Karuna Chocolate
South Tyrol, Italy
Armin Untersteiner and his wife Katya Waldboth live in South Tyrol a German-speaking region in Northern Italy. When they founded Karuna Chocolate in 2018 they were the first in the region to produce organic bean-to-bar chocolate.
In 2014 Katya was given the opportunity to work in India. While living in South India, they were introduced to cocoa farming. When they returned home, they discovered that no one was producing organic bean-to-bar chocolate. They decided to turn their new-found passion into a profession, and it became a family project. The beautiful botanical designed packaging is a freehand drawing that resembles cocoa fruits and leaves created by Armin's younger brother. Their story is a familiar one to so many craft chocolate makers. Most start with passion for fine food, discover the world of chocolate, start experimenting with making chocolate and fall in love it
Italian Chocolate Maker
Karuna takes great care using ethically grown, organic fine cocoa beans from Latin America, Asia and Africa. They use fair trade organic raw cane sugar from Brazil and organic cocoa butter pressed from the finest cacaos, Arriba Nacional from Ecuador, and Nacional from Peru. For their white “chocolate” vegan bars they use de-oiled almond flour from organically grown Italian almonds creating a creamy, rich flavor of reminiscent of white chocolate. Armin and Katya’s passion for the cacao farmers and the environment shines through from the ingredients to packaging.
“We are excited to join this endeavor because it means being able to access the American market in collaboration with true fine chocolate ambassadors: Ella and Bob. For small scale makers it`s important to know who curates, sells and resells their valuable products. We are super happy to finally have found a partner, Chocolate Squirrel, who shares the same values and is as passionate about craft chocolate as we are!”
—Armin Untersteiner