Exclusive: Verse Chocolate gears-up for Sweets & Snacks Expo showcase

With Sweets & Snacks Expo around the corner, Confectionery Production meets Verse Chocolate, to gain the inside track on in its ethically-focused mission to source its cocoa from West Africa, as it continues to grow its business across North America. Editor Neill Barston speaks to the firm’s founder, Scott Walker on his journey in the sector. 

“What fires me is sharing the goodness of cocoa and chocolate. I love being able to give that to people,” enthuses Scott Walker on his remarkable adventures within the industry.

As he settles poolside at this year’s State of the Industry Conference in Florida, the amiable entrepreneur explains there may well have been a long and winding path packed with unexpected twist and turns in establishing his own family-run company based out of Springfield Missouri, it’s been one heck of a ride so far.

Indeed, the industry specialist notes, it’s the clear support of his wife Stacy, and their five children, and a great team around them that is helping making Verse chocolate’s mission to deliver sustainably sourced premium chocolate series from West Africa a reality.

With Sweets and Snacks Expo rapidly approaching on the horizon (between 19-21 May), the company is keenly anticipating dipping its toes into the biggest and boldest confectionery show on the continent as an exhibitor, with its ethically focused business that is backing the small co-operative groups of farmers, which stands it out firmly from the crowd. (Watch our exclusive video preview of the show, interviewing the National Confectioners Association on prospects for the event this year in Las Vegas, which will feature more than 1,000 finished product companies, alongside its companion supplier showcase event below).

As we discuss, Verse’s recently created dark chocolate peanut butter cups, as well as its squares are aiming to make a positive impact at a time when the cocoa sector in Ivory Coast and Ghana are in need of critical support after a sustained period of price volatility, as well as ongoing climate-related shocks to agricultural communities.

“I was scared to death about setting the company up, but I kept learning,” reflects Scott with a wry smile on his fateful decision to set up his own venture at the most testing of times at the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, having previously enjoyed a high-ranking career as head of cocoa at ADM in its north American operations.

Scott and Stacy Walker at the State of the Industry Conference. Pic: Neill Barston

Early commercial pathway
His career trajectory to that point was highly notable, with significant assignments in the Netherlands, as well as project managing operation in Brazil for a spell. He would also become the chairman of the European Cocoa Association, which he says was a particularly memorable experience in understanding the inner workings of the cocoa trade, its major players at its highest levels of the supply chain.

But when a decision in his mid 40s to test his management skills in another commercial arena for several years into the pet food sector went astray when its owners unexpectedly sold the business, he found himself back at square one.

Thankfully, fate, and personal faith, would play their part in the family fathoming a way forward to provide for themselves, in realising that returning to a lifetime’s work in the sector, on their own terms, was worth the sheer endeavour.

“I knew that in pet food, supply chains had really mattered, but did people really care about such things within cocoa and chocolate? I really thought about it, and I was looking at the industry from a different view. I realised that I was part of the problem.

“I led one of the top two or three companies in cocoa. I was the chairman European cocoa Association. I sat around the table with Nestle, Mondelez Mars and Cargill talking about issues like child labour issues and deforestation. I saw how we all were jockeying for position, but nobody was really open, though they would say they were, but our chains were purposely opaque.

“So thought, you know what, if I do start my own chocolate company, I want to be transparent,” he notes on his philosophy behind starting-up on his own terms with a close-knit team.

As Stacy Walker chimes in to our conversation, the name itself stems from a friend who had studied English literature at Oxford, who explained something written in verse often carries a genuine air of authenticity, which struck a chord with the Walkers.

Hence the company title was born, and it is continuing to steadily build its profile in the US, trading through specialist retailers, with Scott noting that having been to Ivory Coast many dozens of times, maintaining existing contacts and friendships within agricultural communities there was the clear and most logical path to forge ahead with.

As he explains, one of the keys was in exploring fermentation processes, thus enabling processing to be conducted on a more local basis at source, would be a foundation of the business, providing more of an income from those co-operatives it works with.

“We learned about controlling fermentation, and also learnt, that most of the bean to bar people in the US only use Latin American cocoa because it was easy to access. But I was like, that’s what I know, and we also found that learned that Europeans, Americans, we prefer West African chocolate, as It’s fudgier chocolate,” he adds of the decision to go against the direction of travel of many of his contemporaries in terms of cocoa sourcing.

“I called my R&D guy up in Milwaukee, and I explain to him that I want to sell $8 dollar chocolate, and he just tells me I’m stupid,” laughs Scott, who says he took the feedback in good grace, yet over five years later they are proving there is a viable market for premium, sustainable chocolate confectionery.

Range expansion

With a clear vision in mind, Scott says the support of several close colleagues within the team is continuing to prove invaluable as its operations continue to ramp-up. But as he is also all too conscious of, starting up in any sector, is never easy, and admits there have been moments they’ve wondered if it could succeed, yet he remains eternally hopeful. 

Notably, the company’s flagship series backed by distinctive packaging and branding, and a striking product proposition in the form of its peanut cups will emerge triumphant.

“We have made a 90% dark chocolate version, and we’ve also grown more with our 70% variety as well, but we have placed more money into the business when we went past our original million that we put into it, which was a big investment. 

“But I believe in the goodness of cocoa, and goodness of chocolate. I mean, it’s good to eat and for the farmer to grow it, as well as being good for the supply chain. We’re making it right there in West Africa and we’re creating jobs there. 

“We bring it over in one-pound blocks and we temper, hold and pack it here, but we bring it over one pound blocks, and we temper, hold and pack it here, but we do all make all the chocolate there,” notes Scott, who says there’s a strong sense of anticipation for Sweets & Snacks, at which they will be launching several new flavours for its peanut butter cups series.

The launch of the extended portfolio is being backed by a highly passionate team behind the brand that believes in what is doing is crucially both ethically sound, and also delivering on taste and quality that it believes has set a high benchmark with its independent production values within the region.

• Verse Chocolate is located at booth 3110 at this year’s Sweets & Snacks Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Centre between 19-21 May 2026.