About the Fortina Family

The Fortina Family was born through a passion of raw foods & exotic living.
Vince & Jinelle Wendling moved from chilly Northern Minnesota to explore & live an exotic lifestyle in Sunny San Diego.  Through Sunfood Nutrition, an instant & lasting connection was formed with Jeff Botticelli, who was simultaneously living exotically with raw foods, superfoods & chocolate of course. The trio quickly became family; living, playing, eating & making chocolate together!

Since all three members of the trio are entrepreneurs, Fortina Chocolate was organically created.
The combination of the chocolate that Jeff had been making & sharing, Jinelle’s passion for creating & playing in the kitchen & Vince’s vision & business savvy made it clear that this chocolate needed to be shared.

The first and finest Raw, Organic, pure, handcrafted chocolate bars; Reminiscent of fine European chocolates.

The name of Fortina Chocolate:
In honor of all of our grandmothers & the love they encompass.
It was realized through Jeff & his loving Italian family. His late grandmother, Tina was always playing in the kitchen and sharing her love through amazing food.

Thus: “For Tina” was created to honor her, and all of our grandmothers. (ForStella, ForBev, ForSelma, ForChar, ForHelen, "For-enter your grandmother here"
In the same respect, our chocolates are handmade & infused with intention, purity and love.

Early in 2008, Jeff moved on to pursue other adventures around the country. Since then, Vince & Jinelle have continued to develop the business, vision & culture that surround it.

New Family Member: We are so fortunate to have so much support & community. Our dear friend, Cassie Curtis joined the company with her love & passion for raw foods. She has worked at Cilantro Live (raw food restaurant) and Optimum Health Institute in San Diego. She joins us now to bring everything she has to elevate Fortina to the next level.

Thank you all for being a part of the Fortina Family!