NeoCocoa founder Christine Doerr’s love affair with chocolate began in the 1980’s. As a teenager, she worked at a Cocolat chocolate shop, part of a chain of stores founded by Alice Medrich who is credited with popularizing chocolate truffles in the SF Bay Area. Christine’s experience at Cocolat eventually inspired her to enroll at the California Culinary Academy and after graduation, go on to work as a pastry chef at various bakeries and restaurants throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2008, Christine founded NeoCocoa. With the help of La Cocina, a non-profit incubation program that helps female food entrepreneurs start and grow their business. In the years since founding NeoCocoa, Christine has garnered some serious accolades. In 2016 the Toffee Nib Brittle won a Good Food Award and in 2017 the Black Sesame Seed Brittle won a gold SOFI (Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation) from the Specialty Food Association. In 2020 the Black Sesame Seed Brittle won a Good Food Award. Christine continues to expand her product offering beyond her initial “Hearts of Chocolate” line of ganache truffles, creating a variety of other chocolate confections including barks, toffees, and chocolate covered marshmallows.