Mindo Chocolate Makers Spotlight: Dexter, Michigan

Most chocolate starts somewhere tropical and ends up in a factory. Mindo Chocolate Makers in Dexter, Michigan starts in Ecuador and ends up in a small production facility where every step between the cacao bean and the finished bar is done by hand, with attention to the flavor that the bean already contains.

Located on N Fletcher Rd in Dexter, Mindo takes the bean-to-bar approach in the most literal sense possible. The cacao is sourced directly from farms in the Mindo cloud forest region of Ecuador, fermented and dried at origin, then roasted, cracked, winnowed, ground, and tempered in Michigan to produce chocolate that reflects the specific character of where it was grown. The terroir of the cacao comes through in the finished bar in a way that commodity chocolate never achieves.

The product lineup covers single-origin dark chocolates alongside bars with inclusions, drinking chocolate mixes, and confections that showcase what good chocolate can do in different forms. The tasting room gives visitors the chance to sample and to understand the differences between cacao origins and roast approaches, turning a visit into an education as much as a purchase.

Dexter is a small city west of Ann Arbor with a genuinely pleasant downtown and a growing food and drink scene. Mindo is a significant part of what makes Dexter worth seeking out specifically rather than just passing through on the way to somewhere else.

Visit at mindochocolate.com in Dexter.

Michigan Small Business Spotlight is proud to feature Mindo Chocolate Makers as one of Southeast Michigan’s most artisan and globally connected small businesses.