Elaine Read and Matt Weyandt
Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate | Atlanta
FEBRUARY 2018
Elaine Read and Matt Weyandt met in 2004 and knew they wanted to travel the world together. In time, they hunkered down, got married, and worked for mission-based causes—Read for the Peace Corps and Weyandt in Democratic politics—and started a family. Still, with big dreams to accomplish, they quit their jobs and whisked their two children off to the jungles of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.
Their new home was in a cacao forest, and they discovered bean-to-bar dark chocolate for the very first time. The couple met local chocolate makers and instantly fell in love with the intensity and character of their bars. Returning to Atlanta, Read and Weyandt trained with friends and local chocolate makers before debuting Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate in farmers markets. A retail and micro-factory followed in Krog Street Market, where their chocolate production perfumes the 30,000 square foot communal space. Xocolatl bars are made from ethically and sustainably sourced beans from the Americas and East Africa.
With production generating five to six tons of chocolate each year, Xocolatl is ripe for expansion. Read and Weyandt hope to open a larger facility and a cafe space that focuses on drinking chocolates, brownies, cookies, and truffles—all while continuing to make chocolates with the same sense of adventure from which Xocolatl was born.
