Little bean is big business for Irvine’s ChocXO chocolate factory entrepreneur

His name isn’t Willy Wonka, but that hasn’t stopped him from opening a chocolate factory.

And Richard Foley, 53, plans to share the inner workings of his ChocXO Bean-to-Bar Chocolatier in Irvine with the public Friday and Saturday.

Foley, a Dana Point husband and father of three who sold chocolate for more than 30 years to chefs and chocolatiers, said he had a strong pull toward one of the key ingredients in his candy-making process.

“I was called to the bean,” Foley said.

Specifically, the cacao bean.

“I wanted to make chocolate right from the bean, and I wanted to make it on a factory scale with the technology of a big factory on a micro-scale,” Foley said.

To make that special chocolate, it would take one small batch at a time.

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“Welcome to ChocXO,” Foley said earlier this month, extending his arms as he stood in the Irvine factory’s retail store. “Isn’t this fantastic?” he asked.

Behind him were shelves brimming with every imaginable chocolate treat: packaged truffles, caramels, liquid chocolate, chocolate barks, chocolate-covered Oreo cookies, bags of chocolate to bake with at home and more.

For Foley, chocolate not only satisfies his creativity, but also brings pleasure to other people.

That’s why he invites the community to take a tour of his factory, to learn about chocolate and decide if his recipe is good. A member of the chocolate production team will walk guests through the chocolate-making process, with the first stop at a cacao tree. The group will learn about fermentation and at the end sample finished chocolate bars.

Long before the beans arrive in Irvine, they are carefully removed from the cacao pods by farmers in Central and South America and the Dominican Republic. The beans, usually the size of almonds, are dumped into pails known as fermentation boxes, where they sit for up to eight days to ferment, developing flavor.

Then the beans are spread on racks and spend a few days drying in the sun. Once dry, they’re sorted and loaded into burlap sacks and transported to Irvine.

The beloved beans, now in Foley’s hands, are cleaned, sorted and roasted. The factory’s chocolate-makers examine each bean, taking into account its origin, size, shape and flavor profile. If the beans pass the test, they’re removed from the shells and broken into nibs, which are then ground into a liquid state called cacao liquor.

The liquor, not alcoholic, is mixed with sugar and placed in a refiner to be flattened and turned into chocolate flakes. The flakes are put into a conche, a machine that homogenizes the chocolate, cocoa butter and sugar. The 24-hour step develops the flavor balance and creates the taste of edible chocolate.

“The most fun part for me is that first batch of chocolate coming out of the conche,” Foley said. “There’s so much time and energy that goes into it. I was so surprised by how good it tasted the first time we tried it. I was not expecting that.”

The liquid chocolate is then transported to Foley’s molding factory in Vancouver, Canada, where it’s transformed into bars, squares, filled chocolates and bark. The goodies are packaged and sent to the factory.

“There’s a real education component here, and where else can you go and get that?” Foley said about his desire to share his expertise. “It’s an experience to come in here.”

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Chocolate, Foley said, is in his blood.

His grandfather was a candymaker in Ireland. His father took the family brand, Foley’s Candies, to Canada to make chocolate truffles. As a child, Foley worked in that manufacturing plant alongside his three siblings. As a teenager, he took a few blocks of chocolate from his father’s candy factory and sold them to professional chefs.

By 1982, Foley had founded Qzina Specialty Foods in the basement of his family home. Within 20 years, he had become one of the largest importers and distributors of fine chocolate in North America, selling to Disney, cruise lines and restaurants.

But last year, Foley decided he had had enough of running the company. He sold Qzina and set off to satisfy his lifelong dream of making his own chocolate from the bean. He created the factory in Irvine, calling it ChocXO, the two last letters symbolizing hugs and kisses and the affection associated with a gift of chocolate.

To make artisan chocolate, Foley said, he buys beans that are among the top 5% to 10% in the world for quality. He forged relationships with farmers. And to make beans into world-class chocolate, Foley said, it was imperative for him to invest in modern technology. The factory’s chocolate-processing equipment is set to roast, winnow, roller-refine and conche to perfect each bite.

Another bean close to the confectioner’s heart is the coffee bean. The liquid chocolate roasted in Irvine is used to make the mochas, hot chocolate and frappes sold at his cafes in Lake Forest and Costa Mesa.

To celebrate the factory’s official opening, guests may take a free guided tour in the retail showroom every 30 minutes and taste samples from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday. And on Saturday, if you’re feeling like wearing green hair and sporting an orange-colored face, you can dress up as an Oompa Loompa to receive free chocolate for a year.

“When you give a tour and explain it, you feel your passion come through,” Foley said. “And when you give people that chocolate shot at the end, that’s pretty exciting.”

If You Go

What: ChocXO Bean-to-Bar Chocolatier

When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays

Where: 9461 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine

Information: (949) 825-5781 or visit chocxo.com