Chomp On This: Salem's Vegan Chocolatier

Ben Bailey is a creative entrepreneur with a background in marketing and theater. And now, this Oregon-native is taking on the world of chocolate.

Ben is the founder of Chomp Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate company using certified sustainable cacao and plant-based ingredients. While Chomp opened to the public in the fall of 2021, its roots have a greater depth, which one could say begins on Boadway.

In 2015, Ben was producing and investing in Broadway while living in Salem. Eventually, it took him to New York where he got a job working with two-time Tony Award-winning theater producer Ken Davenport.

As an entrepreneur, Ben is a marketer first, then he finds opportunities to apply those skills and teaches himself whatever is needed — like all about chocolate.

“I love marketing and advertising, but with chocolate it's a little different,” said Ben. “I've fallen in love with the craft.”

Ben Bailey.

That love was sparked while Ben and his wife were living on the east coast, about two hours from Hershey, Pennsylvania, and they took a trip to Hershey's Chocolate World. The more Ben learned about the life of Milton Hershey, the more he admired his business conviction and communityminded intention; it also got him thinking more about chocolate.

Ultimately, Chomp is the result of the perfect storm.

In June 2020, Ben and his wife moved back to Salem and he found himself making some life changes, including a vegan diet. Always an entrepreneur watching for his next opportunity, Ben found it when looking for chocolate to take to the drivein. The grocery store, grab-n-go plantbased options were seriously lacking. Then, after learning about the growing market for plant-based milk, and seeing the success of other plant-based products, such as meat alternatives, Ben thought ‘why not chocolate?’

When Ben realized his business interest in the chocolate industry, he thought about how he wanted to develop his company.

“We could receive chocolate in big chunks and just minimally process it, but the only way I felt we could have a transparent supply chain and control over the quality and the integrity of our product, is to do the whole process.”

And coming from the world of Broadway, Ben knew he wanted to put on a show.

“Part of my design for this is to be transparent, but also it's going to be an experience for people to come here... we also want it to be really fun.”

“We want to be a destination for Salem and the surrounding community to come and have an experience. I hope we're kind of like a 365 day pumpkin patch,” Ben said, “where there's things going on and families and kids can walk around the whole factory.”

Additionally, being able to show people the process gives a deeper understanding and appreciation of the product.

“It's silly to think about now, but I had never really thought about where chocolate comes from until I got interested in it.

We're so disassociated with the process. I think this is a really good opportunity for education for kids and adults…. Chocolate is fun and exciting and tastes good so you can do a lot with education that people will be actually interested in because it's chocolate, right?” said Ben. “I think that it grabs people's attention more because it is something we all really love. Blending those aspects together, it is a great opportunity to educate people on environmental issues and appreciation and a true grasp of our food supply chain and how difficult and complicated it is rather than just ‘It's on the shelf and it's 85 cents.’”

At the root of it, Ben has a two-part mission: to produce delicious dairy-free chocolate while being mindful, aware and proactive with an environmental impact. This includes a focus on fair or direct trade, which means ensuring their source materials uses no child labor, and that it meets a level of sustainability to ensure they are not disrupting the rainforests, plus eco-friendly packaging.

Before opening Chomp to the public, Ben made at least 250 test batches of chocolate.

“Each batch is 24 hours of processing and refining, which means over 6000 hours,” he said.

“Each time you switch to a new bean it means new tastes, different roast times and temperatures, and other adjustments. There’s always a new challenge which you have to be comfortable with. The goal isn’t to eliminate every problem, but to move on to the next. Patience produces progress and progress produces patience.”

Ben is looking to modernize the chocolate industry; to help take it beyond the tradition by incorporating environmental and ethical standards, while creating a product that is kid-friendly, approachable and accessible.

Currently, Chomp offers three standard products: Original, a cashew milk chocolate bar (it’s s’mores tested); Popstar, a bar with crispy rice cereal; and Nutpucks, Chomp’s version of the peanut butter cup.

They also are working on a few other signature bars behind the scenes including a s’mores bar and cookies and cream (with a white chocolate base). And if you are in the area, you can pop by their factory to find limited release bars.

Currently, he and his small team run two to two-and-a-half complete cycles a day, creating approximately 375 bars from a 20 kilogram (44 pound) batch.

Roasting develops the flavor of the bean. Then the beans go through the winnow, which separates the shell from the seed — the cocoa nibs. After that, it’s time to head to the grinder, where the cocoa nibs become cocoa liquor — unsweetened chocolate. And following grinding, it’s off to the ball mill where the rest of the ingredients are added. As the ingredients mix, blending refines the products’ creaminess and texture.

“I don't really care if you're vegan, I just want to make really good chocolate,” Ben said. “And if our chocolate is good enough, then the ripple effect helps our mission, which is the environment and the supply chain.”