From bean to bar, there can be no rushing the in-between at Hidalgo’s Mozna Chocolate factory.

Rosario Matulewicz and her team work meticulously at their craft in what was once a meat market. Today, large sacks of cacao beans from around the world stand near a grinder that whirls around the clock. It’s a days-long process. The beans will soon form into a thick batter-like substance to temper and mold for the products of Mozna Chocolate to take shape into packaged goods.

There will be chocolates wrapped in silver and made into hearts and lollipops. Long before customers take view of those sweet images, there are raw beans to sort, roast and then winnow in getting the edible seeds to the grinder. The three-day process of constant motion is always under the watchful eyes of the chocolatiers.

“You can’t hurry it,” Matulewicz said of the eight-step process utilized at Mozna’s factory. “You have to be patient.”

The end products of a process that stretches from days to weeks come in a variety of stylishly wrapped bars featuring chocolates from Venezuela to Vietnam to India. The attention to details results in a job well done.

“When you make anything from hand, you’re proud of what you do,” said Danny Williams, a chocolatier at Mozna’s.

Yes They Can

The company’s namesake is a word that means “you can” in Polish. 

It’s a connection to the family heritage of Rosario’s husband, Anthony, the son of a Polish man. Anthony’s growing up years were largely in Mexico, the native country of his mother. He would eventually make his way to law school in San Antonio, which is where he met Rosario. The couple moved to McAllen in 1994, where they would raise their children and Anthony would also set up his law practice that focuses on immigration matters. 

Along the way came a random interest in chocolates that turned serious with family trips to London to learn the elements of the craft from the chocolatiers of England. What was imagined as a home-based business would turn into a search for a site to house a mini-factory of chocolates. At the end of a former residential block now industrial is where Mozna’s handcrafts chocolate in Hidalgo.

The setup is both clean and efficient. The floor contains silvery equipment that does the sorting, roasting, winnowing and grinding of beans before the chocolatiers take over. They then add sugars, almond, pecans and orange flavorings in what represents just a few of the many choices and ingredients in Mozna’s chocolates. 

The stars are the chocolates themselves. Rosario Matulewicz and Williams have blocks of chocolates from different countries laid out on a table and take a visitor through the subtleties of taste that differentiate the sources of cacao beans. Mexican chocolate features caramel and brown sugar, with India’s tasting fruitier, Colombia’s has an edge of a coffee flavor to it. The chocolates of Venezuela taste nutty, with those of Vietnam and Tanzania highlighting fruity elements of cherry and tartness. 

There is seemingly something for everyone’s palate who loves chocolates.

“We have a product that makes people happy,” Matulewicz said. “We’re doing something people enjoy.”

Learning About Chocolate

There’s also an educational component to the Mozna operation.

Factory tours are a staple with Winter Texans and schoolchildren often taking part. There’s an admission price for the longer tours that have a taste-the-chocolates portion to them. The chocolatiers on site offer insights and history of the cacao beans and how they have been utilized over the ages in every corner of the world.

“People leave here having learned about chocolate in how it has been used and developed throughout history,” Matulewicz said. 

Mozna Chocolate is located at 115 E. Brazil Avenue in Hidalgo and is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the same hours on Saturday. Friday hours are 9 a.m. to noon.