I’ve had the good fortune to do almost everything there is to do in chocolate. I’ve lived in jungles and dined with royalty - and just about everything in between. I’ve created entire supply chains from scratch, conducted consumer research on 6 continents, conducted the fundamental primary research for ingredients, equipment, and formulas. I’ve led teams of incredibly capable people who have done amazing things. I’ve got a room full of awards and walls full of patents. But at the end of the day - what has impacted me the most was getting to spend years living in origin, working alongside cocoa farmers. It’s an incredibly difficult life. Frankly it’s not sustainable for them or their families.

As a result, I’ve developed a heart for helping cocoa farmers. I’ve donated time through organizations like USAID (back when there was one..) and Winrock to teach farmers how to improve their yield, reduce their waste, and create new, higher value flavors. How to de-commoditize their product in the hopes that doing so would increase their revenue, margins, and ultimately their standard of living. But with millions of farmers - it’s a tough string to push. My hope is that by developing and making available a tool like Atlas to the specialty chocolate maker - it will remove some of the barriers to success and democratize access to much more powerful tools and capabilities that increase the likelihood of specialty chocolate success. Doing so would then increase the amount of value added beans that are procured, ultimately increasing the standard of living for the farmers producing them. When we all push strings, strings become ropes, and ropes can change the world.

While large companies may have specialty chocolate management tools - they’re all proprietary and not available to most. Yes there are other generic formulation or labelling tools available - I've used them as I'm sure many of you have - but nothing exists that is custom designed and focused for chocolate. Until now.

Getting started is simple. Currently there are three tiers that differ in how much functionality they have. Downloading any of them will being a two week trial period where you can fully test them (download button is on the main Atlas page). There’s also some tutorial videos up on YouTube. If there’s something that’s not quite clear to you - reach out through my contact form — and I’ll walk you through the next steps and answer any questions along the way. If for some reason you don’t hear back from me - perhaps there’s an issue with the form, and you can always try on Facebook or LinkedIn.

It’s important to read the next two FAQ items below as when you try to install or launch it for the first time, you may get an error. The next two FAQ’s walk through why that is, and how to address it.

When you first open Atlas, macOS may show a warning saying the app is from an "unidentified developer" or that "Apple cannot check it for malicious software."  (Me! I’m the unidentified developer!). It may also look like an icon with a line through it. This is part of Apple’s "Gatekeeper" security system. To remove this warning automatically, Apple requires developers to pay a yearly subscription fee and submit every version of their software to Apple's servers for "notarization."

Atlas is safe to use.  Because Atlas is an independent project sold at accessible pricing, I’ve have chosen to keep costs low rather than paying Apple’s recurring fees. This warning is a default label Apple applies to software created outside of their paid ecosystem; it is not a reflection of Atlas’s actual safety.

How to Install and Open Atlas (One-time setup)

You only need to perform one of the methods below once. MacOS will remember your decision for all future launches.

Method 1: The Easy Way (Right-Click)

This is the recommended method for most users.

1. Drag Atlas to your Applications folder.

2. Open your Applications folder in Finder.

3. Right-Click (or Control-Click) the Atlas icon.

4. Select Open from the shortcut menu.

5. A final dialog will appear. Click the Open button.

Method 2: The Power User Way (Terminal)

If your security settings are strictly locked down, you can manually clear the "download quarantine" flag using a single command:

1. Drag Atlas to your Applications folder.

2. Open Terminal (Press Cmd + Space, type "Terminal", and hit Return).

3. Copy and paste the command for your specific version:

• Atlas (Standard): xattr -cr "/Applications/Atlas.app"

• Atlas Pro: xattr -cr "/Applications/Atlas-Pro.app"

• Atlas Pro Plus: xattr -cr "/Applications/Atlas-Pro-Plus.app"

• Press Return. You can now launch Atlas normally by double-clicking it.

How can I verify Atlas is safe?

Atlas contains no malware, no spyware, and makes no external network connections. If you would like to independently verify the software before running it, you can upload the .dmg file to VirusTotal.com.

VirusTotal scans the file against over 70 different security engines. You can even click the "Behavior" tab on their report to see a technical log of exactly what the app does when launched, confirming it does not access your private data or contact external servers.

When you install Atlas on Windows, you may see a blue dialog from Microsoft Defender SmartScreen that says "Windows protected your PC" and describes Atlas as an unrecognized app. This is common for independent software and does not mean Atlas is unsafe.

Here is why it happens: Microsoft's SmartScreen system evaluates installers based on reputation - essentially, how many users have installed that specific file. New software from independent developers starts with no reputation history and gets flagged regardless of its actual safety. To bypass this warning entirely, Microsoft requires developers to purchase a premium Extended Validation code signing certificate at several hundred dollars per year. Atlas is independently developed and sold at accessible pricing, so I have not paid that fee. If I did - I’d simply have to pass that cost along.

The warning is a product of Microsoft's monetized reputation system, not a reflection of Atlas's safety. Atlas contains no malware, no spyware, and share no personal information. If you would like to independently verify the installer before running it, you can upload it to virustotal.com, which scans files against 70+ security engines.

TO PROCEED WITH INSTALLATION:

1. When the blue warning appears, click "More info"

2. Click "Run anyway"

3. Complete the installation normally

You will only need to do this once. Windows will remember your decision and subsequent launches of Atlas will not trigger the warning.

Note: Not all Windows machines will see this warning. In fact for most testers it didn’t occur at all. It depends on your Windows Security settings, enterprise policies, and a messy change of direction from Microsoft regarding how they deployed it - which is why some users encounter it and others do not. In fact, in late 2025 it changed again - even if I DID pay for their certificate, that warning message would still appear until an undisclosed about of users installed it - the juice isn’t worth the squeeze for me to pay for a message that might go away.

In the section above, under Atlas, there’s a License page that will let you select what version of Atlas you want. Once you check out, the payment system should send me an email letting me know what you choose and what your email is - I’ve chosen not to build an automated license generator at this time - so once I get the email, i’ll generate a license key and mail it back to you.

A common challenge can be knowing where to get credible nutritional information. Conducting a laboratory analysis is very good, but also very expensive. You can often leverage information from your suppliers, or if you’re not buying direct from the manufacturer, there are a number of government websites that database a huge range of ingredient info.

• USDA Food Central

• EuroFIR (European Food Information Resource)

• LATINFOODS

• ASEAN Food Composition Database

• FSANZ Database
  

Yes! At the bottom of every page here you’ll see a YouTube icon. Clicking that will take you to a series of video walkthroughs. I’d recommend starting with the introductory overview to orient yourself to Atlas - and then look at the Playlists on the page - where there will be a Walkthrough Playlist comprised of short, narrated overviews of each section meant to help you more quickly familiarize yourself with Atlas.

This is a core question. Already Atlas has evolved, and I think it’s vary fair to say it will continue to be in active development for the foreseeable future.

The challenge I’m going to have (which will shortly become an invitation!) - will be that it’s simply not practical for me to implement every single suggestions people have. Some of that is due to technical limitations, and some of it will be if I implement everything, it’ll become so bloated as to not be useful. I also recognize that feedback and core features will be critical to making it as useful as possible to the largest audience - so (and here’s the invitation part..) - I’m going to suggest some sort of ‘wisdom of the crowds’ development roadmap that uses community voting to help prioritize the next iterative feature add. Now, I have no idea what that looks like as I type this today - but I do feel it’s an important part of directing future development in ways that are helpful for the most.

Theoretically, when you select your version at checkout (standard, pro, pro plus) and complete the transaction, the system should email me. At that time, I’ll manually generate a license key and email it back to you. Now, I don’t want to be in the business of a lot of manual intervention and processes - so at some point in the future if this turns out to be too much to manage, I’ll automate that process - but to begin with, it’ll be manual. I’ll do my absolute best to get that key to you as fast as possible.

The license will be active for a year, and is tied to you as the purchaser (it will be hard coded to your name/company). You can install it on as many machines as you’d like, but it won’t work for someone else. As it nears its expiration date, Atlas will automatically let you know and remind you that action may be needed. Should you let the license expire, you’ll still be able to access Atlas and the information you created - but you won’t be able to add or modify it until a new license is issued.

Once you’ve processed a batch of beans from your master bean lot, you’ll link it to your raw material list. At the end of your bean processing process, it will be obvious how to do so - there’s a big button. This is a reminder that once you’ve linked your first nib batch to your raw materials - you’ll need to edit that raw material to update its nutritional information. Atlas will automatically import what it is (nibs), where it came from, what it’s cost is, and tag it as a liquor for the regulatory engine (remember, liquor is simply a ground up nib) - but it doesn’t automatically know what it’s nutritional profile looks like. If you don’t update its nutritional information, your finished product nutritional information won’t be accurate. This only needs to be done the first time you set up a new nib type - not every time you process a batch of raw beans.

Drop me an email and we’ll work it out. I’ve not built in an automated way to do so, so it’d be something we’d need to address via an exception.

Atlas was designed to be a single user platform - but yes, multiple users can work in Atlas - but understand that this increases the chances of data conflicts. Just as if you had an excel file with multiple people working in it at the same time - if two people try to change the same data - the program will be forced to guess which is right. It can be done, but care should be taken to not work on the same data to avoid conflicts.

I don’t know that I am different (although my wife might disagree!). I’ve simply had the extraordinary good fortunate to have experienced, created, built - and failed - a huge range of what encompasses the chocolate industry. So very much information is known that most will never have access to for various reasons - I’m hoping that what started as a tool I created for my personal use - and then expanded into what has (and is..) becoming Atlas - will be a way to leverage some of my experience in ways that are accessible to more.