Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Simons.
Hi Thomas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Lewis Pogue is the following of a personal passion that became a family creation in 2020. Though it took eighteen (18) months to begin selling our chocolate creations. Our story in a nutshell is this:
I first experienced a bean-to-bar chocolate bar in 2010 in a remote area of upstate New York and was blown away by the strength of the chocolate and the unique flavor of the bean’s flavor profile. It stuck with me long after he had finished a bite. I was fascinated and hooked. Over the following years, through my many businesses travels as a healthcare executive, I experience numerous other bean-to-bar creations. Then in 2015, I was still harboring dreams of developing a bean-to-bar chocolate company so I attended the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle, There I learned about equipment, process, packaging and how to ethically source the raw materials.
At that point, I was ready to go and excited to change professions, but life – meaning a new work opportunity and family slowed that idea down. Though like many others, the pandemic revitalized the thinking of change and in October 2020 Lewis Pogue Artisan Chocolate began its journey. I left my position as a CFO of a healthcare institution in Atlanta and committed to the dream full-time. With the assistance my daughters, my wife a brother and my sister-in-law we made the dream a reality.
Since then, we have been researching, roasting, tempering, tasting, crunching and ultimately perfecting twelve varieties of chocolate bars with unique flavor profiles from four countries that we are ecstatic to be sharing with the world. We began selling our bars at farmer’s markets around the Atlanta area in June 2022 and expanding rapidly.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like all journeys worth travel, there have been obstacles and challenges. The biggest is meeting the surprisingly overwhelming demand for our chocolate. Due to the demand and our effort to meet the interest, we had to resolve capital requirements, human resource needs and space to produce the chocolate. So far, we have been fortunate that our community has enjoyed our products and we are dealing with each challenge as quickly as possible.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Prior to Lewis Pogue Chocolate, I was a healthcare executive for 30 years with a personal interest and passion in cooking and the science of specialty culinary items such as coffee and chocolate. My oldest daughter who is heavily involved in the visual presentation and marketing of the company is currently a graduate student at the Maryland Institute College of Art. My wife, Lorraine who met the demands of raising our two daughters in the brain behind the selling strategies of our product.
As a family, we are very proud of the quality of our chocolate product and the visual repression and branding of the organization. What separates us apart from other bean-to-bar organizations starts with our branding and the belief that the true enjoyment of chocolate comes from the stimulation from all five senses. We accomplish this through first our packaging and branding through the elegant design of the bar. Then the touch of the chocolate has a smooth finish and when it is broken, you hear a pleasant snap. All signs of a quality tempering process. The breaking of the bar should release a pleasant smell of chocolate. We focus of using beans from one region in each of our bars so the consumer can experience the unique flavor profiles of each geographic region. We currently import beans from Belize, Bolivia, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Each giving a high-quality of taste for each chocolate lover we encounter.
What matters most to you? Why?
Producing the highest quality chocolate from ethically sourced raw materials while educating our customers on the chocolate processes.
Contact Info:
- Website: lewispogue.com
- Instagram: lewispogue_chocolate
- Facebook: /lewispoguechocolate
Image Credits
Portrait is of: Thomas Simons and Charlotte Simons
