Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Moore.
Hi Scott, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started making bean-to-bar chocolate as a hobby in 2010. It was just to see if I could do it or not. I got better at it, and someone suggested we brand the chocolate and market it. As a 5th generation Texas, I decided to call us Tejas Chocolate as a tribute to the heritage of our state and craft chocolate making. Tejas Chocolate was the first “bean to bar” chocolate maker in Texas. Over time, we built a following, mostly at our farmers’ market in Tomball, TX. After 25 years in the railroad industrial sales field, in 2015 we wanted to make this chocolate thing a full-time endeavor but did not generate quite enough revenue to pay all the bills. I’m a lifelong backyard barbecue warrior, and we noticed there was a place in Tomball for elevated “craft” BBQ. Our experience with customers at the Farmers market supported the idea of better foods at a premium price. We opened The Craftory in 2015 to sell mostly chocolate and supplement our income selling barbecue. In 2017, Texas Monthly Magazine placed Tejas on the well-renowned Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas list at #6, and that shot us out of the cannon. We made the Top 50 again in 2021, and I like to tell people we sell barbecues to pay off our chocolate-making habit. Our revenue today is approx. 80% BBQ and 20% chocolate. In 2019, we opened Tejas Burger Joint to feature a smokehouse cheeseburger that had been a once-a-week special at our barbecue restaurant. Today, we have 57 awesome employees who make it all happen.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
We’ve had easy times and hard times. The start-up 18 months was a challenge getting established in a difficult economic time period. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 was hard on all of Houston and us. The Covid pandemic was super stressful, having to close the restaurant for about a month and getting it all back online. Hiring dependable reliable staff was probably our biggest challenge for growth.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I was always in sales. First, I represented a lady’s swimwear brand and then switched to the transportation industry, selling parts for specialized railroad freight cars. I worked in rail for one company for 17 years before picking up an unrepresented product line to start my own sales and distribution firm. When that fizzled, I turned to my true passion in becoming a food manufacturer in chocolate. I then got to showcase my BBQ skills to help support the chocolate business. I love good food, making and eating, I’ve always leaned into finding the best ingredients and best methods to product the best product I am capable of. We’ve done some innovative things in craft barbecue, changing the way people thought about traditional barbecue with premium grades of meats and elevated side dishes. And, of course, we changed BBQ desserts from the mainstays like cobbler and banana pudding to chocolate truffles and desserts.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I took every cent I had and put it into opening The Craftory to sell chocolate and barbecue. I knew that on some level we’d make a living, and if not, I’d go back and get a job in the transportation industry, getting in your car to drive to work is taking a risk even though we don’t really think of that way. Living is risky business. In business, more than likely, rewards come with risk-taking. You can be smart about it and make a more calculated risk. At some point, though, you’re probably going to best serve by taking a risk even though you don’t know what the outcome for sure will be. Fear of failure is a powerful motivator, and that’s the position I place myself in. Then, with success comes some comfort, but nothing is 100% secure. There’s always risk. Embrace it.
Contact Info:
- Website: tejaschocolate.com
- Instagram: @tejaschocolate
- Facebook: tejas chocolate+barbecue
- Twitter: @tejaschocolate
