Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Company

Hershey Co. plans to acquire a Berkeley-based maker of premium dark chocolate bars and baking products. Hershey did not say how much it would pay for Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Inc. Scharffen owns and operates three stores in New York, San Francisco and Berkeley, and its products are carried in other specialty stores.

Hershey Co. plans to acquire a Berkeley-based maker of premium dark chocolate bars and baking products. Hershey did not say how much it would pay for Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Inc. Scharffen owns and operates three stores in New York, San Francisco and Berkeley, and its products are carried in other specialty stores.

The scent of freshly ground cocoa beans permeates the air of an industrial block in South San Francisco, courtesy of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker--the latest entry in the Bay Area's renowned chocolate industry. Like See's Candies, also based in South San Francisco, and world-famous Ghirardelli, Scharffen Berger aims to make a name for itself by producing high-quality grades of the dark, silky confection for use by pastry chefs at exclusive restaurants, hotels and bakeries across the country.

The scent of freshly ground cocoa beans permeates the air of an industrial block in South San Francisco, courtesy of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker--the latest entry in the Bay Area's renowned chocolate industry. Like See's Candies, also based in South San Francisco, and world-famous Ghirardelli, Scharffen Berger aims to make a name for itself by producing high-quality grades of the dark, silky confection for use by pastry chefs at exclusive restaurants, hotels and bakeries across the country.

Robert Steinberg, a physician who helped revolutionize America's appreciation of fine chocolate after launching a Bay Area company that produces some of the best chocolate in the country, has died. He was 61. Steinberg, who had lymphatic cancer, died Sept. 17 at UCSF Medical Center near his home in San Francisco, according to Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, the company he co-founded in 1996.