Artisan chocolate, like any artisan product—jewelry, furniture, couture clothing—is handmade by a skilled artisan in small batches, using time-honored and honed skills. Modern artisans are also innovators in flavour and technique. No assembly line is used to make artisan products and they are never made in large quantity; you will find chocolatiers in the kitchen preparing and packing each batch. A batch of 10,000 boxes or bars is not an artisan product. However, more than a few midsize companies use the term “artisan” to describe chocolate that is not handmade, and even industry associations don’t get terms right, which confuses consumers. See also boutique chocolatier.