The early history of three-year-old Dagoba can be neatly summed up by the following phrase, “Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.”

Founder Frederick Schilling - who says that as a child he was not interested in sweets - did not develop a taste for chocolate until well after he dropped out of Ohio Wesleyan University where he was working on a minor in classical composition and a major in religion. His travels took him to Telluride, Colorado where he became a self-described professional ski-bum and wannabe rock musician. After moving to Boulder, CO to pursue a career as a songwriter, Frederick found himself writing songs during the day and supporting himself by working as a sous chef and running a catering company in the evenings.

It was during this period that Frederick was exposed to high-end, high cocoa-content European chocolate and had his own epiphany. After deciding that he wanted to go into the chocolate business, Frederick spent a year doing research and concluded that organic chocolate was what he wanted to focus on. At the time (2000) interest in fair trade and labor issues with respect to chocolate was just coming into focus, and Frederick saw an opening in the market left by established players including Green & Black’s and Rapunzel. In the tradition of many great food startups, Frederick started experimenting in his kitchen, enlisting the taste buds of friends.

Frederick in Costa Rica sampling fresh beans straight from the pod. Fresh beans are not eaten, they are too bitter, but the pulp is very refreshing.

In June 2001, Frederick - without any expectations or really any clue as to how to go about making his chocolates on a commercial scale and armed with a new name, Dagoba - attended the Fancy Food Show in New York to “test the waters.” Interest was there but initial sales were regional and the company swelled to three employees, one of whom was Frederick’s father. Then, in November, a national magazine named Dagoba “Best Organic Chocolate in America” and business started to take off. With coverage in major news outlets, business continued to grow very rapidly and the major challenges facing the business were managing explosive growth while continuing to produce high quality products, develop new flavors and products, and expand distribution.

To help make the pace of business more bearable, Frederick packed up Dagoba and moved to Central Point, Oregon located in the Rogue River Valley near Medford, about halfway between Portland and San Francisco. Although it sounds remote, the valley is home to several well-known companies, including Harry & David, Endangered Species Chocolate Company, as well as Lillie Belle Farms, profiled elsewhere on this site.

For Frederick, quality is ultimately more important than either organic or Fair Trade certification because, as he says, “If the chocolate does not taste good it doesn’t help anybody.” Believing that “Quality is how you elevate the industry at large,” Frederick describes Dagoba as, “... a premium chocolate company that happens to use organic cacao” but stresses the importance of the company’s commitment to the underlying social issues, of treating people with respect and the organic philosophy.

Dagoba currently outsources much of its production, working with grinders in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Holland; however Frederick exercises a great deal of control over bean selection, roasting, and blending.

In Costa Rica, Dagoba founder Frederick Schilling (right), standing in front of a tendal (a drying pad) showing off some beans.

Although beans come from all over the New World, it is the chocolate liquor that is shipped to the US for final production and packaging. Over the next two years, now that the company is firmly established, the goal is to bring more and more aspects of production in-house. With some fifteen flavors of milk and dark chocolate bars, plus products for professional applications and the home baker, the company has come a long way in a short period of time.

Dagoba, pronounced duh - go - buh (not day - go - buh, which is the home of Yoda as any Star Wars aficionado can tell you) is Sanskrit in origin and refers to a small shrine containing relics of the Buddha. A dagoba is a place of contemplation, not a temple one walks around in; a place where people go to meditate and reflect; a point of stillness. Frederick believes that this is what great chocolate means to many people and points out the connection with the Latin name given to cacao by Linnaeus — the food of the gods.

Dagoba products are available through many health food stores nationwide as well as online (the list of locations is no longer posted on their recently redesigned web site). They are also available through The Chocolate Co-Op.