Markham & Fitz
Two University of Arkansas alumni, Lauren Blanco and Preston Stewart pulled together their savings in 2014 to buy their first pieces of chocolate making equipment. Lauren, with a background in cultural anthropology and French was driven to make a positive difference in the cacao supply chain, she leads the company's strategy, creative direction, and product development. Preston's background in chemistry and a passion for food science led him to the technical and scientific approach to chocolate making and he dove headfirst into flavor creation and machine tinkering to figure out the process of making chocolate from scratch. Markham & Fitz now distributes chocolate to 39 states, 6 countries, and was featured in 100 Anthropologie stores around the United States in Spring of 2020.
