n 122 22 46 w 37.597452 n 122.379557 w 37.597452 ; 122.379557 guittard chocolate company type family business founded 1868 1868 founder tienne guittard headquarters burlingame california usa key people gary guittard president and ceo since 1989 products couverture chocolate confectionery number of employees 240 1 website www.guittard.com the guittard chocolate company is an american based chocolate maker which produces couverture chocolate using original formulas and traditional french methods . the company is headquartered in burlingame california . it is the oldest continuously family owned chocolate company in the united states 2 family owned for more than four generations . contents 1 history 2 products 3 references 4 external links history edit the company was started by tienne guittard 1838 1899 3 who emigrated from lyon france in the 1850s during the california gold rush . 2 he brought french chocolates with him which he traded for supplies . 4 after trying without success for three years to strike gold in the sierra he returned to san francisco where shopkeepers with whom he had earlier traded his chocolate convinced him to become a chocolate maker ; he returned to paris saved money to buy the equipment he needed then returned to san francisco 4 and opened for business at 405 sansome street 2 on the san francisco waterfront . initially he didn t limit himself to chocolate also selling tea coffee spices yeast powder and flavorings . 4 horace c. guittard tienne s son was in charge when the 1906 san francisco earthquake destroyed the city . in the aftermath of the quake a new plant was built on commercial street . 4 the company expanded in 1921 and 1936 onto property on main street south of market . 4 in 1954 guittard sold its property to the city so that embarcadero freeway could be built . 4 the company relocated to a 75 000 square foot 7 000 m2 facility at the corner of guittard and rollins road in burlingame california where it remains to this day . 5 gary guittard began working full time at the company in 1975 ; he took over for horace a. guittard his father in 1989 becoming president and ceo . 2 pieces of guittard bittersweet chocolate . products edit the company produces cocoa chocolate syrup milk chocolate balls and eggs baking chips as well as mints and mint wafers . 1 it sells to pastry chefs consumers and wholesale customers like see s candies kellogg s and baskin robbins recchiuti confections and garrison confections . citation needed guittard is also the exclusive chocolate supplier to williams sonoma . 2 the e. guittard collection vintage product line contains blends and single bean varietal chocolates including the quevedo a varietal couverture chocolate from ecuador the chucuri from northwest colombia the sur del lago couverture chocolate from western venezuela and the ambanja from madagascar . citation needed references edit a b guittard chocolate company . hoover s. retrieved 2012 02 24 . a b c d e julian guthrie november 6 2011 . guittard chocolate co. s quest for perfect candy . san francisco chronicle . retrieved 2012 02 24 . www.findagrave.com a b c d e f elaine larsen february 11 2000 . a chip off the old block . the san francisco examiner . sfgate.com . retrieved 2012 02 24 . peggy knickerbocker january 21 2005 . old line chocolate maker still keeps eye on competition . san francisco chronicle . retrieved 2012 02 24 . external links edit san francisco bay area portal official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title guittard chocolate company & oldid 742537041 categories chocolate companiesconfectionery companies of the united statescompanies based in burlingame californiafood and drink in the san francisco bay areacompanies established in 18681868 establishments in californiacompanies based in san mateo county californiafood and drink companies established in 1868hidden categories coordinates not on wikidataall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from february 2012 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 4 october 2016 at 08 24 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view