Fresh Coast Chocolate Co. has a new café and production facility in downtown Traverse City’s Warehouse District. The company, previously known as Just Good Chocolate, offers craft chocolate made in small batches with organically-grown cacao and cane sugar from around the world.
Owner Nichole Warner and her staff have been in the new production facility since June, but the café just opened to the public September 22. Customers can satisfy chocolate cravings Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with expanded hours coming soon.
In addition to chocolate bars, visitors will also find hot cocoa mix, brownie mix and baked goods made with Fresh Coast Chocolate. Fair trade, organic coffee is available from Higher Grounds along with Light of Day Organics tea, hot cocoa, chocolate chai and espresso drinks.
We caught up with Nichole to talk chocolate and find out more about the new café.
What got you into the chocolate business?
“My love of chocolate was the initial spark, along with my passion for hand-crafted foods made from sustainable ingredients. In the past decade, there has been a resurgence of small-batch chocolate makers around the country crafting chocolate using old world methods with the finest cocoa beans and with a deep respect for the farmers who grow them. They are making chocolate that is nothing like what we all grew up thinking chocolate should taste like. I knew right away I wanted to be a part of that.”
What’s your chocolate philosophy?
“I believe the best chocolate is crafted with the simplest ingredients—just organic cocoa beans and sugar—of the highest quality and sourced as directly as possible. Craft chocolate is all about highlighting the innate flavors from each bean origin. It is truly a whole different experience, a very different product than is produced by industrial chocolate makers.”
What products are you excited about right now?
“I am really excited to be offering two new single-origin bars in the next few weeks—Brazil 70% and Tanzania 70%. Both have very different flavor profiles than our other bars and will be a great addition to our line-up.”
What’s going on at your new chocolate factory?
“Our new chocolate factory offers a peek into our production process as well as a coffee bar serving up single-origin drinking chocolates, hot cocoa, a killer mocha and baked goods made from our chocolate. We are also super excited to be offering 9 Bean Rows croissants made with our chocolate that should be available later this week.”
You used to be Just Good Chocolate. Tell us about the new Fresh Coast brand.
“Our new brand is all about a sense of place and an expression of our love of where we come from. I couldn’t think of a better way to share our lovely home than by putting photos of our scenic Great Lakes on all of our packaging.”
Fresh Coast Chocolate Co. is located at 221 Garland St., Suite D.
More Northern Michigan Food & Drink
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Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Dipped in Dark Chocolate and Peppermint Candy
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