Carly Romeo had always been really into chocolate, but it wasn’t until a visit to a chocolate shop with a friend that she realized her interest had grown beyond that of a casual hobbyist.
“I started telling her things about chocolate origins and darkness percentages,” Romeo says, “and she called me a total nerd.”
After that, she did hours of research—learning about the cacao-to-chocolate process and supply chains—with the hope of eventually making chocolate from cacao grown by women. Soon she was introduced to Trinidad-based botanist Sarah Bharath, who encouraged Romeo to travel to Trinidad, meet and learn from her, and, eventually, start Not Your Sweetie.
Today, she uses beans from Trinidad and Tanzania, and has teamed up with Patricia Ross of Splendora’s to make the artisan bars in flavors like Not Wasting My Thyme (dark chocolate with a dusting of za’atar spice) or Not Afraid to (C)rye (dark milk chocolate with caraway seeds).
With her new venture (Romeo is also a Richmond-based photographer and project manager at Soapbox, Inc.), she hopes to
bring more awareness and appreciation for the craft of chocolate-making, amplify women’s voices across the supply chain, and create
more work for local women as the team grows. “And, of course,” she says, “make delicious chocolate.”
