I rented kitchen space to create our chocolate bars.
From rented space, we grew and then moved into our own manufacturing facility in Redondo Beach. With the help of family, we were able to build a beautiful state-of-the-art facility that has everything I wanted as a chef.
With a focus on flavor and taste, we managed to attract some big companies including Nordstrom, William-Sonoma and a cool gelato company called Caio Bella. It was crazy! My prior experience driving forklifts for Air Canada and Delta Airlines came in handy. I’ll never forget loading pallets of our chocolate with the forklift out to the semi-truck which was heading to gelato factories on both the East and West coasts. It felt like a dream! The spirit and passion of an entrepreneur, right?
Unfortunately, that dream came crashing to a halt when one Sunday afternoon the landlord wasn’t to keen on having our Oompa Loompas on break playing road hockey in front our building. Sadly in 30 days, we were evicted and then continued on with Farmer’s Markets throughout Los Angeles. As we continued our Marsatta Chocolate journey with the Farmer’s Markets throughout the city, we continued to spread Marsatta’s love for chocolate. In 2014 we found our second location but with more emphasis on retail, as we now had our own store. This location had its challenges as well with new property owners who actually had plans to tear down the shopping center. We put in a valiant fight but when Covid hit everyone, businesses suffered. We included. For many of us, it was one of the hardest moments in our lives. The retail food business changed quickly. Nobody wanted to go out and a lot of businesses closed. A very sad time for anyone who was self-employed.
During this time we had a lady come into our store who ordered our chocolate. She turned into a huge fan and told her husband of our chocolates. Her husband told his colleagues who also visited us. Over time serious questions were asked about what exactly do I want to do with Marsatta Chocolate. These guys traveled the world and tried many different chocolates but were evidently impressed with our chocolate. Following countless meetings, Marsatta Chocolate changed from a Mom and Pop type of business to an LLC and today a corporation! Yes, it’s been quite the journey and I joke with many that I earned by own MBA by just following the plans that were recommended by the team. It wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagine.
In fact, it’s been hard. At one point, my family was homeless, we had no food but we moved forward and NEVER quit. Sometimes I thought about just getting a job and a guaranteed paycheck. No stress and so much easier. But my passion is to please others and make extraordinary chocolate. We make incredible tasting 100% chocolate! Yes! One ingredient but…. It’s not bitter. We call it bold but not bitter. Yes, it takes us a long time to make but more importantly it’s chocolate that’s not bitter and that was a cool discovery for us. We do make sweeter chocolate but flavor is so, so important to us. We want to continue making chocolate like no other. During Covid, we all wanted a fortune teller. Nobody knew what was next and so for us we ended up leaving our retail store and morphed into a ghost kitchen. Different way of doing business with a whole set of new challenges.
During Covid, delivery apps and their respective companies were incredibly popular. We thought just maybe, people would order chocolate like they do sushi, spaghetti or a burger. We found that an answer really fast and had to rely on our own marketing to survive. It wasn’t enough to piggyback off of the delivery services. Online ordering was the norm and as a small business, we had to adjust. Since then we have an incredible fan base and some great corporate customers as well. We literally ship all over the world. Fine chocolate has a personality all its own so attention to detail is paramount. As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, we’ve noticed a renewed interest in the finer things in life, including our unique chocolate offerings. As a result, we have plans to expand by building a new factory and retail store in separate locations. These new locations will allow Marsatta Chocolate to continue serving our growing fanbase while also attracting new customers across the country. With plans for continued growth and our continued commitment to quality and innovation, we think Marsatta Chocolate is poised for a bright future.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Struggles? Oh boy.. where do I start?
My wife was pregnant with our son Dustin and through the stress of losing our first location due to the kids playing hockey, we almost lost her and the baby.
She was rushed to the hospital with severe bleeding and our son was born at 30 weeks. The next two months in the ICU was our new babies home. Intra veticular hemorrhage of his brain and heart problems were some of his challenges. I tried to continue with Farmers Markets but it was really difficult to juggle. We forged on with additional health challenges facing us after he left the hospital. Back and forth from the Farmer’s Markets to him.
Another challenge we faced was how to create a business when your Landlord wants to tear down his building, tells you to look for another place (we had a 5-year lease in place) then five months later tells you to hold your horses, your now not moving. They’re going to now renovate the property instead due to the city and the neighborhood turning the proposal down due to parking issues. True story! But heck, as an entrepreneur you have to have the capabilities to roll with the punches, those seemingly endless roadblocks….. keep positive, serve others and maintain Lazer focus.
Covid hit my family hard, the business continued with a new production facility but left my family homeless for a period of time.
We continued to serve our community, volunteering whenever we could but couldn’t get out of our predicament without the help of the community and the LA Kings!!!
Another struggle- when you move into a ghost kitchen thinking it’s the right move during a pandemic then discovering your customer base isn’t so keen on our location or how orders are facilitated (through Doordash, GrubHub, Uber Eats)
Producing thousands of bars for another ghost kitchen location when Covid begins to subside and the market changes once again.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a chocolate maker And an infusion specialist. I specialize in Bean to Bar Chocolate and Bean to Bonbons. We are known for making cutting-edge chocolate especially infused bonbons. Today’s offering was infused Toasted Coconut Oolong Tea while tomorrow is Teeling Rum Cask Whiskey. We create a new bonbon flavor every week. We pick our own lemons and oranges and other native California fruits but also import incredible Vietnamese Coffee. We also harvest our own salt from the Pacific Ocean to use in our Pacific Ocean Salted Caramels and our 89% Salted Maple Crunch bar. I am most proud of our 100% bar, a one ingredient chocolate bar that is not bitter and not full of volatiles and acidity that’s usually associated with most 100% bars. Although I am over the moon proud of this unique chocolate bar, I cannot take credit for the idea of making it. It was my wife’s idea!
2007 was a huge pivoting point for me with chocolate. I attended a chocolate academy and during the course, I asked the Chef why certain ingredients were in chocolate. I also asked why I couldn’t make my own chocolate. I was told ‘no’ with no real clear answer as to why I could not make my own chocolate… I was disheartened, feeling discouraged but when I arrived back home I was determined to make my own chocolate.
Back then, there was a little information online and equipment as a craft or specialty chocolate maker were still in its primitive stages. Pioneers like John Nanci and Clay Gordon were always willing to share their knowledge online. We all tinkered and learned from each other.
What sets us apart? We were LA’s first Bean to Bar chocolate company.!
Most chocolate makers make chocolate bars. I make chocolate bars but also Art Deco infused bonbons. We create a new chocolate flavor every week! We used to also roast incredible coffee but maybe we’ll explore that again one day 😉
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Favorite childhood memory was the anticipation of monthly parcels arriving from my grandmother. In France. It always included lots of chocolate bars and marzipan for me and my siblings.
Contact Info:
- Website: marsatta.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/marsattachocolate
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marsattachocolate
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/marsatta/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/marsatta
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@marsattachocolate
