Meet Kiki
When Kirsten “Kiki” Ritschel moved from Hamburg to the US, she found herself disappointed in the quality of available chocolates — and hell hath no fury like a German denied good chocolate. So she decided to do it herself, combining culinary acumen with graphic design chops to create her own confectionery for carefully crafted chocolates.
Chocolate should live beyond the kitchen. From our partnerships with small growers and makers throughout the world to collaborations with artists and illustrators, we’re always looking for new ways to grow the chocolate-making community.
Gregory Schram
A writer and creative director who’s been working for chocolate for four years now.
Behind the scenes at Kiki’s Cocoa, he helps bring the brand to life and keep the collections creative.
Simona Bunardzhieva
Simona Bunardzhieva is a Graphic Artist & Illustrator, Maker, Speaker and Educator.
Lucky for us Simona created a stunning line of packaging for Kiki’s Cocoa’s chocolate boxes. It earned her a recognition at Packaging of the World.
She has been our champion for a few years now.
FRONT
A humble cafe with coffee worth bragging about. FRONT maintains all the care of boutique coffee, without the pretension. You’ll find some of their flavors in our chocolates — and if you visit FRONT yourself, Kiki’s Cocoa bites might be there for the perfect coffee + chocolate pairing.
Conexión Chocolate
Jenny Samaniego founded Conexión Chocolate after 10 years in the industry. Seeking to create high-end virgin (minimally processed) and couverture chocolate, she turned to her home country, Ecuador, birthplace of Arriba Nacional heirloom cacao.
Pipevine Chocolate
Chocolate maker Rusty Bogart founded PipeVine Chocolates in 2016, combining his knowledge of craft chocolates with his experience as a scientist.
We couldn’t feel luckier to be using his incredible flavors to create our single-origin ganaches!
Dandelion Chocolate
A small-batch bean-to-bar craft chocolate maker offering not only the best dark chocolate but also experiences to bring you global adventure for those interested in learning (or nerding out about) the cocoa supply chain and logistics. We joined on a trip to Tanzania where we learned about Kokoa Kamili and the farmers they buy cacao from.