16 May 2008

I first came across Chocoholics Divine Desserts while out landmark-hunting a few months ago. Then our campground started selling their panned chocolates. Oh, those were good! :)

I promised myself a proper visit when I was in the mood, and so one day when I visited the post office I just kept on going.

The factory, while modern, is attached to offices/a gift store that happens to be on the National Register of Historic Places as well as a California point of historic interest. It’s rose season now, and the pretty roses framed the old building rather well.

The store was swarming with people when I arrived–a bus tour, as it turned out–so I went straight to the factory.

I bumped into the manager who told me that while the conveyor belts and such were not running at this time, I could see the videos and read the materials on the wall (the same ones that you’ve been seeing all week–these guys definitely have a sense of humor). She was very friendly and, while obviously in a hurry, didn’t hesitate to answer my questions.

Most of her ladies were making chocolate-dipped goodies for the Zinfest in Lodi and the chocolate festival somewhere south–Oakdale, I think she said. (The Zinfest, a wine festival, was $35 and so I ended up not going.)

I got a sense of the scale of operations when I saw the warehouse, stacked high with boxes.

Chocoholics began in 1995 when Ernie and Mary Schenone bought a small chocolate shop in Eureka, then moved operations to Stockton. They managed to create a stir when, in 1998, they renamed one of their products to “body frosting.” A few years later they acquired another fine chocolate operation, this one in Kansas, and expanded yet again. They moved to their current factory in 2004, and opened their store/cafe a year ago. Now, you can do self-guided tours, or get guided tours for a group.

They have over 300 products now, and are growing at a rate of knots. They’re a sweet, sweet success. ;)

Look at all the labels! That’s a whole lotta chocolate.

Incidentally, the scent in the air was of cocoa and sugar–very rich, warm and quite possibly too much of a good thing. A long time ago my Auntie used to work at Bassett’s, who made Licorice Allsorts, and the sugar wrecked her skin. She never did have much of a sweet tooth. ;)

After the tour, I went to to the store. The bus tour went away, leaving me to wander around drooling peruse all the wondrous goodies in peace.

As you might expect, the price of these hand-crafted goodies was not low, and I gave up on the idea of buying myself a box of fine chocolates. I don’t begrudge the price–these really are a work of art, and how can you begrudge anything to a company that creates chocolate pasta?–but it wasn’t an expense I could justify at this time.

I’m a sucker for gift baskets, and this one was beautiful. I fantasize about being able to present these to people and watch their faces light up.

They don’t just sell boxes of chocolates, though. You can have chocolate-dipped spoons, drinking chocolate, chocolate dinosaurs, chocolate sauce and the abovementioned chocolate pasta. There’s even a Naughty Chocolate section with “body frosting” and chocolate strip poker. They do seasonal “collections”, too, and those I’d find really hard to resist as if there’s anything I love more than fine chocolates, it’s fine chocolates in seasonal packaging.

It’s a quirk.

When I had finished drooling browsing, I sat down and enjoyed a delicious glass of frozen hot chocolate. (Yes, that’s really what they call it. ;)

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed Chocolate Week. ;)

Tags: chocoholics-clements, chocolate, chocolate-week

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