HISTORY of GRANDO CIOCCOLATOTM

Grando Cioccolato is the creation of Nancy Grando, a second generation jeweler and her husband Stefano Grando who is an Italian master jeweler and a descendant of the oldest fine jewelry manufacturing family in the Veneto region who produced fine jewelry for the King Umberto Savoia and Queen Marie-Jose of Italy. In 2011 Nancy thought to offer a box of high quality chocolates with every purchase of the Grando Gioiello award winning fine jewelry designs. After searching for a source of fine chocolates in the U.S. Stefano and Nancy discovered that all of the chocolates that they tasted paled when compared to the caliber of chocolates they were accustomed to from Italy. Nancy wanted to learn the secret of Italian chocolates and began a mission to unlock the formula that made Italian chocolates unparelled in quality and taste.

Nancy was recognized as being the first person to import Italian chocolate liquor from a world reknown chocolate factory in Italy to produce fine chocolates in the United States.

What Nancy discovered was that one of the oldest fine chocolate factories in Northern Italy was owned by a food scientist who for over 30 years collaborated with independent farmers in South America and the Carribean to cultivate their rare prized criollo and trinario beans. Nancy's chocolates are produced with organic criollo and organic trinatario beans; which are even more rare, as they are pestiside free. Furthermore; the rare beans that Nancy uses in her commercial kitchen are naturally sweet and have notes of berries, so that they require approximately half the sugar of traditional chocolates. Plus; Italian chocolate liquor has approximately twice the amount of cacao butter as traditional chocolates, making them melt in your mouth without any bitter after taste. As for the milk chocolates Nancy uses a 34% cacao formula that is usually reserved for bittersweet cooking chocolates, so that you taste a distinct taste of chocolate with a subtle taste of organic sugar and organic milk. There is never any waxy feel or taste in any of Grando chocolates. Grando Cioccolato's white chocolate is of exceptional quality and filled with organic vanilla, cacao butter and sugar. Grando Cioccolato's chocolates are GMO free and Preservative free, Gluten Free and Artificial Colorant free.

Chocolate making is a science, as one has to learn how to crystalize the chocolate molecules, so that they connect, so that you get that blended smooth mouthfeel, shine and snap. Nancy worked under the tuteledge of two of the industries most respected chocolate masters who specialize in fine Italian chocolates.

Coming from the jewelry industry it was natural for Nancy Grando to initially create chocolate diamonds, gemstones, and pearls filled with Italian organic ingredients that are treated like fine jewelry and encased in custom designed jewelry boxes. As the word got out about Grando Cioccolato's unparelled quality Nancy was commissioned to create 3D chocolates for Jon Landau who produced Avatar, chocolate violins for the L.A. Philharmonic Italian Gala, Taste of Italy that raises money for the Italian Museum in downtown L.A., the Cal Spirit Awards co-created by Barbara Lazaroff, Sherry Lansing and Wolfgang Puck, the Santa Barbara Wine Festival, Children's Hospital, The Wounded Warriors and The Film Musical Awards.

In 2020 as we are in the mist of a pandemic Grando Cioccolato has created a collection of chocolates that are infused with nutriceuticals to build our immune systems. Chocolate and Cacao which chocolate is created from has more antioxidants than any other food known to man. So, paired with nutriceuticals you can get an extra boost of healthy ingredients that not only taste delicous, but can boost your immune system.

Stefano and their son Mikele Grando have both been instrumental in the development of Grando Cioccolato. They are the official taste testers, collaborators, critics and helping hands throughout every aspect of the company. Grando, Inc. is inclusive of Grando Gioiello, Grando Cioccolato, Essential Hands Sanitizer and Grando Cioccoceuticals are labors of love and the recipe that brings family and friends together.

HISTORY OF COCOA

The use of the cacao tree was discovered 2,000 years ago in the rainforests of the Americas. The cacao tree has pods containing seeds which were processed into a paste by the Mesoamerican people. The paste was then brewed with water; which turned it into a cultural delicacy. Later, developed as a European sweet.A cacao pod (fruit) has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm thick (this varies with the origin and variety of pod). It is filled with sweet, mucilaginous pulp (called 'baba de cacao' in South America) enclosing 30 to 50 large seeds that are fairly soft and white to pale lavender in color. While seeds are usually white, they become violet or reddish brown during the drying process. The exception is rare varieties of white cacao, in which the seeds remain white that accounts for the criollo cacao beans that are predominantly white. Criollo Beans account for approximately 3% of all of the cacao beans cultivated on the planet. Whereas; trinatario beans, a hybrid of criollo beans make up approximately 10% of the cacao beans cultivated on the planet.

The cacao bean is the dried and fully fermented fatty seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cacao solids and cacao butter are extracted. This is the basis of chocolate.

The Italians were the first to create chocolate confections in Europe. The Italians soon became experts in food science related to chocolate and are responsible for cultivating the cacao finest beans through their hands-on partnership with local farmers of the cacao plantations in the Amazon.

Grando takes great pride in importing the finest chocolate liquor from Italy. Chocolate liquor consists of 100% ground cacao beans that when combined with other organic ingredients in Grando's commercial kitchen melt in your mouth with more antioxidants than any other food; which is why the word cacao originated from the words the "Food of the God's".

NANCY GRANDO, CIOCCOLATAIA

AWARDS

LOS ANGELES - 2019 BEST FOR HANDCRAFTED ITALIAN CHOCOLATES / FOOD & DRINK AWARDS HOSTED BY LUXE LIFE

SHERMAN OAKS- 2017 BEST IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY- 2016 BEST IN THE FOOD & BEVERAGE

CALIFORNIA- 2015 BEST BESPOKE CHOCOLATIER

Note: The Grando lion is the crest of Bassano Del Grappa, Italy where my passion for Italian chocolate began. This is the City

where my husband Stefano was born and where he introduced me to the finest chocolate that made me fall in love with Italian chocolate and him.