Chocolate and Sweets · Bentonville, Arkansas
Markham & Fitz
Bean-to-bar chocolate from Arkansas, made with traceable, farmer-focused cacao.
- Founded
- 2014
- Founded by
- Lauren Blanco, Preston Stewart
- Based in
- Bentonville, Arkansas
Making it since
2014
Their story
Markham & Fitz began in 2014 when Lauren Blanco and Preston Stewart, both University of Arkansas graduates, pooled their savings to buy their first chocolate-making equipment. Blanco had spent years in economic development work abroad, where she first visited a cacao farm. Stewart brought a chemistry background and took the lead on flavor.
The pair started in Fayetteville and later moved to the 8th Street Market in Bentonville, where visitors can watch beans become bars. Blanco now leads the company as CEO.
How it's made
The team makes chocolate from raw cacao beans in-house, roasting and refining it into high-percentage bars. Beans come from single-origin partners in places such as the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Haiti, groups that offer farmers training, steady markets and transparent pricing. Bars are finished with inclusions like black salt, lavender and pecans.
We want people to be able to experience everything that chocolate has to offer.
Why we carry them
We like that Markham & Fitz can tell you exactly where its cacao comes from, and the flavored bars are playful without hiding the bean.
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