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Chocolate Start-Up Enjoys Sweet Victory In Cottage Grove Biz Contest

Sanity Chocolate Facebook page.

We previously reported on the Cottage Grove Business Challenge.  Organizers were looking to bestow a grand prize of $6,000 to an up-and-coming business that would help boost the local economy.

After reviewing more than two dozen submissions, judges announced a winner last night:  Sanity Chocolates, owned by Mike Caven.  The City of Eugene firefighter turned chocolatier says he’ll use the money to upgrade some equipment.   

“We are looking at purchasing a larger refiner," Caven tells KLCC. "So the machine that breaks down the cacao, mixes it with sugar, and turns it into chocolate, two to three days later. 

"What we’ll see for us is effectively doubling or tripling our capacity to create craft chocolate.” 

Credit Sanity Chocolate Facebook page.

Sanity Chocolates can be found on Main Street in Cottage Grove. 

RAIN Eugene, an entrepreneurial group, coordinated the Cottage Grove Business Challenge.  Runner-ups were Sohr Performance Plus Nutrition, and Real Live Food Oregon.  They won $3,000 and $1,000, respectively. 

Copyright 2017, KLCC. 

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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