Meet Alex Olmos Axelson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Olmos Axelson.

Alex, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Starting at 16, I went through pastry school, realizing my passion was chocolate. I landed an incredible stage opportunity with one of the most notable chocolatiers in the world, Oriol Balaguer in Barcelona, where I am from. After working there for six years, I finally got the chance to go to Los Angeles to live out the American dream. Living in LA, and getting the amazing opportunity to work along side some of the most recognizable chefs in the city, and the inspiration of their journeys, made me realize that I had the knowledge and passion for starting my dream. After leaving LA and coming to Phoenix, in 2019, I started Noi Cacao. The brand is inspired by Catalan architecture, Phoenix ingredients, and the monumental knowledge I’ve absorbed from my mentors.

When I started, I created a line of about four different chocolate items and brought them to different local coffee shops & stores to see if they would be interested in carrying them to sell, that’s how it all started. Costumers enjoyed the products and they’ve been following the brand since then. Currently, the product line consists of about seven items and we are constantly testing and creating new flavors. Our products can be found at eight different places around the valley.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve got a lot of support from local businesses and local chefs from the beginning of this adventure, so that helped me grow. Starting a company from the ground up has been challenging for me because it is a new concept and understanding the business side of it is unknown to me. The biggest struggle has been going through the summer months in Arizona, chocolate is super delicate with heat and it’s always hard when the temperature outside is around 115º F, so that’s pretty challenging Jaja.

Please tell us about your business.
Noi Cacao is a high-end chocolate brand where we strive to try to use local ingredients, like oranges, lemons, dates, pecans, chiles and even sea salt. There is a common misconception that we are chocolate makers. We are chocolatiers, we work with chocolate, crafting and creating anything using chocolate, not making it. Chocolate makers source the cocoa beans, and after using specific equipment and a long process, they finally get the chocolate.

In our product line, we have chocolate bars and chocolate-coated nuts. Our dark chocolate salted toffee and roasted pistachio bar is definitely what we are known for, as well as our newest product and customer favorite, our dark and white chocolate caramel malt balls. We hear our product is highly addictive. Our unique, but the everyday combination of flavors set us apart from other brands like our dark chocolate coated salted corn nuts. Customers have been pleasantly surprised and enjoy how different they are and have become one of the most recognized products of our chocolate line. One of the things that I’m most proud of as a company is being able to use local ingredients as much as we can and bring inspiration from Barcelona, if you see our labels in the bars, the design are tiles that you can find around the city.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite memories from when I was a kid is baking with my grandma, helping her to make madeleines, and helping my mom baking olive oil cake, I would love to lick the wooden spoon with the batter on it, I still remember, I think that’s one of my first memories in the kitchen.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 818 355 1367
• Email: info@noicacao.com
• Instagram: @noicacao
• Facebook: Noi Cacao

Image Credit:
-Gabe Williams (@shinyuu)
-Sid Pearce / Hold Your Fork (@sid.pearce/@holdyourfork)

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