TCHO Chocolate: Factory Tour + Tasting (1:15pm to 3:00pm)

THE WAIT IS OVER…OUR TOURS ARE BACK TEMPORARILY (AGAIN)!! Take our guided tour and get a behind the scenes look at how our award-winning chocolate is made from raw ingredients to finished products. You’ll learn loads about our chocolate-making process, our responsible sourcing methods, our unique production facility, and our bean-to-bar flavor laboratory. All tours are guided and will operate whether or not we are producing chocolate during the tour. Chocolate is produced daily; however, the schedule can change without advanced notice. Your guide will still talk you through the machinery, processes, and make sure there is plenty of chocolate to eat! After the tour, you’ll get to nosh on some of our single-origin dark CHOCOLATES, pure milk CHOCOLATES, and a featured Flavor of the Day in a guided TASTING. At the end of the TASTING, the TCHO retail store will be open for business. The tour ticket includes $10 off an in-store purchase, which is redeemable once the ticket holder checks in for the tour. _ TOURS ARE BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. OUR FACTORY AND STORE ARE NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC OUTSIDE OF SCHEDULED TOURS._ ------------------------- Please note, that we _DO NOT accept cash or check_ in our retail store.  Credit cards, debit cards, and Apple Pay will be accepted. TOUR LENGTH: Total of about 1 hour and 45 minutes. * 10-15 minutes to get checked in and ready for your tour * 45 minutes hour for the presentation and factory tour * 20 minutes for the chocolate tasting * 25 minutes to peruse the store GETTING HERE! * The tour starts at 1:30pm._ __ __PLEASE ARRIVE BETWEEN 1:15PM AND 1:30PM._ _ __If you arrive early, please patiently wait until 1:15pm to ring the doorbell while we set up. _ * From San Pablo Ave., head west onto Folger Ave. and look for a glass door with “3100” on the wall above and “TCHO” on the glass door.  There will be a doorbell on the left side of the glass door.  Please, ring the doorbell and wait here until your tour guide comes to greet you. * Finding our front door can be tricky, please review our map in the Parking section below ahead of time! _NOTE:  IF YOU ARRIVE LATER THAN 1:30PM, YOU WILL NEED TO RESCHEDULE YOUR TOUR BY EMAILING TOURS@TCHO.COM AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RECEIVE A REFUND FOR THE MISSED TOUR.  UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE LIMITED STAFF AND ONCE THE TOUR OFFICIALLY STARTS, WE CANNOT STOP THE TOUR TO LET LATECOMERS INSIDE._ Directions: * Driving: Take I-80 towards BERKELEY.  Exit at Ashby Ave/CA-13 exit. Turn right onto San Pablo Ave. Turn right onto Folger Ave. Entrance to the TCHO FACTORY WILL BE ON YOUR LEFT. Look for a glass door with “3100” on the wall above and “TCHO” on the glass door.  There will be a doorbell on the left side of the glass door.  Please, ring the doorbell and wait here until your tour guide comes to greet you. * BART: * Take BART to the MacArthur stop and hop on the Emery-Go-Round [https://www.emerygoround.com/standard-service.html], a free shuttle service. Get off at the BERKELEY Bowl stop and walk south down Ninth St. towards Ashby. Turn left onto Ashby, then right onto San Pablo and right onto Folger Ave. Entrance to the TCHO FACTORY WILL BE ON YOUR LEFT. Look for a glass door with “3100” on the wall above and “TCHO” on the glass. There will be a doorbell on the left side of the glass door.  Please, ring the doorbell and wait here until your tour guide comes to greet you. * OR! Take BART to the Ashby stop off of the Richmond-Daly City/Millbrae (Red) Line. Walk or Uber to the factory! Parking: * There is 2 hour street parking around the FACTORY (shown in pink in the parking map below). * There is also a parking garage on the roof of our factory.  Garage entrance is on 67th St. across from the McDonald's entrance and says "Rooftop Parking" overhead.  The cost is $3 per hour for rooftop parking.  * SEE THE MAP BELOW FOR DIRECTIONS TO GET FROM THE PARKING TO THE TOUR ENTRANCE.  IF PARKING ON THE ROOF, START AT STEP 1.  IF USING STREET PARKING OR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, START AT STEP 3. RULES & REQUIREMENTS Our factory follows strict FDA [https://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm] requirements and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to ensure the safety of our products, employees, and tour attendees.  Please keep in mind these requirements for your visit to the TCHO Factory. * No animals, including service animals are allowed in the factory in accordance with FSMA [https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/default.htm]. * _FOOD, DRINKS, GUM AND GLASS CONTAINERS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE FACTORY._ Attire Requirements: * No jewelry, purses, personal items, etc. will be allowed onto the production floor (this includes facial piercings and fake nails). * We will have lockers where personal items can be locked up during the tour. * Wedding bands and nail polish can be worn as long as covered by gloves (we will provide). * No open-toed shoes or heels (including heeled boots) will be allowed on the production floor. * Any open wounds must be covered. * All attendees must wear full-length pants or leggings.  Shorts, capris, skirts, dresses, and/or ankle pants will not be allowed on the production floor. * Please, wear minimal makeup (no fake eyelashes) and do not wear any perfumes or colognes. * All attendees will need to wear hair nets.  If needed, please bring hair ties to ensure all hair can easily stay inside hairnet. Allergens: * We process and package almonds, coconuts, hazelnuts, milk, and soy products in our factory. * _WE ARE A PEANUT FREE FACILITY._ Age Requirements: * You must be 8 years or older to enter our FACTORY.  Photography: * Photography is not permitted in the factory itself, but is encouraged throughout the presentation, tasting, and store purchasing segments. * Filming is prohibited during the presentation.   _*TCHO reserves the right to refuse the entry to any guest._