"SF-born and Berkeley-based chocolate maker TCHO has been sold for an undisclosed sum to a major Japanese sweets company, Ezaki Glico. The Osaka company, which sells popular items like Pocky chocolate covered biscuit sticks, plans to keep TCHO headquartered in Berkeley, where it moved from its original Embarcadero home on Pier 17 to 3100 San Pablo Ave and signed a 12-year lease in 2014. Founded in 2005, TCHO is known for its single-origin, fair-trade certified chocolate bars and flavored varieties like Mint Chip Gelato and Mokaccino bars. The company was backed by the founders of Wired magazine, who ran it until 2013, when a Connecticut investment firm, Emil Capital, bought a majority stake in the company. That’s now been sold to Ezaki Glico in a deal expected to close this week." - Caleb Pershan
