Meet Ella Schneider, the 22 year old founder behind Gansett Craft Chocolate.
What started as a hobby between a dad and daughter became an award-winning Rhode Island chocolate company. And it all happened before Ella even started college.
Gansett Craft Chocolate began in 2019 when Ella and her dad started experimenting with bean-to-bar chocolate at home. They weren't trying to start a business. They simply enjoyed doing it.
They ordered cacao beans from around the world and quickly discovered that, just like for wine or olive oil, cacao has different flavor profiles depending on where it comes from.
Then people started asking for more.
Friends, family, teachers, and members of the community loved what the father-daughter duo was making. As Ella remembered it, “The feedback we received from the community became our motivation.”
By 2021, they officially formed Gansett Craft Chocolate.
From a Kitchen to a Company
Here's what makes Ella's story especially unique: Gansett was already a growing business before she even stepped onto a college campus.
In June 2022, right after graduating high school and before starting college that fall, Ella and her dad officially began selling their chocolate. That summer, they started wholesaling and attending farmers' markets. Once Ella began college, she was balancing classes with a business that was already up and running. Five months after launching, Gansett won gold at the Northwest Chocolate Festival, tying with Goodnow Farms, a chocolate maker they already admired.
From there, the business continued to grow through farmers' markets, wholesale accounts, and a growing customer base. Eventually, they needed more space and opened their own storefront.
So, What's a Chocolate Maker?
So, what actually makes Gansett different from other chocolate companies? It starts with the cacao bean.
“We're chocolate makers, not chocolatiers,” Ella explained.
A chocolatier typically starts with chocolate that's already been made and turns it into something else, like bonbons or truffles. Meanwhile, a chocolate maker starts with the cacao bean.
Gansett controls the process from sourcing the beans to roasting them, developing the flavor, and creating the finished chocolate. Ella compares it to a sandwich shop versus a bread shop: one focuses on what goes into the sandwich, while the other focuses on making the bread itself.
That difference is a huge part of what Gansett wants customers to understand and what makes Gansett Craft Chocolate so special.
The company also puts thought into what goes into each finished product. Gansett's offerings account for dietary needs, including nut-free, gluten-free, and soy-free options, while sourcing ingredients locally whenever possible. It's another way the company stays connected to its Rhode Island roots.
“It's Just a Hobby.”
Being a young founder hasn't always meant being taken seriously.
Ella says some of the biggest moments of being underestimated happened during college. At one point, a professor referred to Gansett as a “hobby business” despite the company already having awards and retail accounts.
Her response? Keep building.
For Ella, the experience reinforced the importance of believing in what you're creating, even when other people don't see the full picture yet.
“If you believe in what you're doing, you can't let someone else's opinion knock you down,” she told Zmanti.
And outside of college, she found the opposite. Farmers' markets and local customers became some of Gansett's biggest supporters.
Building Gansett With Dad
Gansett is still a family business, but Ella and her dad eventually learned that working together also meant knowing when to divide and conquer.
Ella became the primary chocolate maker while her dad continued helping with areas like roasting and the bigger-picture side of the business.
They've also learned from each other.
Her dad taught Ella to pay attention to the details. Ella taught him that sometimes it's okay to make mistakes, find a creative solution, and move on.
Today, Gansett has employees, a storefront, and enough demand that the company has even had to turn down some wholesale opportunities.
The Moment It Really Hit Her
There have been plenty of milestones, but one of Ella's biggest “we made it” moments came last December.
The line at the Gansett storefront first opening stretched down toward the neighboring building. Her parents came in to help, and Saturday after Saturday, sales hit new records.
People weren't just stopping by. They were coming specifically for Gansett.
For Ella, that was the moment she really saw how much the business had grown.
Living Without Limits
For Ella, Zmanti's “Live Without Limits” mindset is pretty simple: don't decide you can't do something before you try.
“I've never really thought of myself as being limited,” she said.
Her goal isn't necessarily to have Gansett stores everywhere. Instead, she envisions one big store and factory in Rhode Island, with Gansett chocolate eventually making its way across the country.
It's a big goal. And that's the point.
Today, it's a growing Rhode Island business with a storefront, employees, award-winning chocolate, and a founder who started building it before she even started college.
What's Next?
Gansett's upcoming seasonal favorites have us excited for the holiday season, including peppermint chocolate bars, hot chocolates, homemade peppermint patties, holiday truffles, and expanded boxed chocolates.
We even had the chance to try their seasonal milk chocolate pumpkin spice bar, and it was phenomenal.
The company is also continuing to invest in new equipment and better production methods, allowing Ella to make more chocolate while spending less time on tedious processes.
And if Ella's story tells us anything, it's that Gansett isn't finished growing.
Go Meet Ella
Gansett isn't just a place to grab a chocolate bar. It's a place to learn about bean-to-bar chocolate, try something fresh, discover seasonal offerings, and meet the person behind the brand.
So next time you're in Rhode Island, stop by, say hi to Ella, and taste what started as a hobby and became something much bigger.
Live without limits.
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