Early in 2021, officials at the Barry Callebaut Group—a leading cocoa processor and chocolate manufacturer headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, that sells high-quality ingredients to chocolatiers, chefs, and home cooks around the globe—outlined several tenets they believed would shape the international chocolate market in the face of a continuing pandemic.
First, they postulated chocolate professionals’ creativity would continue to give chocolate lovers new and exciting forms to explore. Secondly, they argued good chocolate products were getting better and better for a body. Thirdly, they noted consumers were demanding chocolate they could trust. And lastly, they contended chocolate would always be the perfect food for any indulgent moment, whether the occasion is one fit for celebration or one requiring comfort.
If this edible MAINE Chocolate Buyer’s Guide is any indication, it’s clear that many Maine chocolatiers have hit the mark on these predictions. The options for dark, milk, and white chocolate mixes abound, and the combinations are molded into an endless list of chocolate bars, bonbons, truffles, Yule logs, lobster claws, and reindeer. Many Maine chocolate companies are making products to suit dietary choices that range from soy free and non-GMO to organic and vegan. Others are sourcing their raw materials from environmentally sustainable and humanly equitable sources. And all of them are bundling their creations to suit holiday gift-giving occasions as well as a comforting day spent alone by a cozy fire.
We invited every chocolate maker in Maine (more than a dozen) to participate in this resource for buying chocolate during the winter holiday season, which begins with Thanksgiving and ends with Valentine’s Day. Four chocolatiers—Bixby Chocolate in Rockland, Chocolats Passion in Portland, Ragged Coast Chocolates in Westbrook, and Wright Chocolate House in Limerick—took us up on our offer to feature our choice of their products in the following pages. Each paid a small fee to cover the cost of producing the guide.
We invite you to thumb through these pages to be intrigued by these artisans’ different approaches to chocolate making and be enticed by their finished products. The most up-to-date information on where, when, and how to buy these chocolates in an ever-changing pandemic shopping environment is found on each company’s website and in their Instagram feeds. For your convenience, we’ve listed those.
Indulge early and often in these beautiful, satisfying, Maine-made creations—throughout this holiday season and beyond.
Image by Nicole Wolf
Bixby Chocolate
www.bixbychocolate.com
@bixbychocolate
Pictured: (Clockwise) Organic, single-sourced 70% Dark Chocolate Bar; Vanilla Crème Brûlée Microbatch Bar, a recent finalist in the 2022 Good Food Foundation Awards; Raspberry Crunch Vegan White Chocolate Bar; and Coconut Nib Swirl Chocolate Bar
Story: The Bixby Chocolate tagline is “Chocolates Made with a Conscience” because the family-owned company based in Rockland prides itself on ethical and sustainable sourcing. Its premium bean-to-bar products, for example, are made from carefully selected, organic cacao beans grown in countries along the equator. Buying them helps support growing economies in that region. The number of products Bixby makes is astounding, ranging from elegant dark chocolate pyramids filled with Split Rock Distilling bourbon caramel and vegan snack bars filled with wild blueberries to iconic Maine Needhams and milk chocolate lobster claws. Bixby products are widely distributed throughout Maine via Hannaford, CVS Pharmacy, Market Basket, and Whole Foods.
Chocolats Passion
www.chocolatspassion.com
@chocolatspassion
Pictured: Love You to the Moon and Stars Valentine Box
Story: Chocolats Passion’s molded chocolate products are vibrant works of art. Chocolatier Catherine Wiersema grew up in France, attended the Ecole Chocolat in Vancouver, and visits Cacao Barry’s Chocolate Academy in Montreal to hone her creative edge. She works with a team of pastry chefs in her Brackett Street shop in Portland. They make chocolates year-round, but many are seasonal in nature—in terms of both their shapes (think turkeys at Thanksgiving and Yule logs at Christmas) and their fillings (when Maine ingredients make their fleeting appearance). The chocolat’s tops are color-coded to indicate filling flavors. Toasted coconut and coconut cream–filled confections are topped with blue and silver strokes; banana caramel, walnut, and rum ones with silver strokes and a smattering of gold; and strawberry lemon creams with pink strokes over gold specks.
Ragged Coast Chocolates
www.raggedcoastchocolates.com
@raggedcoastchocolates
Pictured: Pear Champagne Truffle
Story: Formerly called Black Dinah Chocolatiers, founder Kate Shaffer changed her company’s name in June 2020. Since she started making chocolates on Isle au Haut almost 15 years ago, Shaffer’s elegant creations have earned regional and national accolades, and she and her team maintain that top quality today. Shaffer curates her chocolates in bundles to suit all occasions and sensibilities. For example, she offers hostess gift boxes matched to pair with white or red wine, and her Maine Farm Market Truffle Collection features assorted chocolates with seasonal ingredients like Maine Mint, Northern Apple, New England Pie Pumpkin, and Down East Sea Breeze Cranberry truffles. All of Ragged Coast’s confections are made in the company’s Westbrook facility, where there is a small retail operation, but they are also sold in specialty food shops around the state.
Wright Chocolate House
www.wrightchocolatehouse.com
@wrightchocolatehouse
Pictured: Custom-selected box of 30 chocolates
Story: Lynn Wright has developed more than 40 original recipes in the test kitchen of her 19th century Maine farmhouse in Limerick. Each chocolate is hand cut, piped, and decorated. Some products are whimsical, like the Thanksgiving hedgehogs, mustachioed Christmas gnomes, and Valentine’s Day love ewes. Some are so sophisticated they have calling cards explaining their contents. The Glögg comprises Maine pinot noir mulled with warm spices and fruit, folded into a dark chocolate truffle. Le Petit Jardin is made of tart Belgian sirop de Liège folded into dark chocolate ganache with a splash of Benedictine, dipped in pink ruby chocolate, and garnished with a pistachio sliver. While Wright’s chocolates connote worldly adventure, they are also made with local ingredients like maple syrup from Newfield, butter from Old Orchard Beach, and cream from Dayton.
