When Ritual Chocolate co-founder Anna Seear and her partner began making chocolate in Colorado in 2010, they knew they wanted a name with depth—something that carried warmth, intention, and meaning.
“We went through thousands of names,” Anna recalls. “We thought about using our surnames to give it a nostalgic, family feel, then we tried punchier, modern names, but nothing clicked.”
They kept coming back to “Ritual.”
The world felt ground and right for their specific idea of chocolate making: rooted in tradition, crafted with care, and meant to be enjoyed by people from all walks of life.
That authenticity has guided Ritual from the beginning. For Anna, the mission has always been about more than chocolate—it’s about restoring reverence for a food that has been misunderstood and commodified over centuries.
Where It All Began: The Ancient Inspiration
Long before chocolate became a sweet treat, cacao was considered sacred. The Aztecs, Mayans, and Olmecs used it not just for nourishment, but for also for ceremony, connection, and even currency.
Chiefs would drink cacao before battle as a source of life energy. It was served in marriage ceremonies and offered to deities. To these ancient cultures, cacao wasn’t simply food, it was a symbol of vitality.
“That was at the heart of why we chose the name,” Anna explains. “Chocolate has this rich cultural history, and cacao was considered a very special, honored seed. That really hit home for us.”
That same sense of respect shapes how she and the Ritual team source and craft each bar today. They think of chocolate as a fruit and an agricultural product. “It’s not just candy,” she says. “It’s a reflection of the land and the people who grow it. We want to bring that awareness back.”
Rituals of Everyday Life
Beyond the cultural meaning, Ritual also honors the grounding moments in everyday life.
“For me, a ritual is a habit with intention,” Anna says. “We all have small moments that bring us joy—sharing a piece of chocolate with your kids, having a square after lunch before diving into a heavy workload. Those are little acts of self-care. Giving yourself that small bit of joy each day seems so simple, but I think there’s something powerful about giving yourself that little piece of joy or reward each day.”
The act of tasting chocolate can become its own ritual: slowing down, letting it melt, engaging every sense. “Chocolate has an incredible complexity, and when you slow down, you can really experience it,” she says.
How to Taste Chocolate the Ritual Way
At Ritual’s factory in Heber City, Utah, Anna and her team help people rediscover chocolate as a sensory experience rather than a quick indulgence. Like wine or coffee, guided tastings can feel intimidating, but Ritual makes it approachable. “It’s about focusing on the flavors that come up for you,” Anna says.
Here’s how a Ritual tasting works:
• Look at the chocolate—notice the color and shine.
• Listen to the clean snap when you break it; that crisp sound reveals much about the cocoa butter content and how the bar was tempered.
• Smell by rubbing it lightly between your fingers to release its aroma.
• Taste by letting it slowly melt on your tongue, allowing the flavors to evolve.
“The mark of a good chocolate is in those little bursts of flavor,” Anna says. “It’s OK if you think you’re tasting nuts but you’re not sure which kind. Tasting is just learning to connect flavors with memories. It’s meant to be fun, and we want people to have fun with it.”
Anna loves surprising guests with how complex dark chocolate can be compared to the flat, cardboard-like versions many people grew up with. With high-quality cacao, you’ll discover layers of fruitiness, nuttiness, and earthiness that evolve as it melts.
The easiest way to notice the difference, especially with single-origin bars, is to taste them side by side—such as Ecuador versus Madagascar. Ritual’s tasting wheel helps guests explore that vast flavor spectrum, from the bright fruit notes of Madagascar beans to the deep, nutty richness of Ecuador.
Evolving with Intention
Fifteen years in, Anna continues to evolve the brand by exploring new flavors and ideas while staying true to Ritual’s founding philosophy.
“We were such purists in the beginning: dark, single origin only,” she says. But she feels like there is plenty of opportunity to bring in more playfulness and joy. “You can stick to your values around sourcing and quality but add a bit of fun to it.”
That philosophy inspired the Mountain Line, infused with ingredients from Utah, like organic high-altitude tart cherries and raw, unfiltered honey. And most recently, it’s guided a new chapter: a responsibly sourced milk chocolate made with regenerative, grass-fed dairy from California.
“It might seem like a departure, but it’s really a continuation,” Anna says. “Sourcing is so important to us, and every ingredient still has to feel right—ethically, environmentally, and emotionally.”
At its core, Ritual has always been about intention and honoring where things come from and how they make people feel. As Anna explains, “When we had this idea for chocolate making—sourcing good beans and doing this old, beautiful process—everything we tied into the brand, we wanted it to have that genuine feel, because that’s what we’re trying to share with people.”
