A Bit Of The Alps In Hopedale | Chocolate maker called one of the world's best
It seems like any company can use vague words like âhigh-end,â âexclusiveâ and âluxuryâ to describe its products or services these days. For the most part, I think consumers are smart enough to know when a product truly is âhigh-endâ and when such ostentatious claims are empty.
So, it is without snobbery that I advise: truly high-end products rarely claim to be so. At least, they don't make such claims very loudly.
Bittersweet
Such is the case with Green Mountain Chocolates, which has its main offices, manufacturing plant and retail store at One Rosenfeld Drive in a new industrial park adjacent to the Hopedale Industrial Park and the Hopedale Airport.
The company also recently opened a new retail store in nearby Franklin.
When it comes to making claims about the quality of its chocolates, Green Mountain is quiet. Its web site is subdued, and it lets a few short but powerful quotes from others to do the talking. They include: âTop 10 in the worldâ from Gourmet Magazine, âTop 3 in the U.S.â from the New York Times and âCream of the Cropâ from Ladies Home Journal. With accolades like those, Green Mountain is free to use words like âfinestâ and âgourmetâ to describe its products.
Not bad for a company with 13,000 square feet of manufacturing space in tiny Hopedale and 12 employees during the busy season. Though, maybe a small manufacturing plant in a tiny town is appropriate for a company that specializes in hand-made Swiss and Belgian truffles, which I can easily picture being painstakingly crafted in some farmhouse nestled in the Alps or along a cobblestone street in Brussels.
But as far as industrial buildings go, Green Mountain's, which can be seen from Plain Street - the town's main thoroughfare - is pretty inviting.
Bill Campbell, a long-time chocolate industry executive and his wife Lisa bought Green Mountain Chocolates six years ago from one of Campbell's customers, former White House pastry chef in the Jimmy Carter administration Albert Cumin. At the time, the company was in the Green Mountains, in Waterville, Vt., hence the name.
The Campbells are Massachusetts natives and moved the company here shortly after buying it. Today, it's mainly a wholesale manufacturer of truffles for the confections industry.
Big Numbers
Last year, Green Mountain made 15 million truffles, Campbell said. The company's main business is in making confections by contract for private labels. Chocolates you might find in Macy's or Target or Whole Foods could very well have been made by Green Mountain right here in Hopedale.
The truffles you can buy at the company's retail stores, however, is the truly âhigh-endâ stuff. They're made with all fresh cream and fruit purees and with nothing but Swiss and Belgian chocolate. Campbell explained that in order to offer a truly high-end chocolate truffle, the company does away with any concern for shelf life, something that is very important to its larger, corporate customers.
âThe shelf life is less, but they're all fresh-dipped fruits and fresh cream. It's really high-end,â Campbell said.
Green Mountain is very busy when you'd expect it to be: the period between Christmas and Easter, but Campbell said the present time of year has been very busy, as well. âA lot of teacher's gifts right now,â he said, âfather's day, graduations. Even in this ârecession,' the candy business has been recession proof. People want to reward themselves, and instead of doing it with a $150 dinner, they'll reward themselves with a $20 box of chocolates. Our retail stores have been up 20 percent. ...â
One of the company's most popular items? Chocolate covered potato chips, of which Green Mountain sold more than 20,000 pounds last year.
âIt's like a cult,â Campbell said.
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