Tomric introduces Bean-to-Bar equipment for US small batch chocolatiers

Over the years, Tomric has expanded its chocolate product offerings to include plastic packaging insert trays and hi-tech confectionery equipment. About 12 years ago, it also partnered with Selmi Chocolate Machinery, and became the Italian equipment company’s exclusive North America distributor.

Selmi mainly manufactures automatic tempering systems, as well as cooling tunnels and depositing systems, Tomric’s president, Thomas Elsinghorst, said. The Bean-to-Bar equipment is Selmi’s latest offering.

Helping small-to-mid-sized confectioners create bean-to-bar chocolate​

Tomric has previously worked with several bean-to-bar manufacturers in the US to provide them with processing equipment. For example, Brooklyn-based Mast Brothers purchased the company’s bar molding line, and Dandelion Chocolate is using Selmi’s tempering units.

Elsinghorst added that, as bean-to-bar is becoming a popular trend in the chocolate market, most clients Tomric currently works with are still on the small-to-mid-sized range.

The Selmi Bean-to-Bar line contains six individual machines that help produce chocolate from raw cocoa beans, including the Roaster Centosei, Winnower, Grinder, Micron, Vibro, and TopEX.

In the basic configuration, the whole line can produce up to 130 to 175 pounds of chocolate per day. The equipment can also be configured to process larger quantities, according to Tomric.

A finished bean-to-bar chocolate can be produced within four to five hours using Selmi’s equipment, Elsinghorst added. “But the production volume really depends on the individual purchases of the equipment… 60 kg a day (130 pounds) is certainly adequate for small to mid-sized producers.”​

More common to sell individual items​

Elsinghorst said Tomric has the most success of selling the individual items instead of the entire Selmi’s Bean-to-Bar line.

“We certainly have sold the entire system to people that want to have a one-time solution, but there are many others who are already down the path, and they are looking to solve particular problems,”​ he said.

“There are other ways to configure the equipment with other options in order to increase the throughput,”​ he said.

“The price also depends on the size of the production units. It’s somewhere between $85,000 to $95,000 to get a complete [Bean-to-Bar] system.”​