Apprentice Chocolate Maker

About Us

Dandelion Chocolate is a bean-to-bar chocolate factory located in San Francisco's Mission District. We craft chocolate using only two ingredients: cocoa beans and cane sugar. We regularly visit cocoa origins to build respectful and trustworthy relationships with the producers from whom we purchase our beans. Our mission is to source excellent cocoa and create outstanding single origin chocolate.

About the Role

As an Apprentice Chocolate Maker, you will join our production team to help scale manufacturing and produce premium single origin chocolate. You don't need prior expertise in chocolate-making; we provide comprehensive training and hands-on shadowing. You will engage in roasting, cracking, sorting, winnowing cocoa beans, tempering, molding, wrapping, and labeling the chocolate bars. This role requires physical effort and dedication to quality craftsmanship.

You should feel comfortable operating machinery and adaptable to evolving production processes. While you will collaborate closely with our chocolate makers, independent work is essential. Experience in food and beverage, culinary, or manufacturing environments is preferred as it aids in handling the role’s pace and physical demands.

This position is full-time onsite at our large factory on 16th Street in San Francisco. The starting wage is $26.25 per hour with an increase post-training. A positive attitude, eagerness to learn, and willingness to perform hands-on work are critical to succeed here.

Key Responsibilities

• Learn and execute all chocolate production stages: sorting cocoa beans, roasting, winnowing, initiating batches, refining and conching, tempering, grinding, foiling, wrapping, and labeling bars.
• Contribute to daily targets, including sorting 550 kg of beans, roasting 8-10 batches per day, tempering 7,000 bars daily, and maintaining 13+ conching sessions weekly.
• Be able to describe all process stations through factory tours guided by senior chocolate makers.
• Participate in research and development as well as quality evaluations through tasting, identifying flavor nuances, and distinguishing the origin of at least seven chocolate bars.
• Engage actively in continuing education classes focused on chocolate knowledge.
• Maintain production facility cleanliness and machinery, assist in washing molds, floors, bins, and using cleaning equipment.
• Operate machinery safely following standard operating procedures and maintain production order.
• Collaborate with team members to meet production goals, maintaining a constructive and reliable work ethic.
• Serve as a welcoming presence to guests and filming crews visiting the factory while ensuring safety awareness.
• Demonstrate curiosity, ask insightful questions, assist with various tasks, and see projects through completion.

Requirements

• Availability to work weekends from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM on at least one weekend day (Saturday or Sunday).
• Maintain a positive attitude even amidst machine downtime or shifting priorities.
• Preferred prior experience in commercial kitchens, production facilities, or food manufacturing environments, especially in team settings.
• Comfortable performing repetitive tasks and able to efficiently execute both fine and gross motor skills.
• Physical capability to stand, bend, squat most of the day, and occasionally lift up to 50 pounds.

Benefits & Perks

Beyond thorough chocolate education, our company invests heavily in employee well-being and culture. All team members receive substantially subsidized medical, vision, and dental insurance. There is also an option to join our 401(k) retirement plan. Employees benefit from paid vacation, holiday pay, sick leave, commuter benefits, flexible spending accounts (FSAs), chocolate tastings, and numerous opportunities for career growth within Dandelion Chocolate.

Additional Information

We are seeking individuals who demonstrate ownership, passion, and enthusiasm to grow alongside our team. Applicants are encouraged to submit a resume along with a cover letter describing a meaningful food experience or personal culinary influence that motivates them to join our production team.