Bean to Business

We started a chocolate factory with zero experience in chocolate.

Bean to Business is a weekly show from the team at Hill Country Chocolate in Fredericksburg, Texas. We make bean-to-bar chocolate—starting with raw cacao beans and turning them into finished bars right here in our production facility.

Every week, we pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to run a small manufacturing business. The wins. The mistakes. The stuff nobody warns you about.

We talk about sourcing ingredients from around the world, working with Italian production equipment, building a brand in a tourist town, and figuring it out as we go. Sometimes we bring in guests. Sometimes we just answer your questions.

If you're running a small business, thinking about starting one, or just curious what happens inside a craft food operation, this show is for you.

New episodes drop weekly.

Host

Melanie Bopp

Melanie Bopp is the COCO or "Chief of Chocolate Operations" at Hill Country Chocolate and the other half of the Bean to Business conversation. Before joining the chocolate business full-time, she ran a demanding bakery operation—working shifts that stretched from early morning to midnight. She describes her transition to bean-to-bar chocolate as moving to "the dermatology of the culinary world."

Melanie brings hands-on production expertise and a deep understanding of what it takes to build a food business from the ground up. Her experience in high-pressure kitchen environments gives her a practical perspective on operations, quality control, and the daily grind of manufacturing artisanal products.

On the show, Melanie shares the unfiltered reality of leaving one demanding business for another—the tradeoffs, the surprises, and the lessons learned along the way.