If you’re like me and enjoy Halloween but aren’t the biggest fan of Trick-or-Treating, I have an alternative way to satisfy your sweet tooth…
Try Compartés chocolate. Compartés Chocolate is a chocolatier company that makes luxury chocolates and chocolate bars, with a store located at 912 S. Barrington Avenue in Los Angeles California. The company began in the 1950’s, creating a delightful chocolate experience for over 70 years. With humble beginnings compared to the business today, they began making chocolates in their kitchen. A husband and wife by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Compartés, “who aimed to create European style chocolate confections in their Brentwood home.” according to their website. The Compartés later sold their company to the Grahm Family almost five decades after the Compartés family originally opened their doors. Despite the change in ownership of the company, their chocolates and other goods continue to be made by hand and with high quality ingredients just as they always have, upholding and maintaining the same quality.
The Compartés company doesn’t just create your everyday run of the mill chocolate bars. While there is nothing wrong with your everyday chocolate bar, you can find those anywhere. If I could give a comparison, I would describe Compartés as a top shelf chocolate bar. They produce every bar by hand. Not only that but they use high quality ingredients, and they often incorporate ingredients from local California farmers markets in their collaboration bars. The flavors of their collaboration bars include anything from strawberry shortcake to avocado and chips. Some of the flavors that I find most interesting include, the Margarita Dark Chocolate Bar, which the company describes as “Deep dark chocolate, tequila, a squeeze of lime and flecked with sea salt.” The California Berries Chocolate Bar features dark chocolate with “natural dried” strawberries, raspberries, and blue berries. Lastly, one of the most interesting flavors, which is the German Chocolate Cake Bar, features “the richest dark chocolate, homemade German chocolate cake, toasted coconut and coconut frosting and delicious roasted pecans”. Their flavors are extraordinary, and the combinations really put your imagination and taste buds to the test.
Again, unlike other chocolate bar companies, that mass produce their chocolate, all Compartés chocolates are handmade. There are even options to customize their chocolates. This customization comes in 3 easy steps according to their website. The first step being “Free Proofs: Compartés specializes in custom chocolates. Send us your logos and designs for free proofs and transparent pricing for approval.” The second step is to customize gifts where customers have the options to “Pick from multiple box sizes and gift options. So if you want to write your name in big bold letters on your chocolate you can! Embellish your boxes with custom ribbons, custom branded sleeves and much more.” The final step is express delivery. Here Compartés says customers can “Sit back, relax and let us take care of the rest. Your custom chocolates will be made fresh to order. We ship worldwide.” When you click the button to upload a logo or design on the website it allows you to either upload the logo or email it to their email address which will then be followed by a quote from the company. Box sizes range anywhere from 2 pieces of chocolate per box to 80 pieces per box. Another option that they offer are custom chocolate towers where multiple boxes are tied together with a ribbon. When it comes to shipping, the company offers drop shipping, express shipping options, and accommodations like ice packs for inclement weather such as high temperatures that may have otherwise caused issues.
Even though you might have already snagged a free piece of candy from a company like Hershey or Mars, or if you decided to go trick-or-treating and sneak a few pieces out of the bowl before the herds of children begin to pour in; one thing to keep in mind is that these companies fail to offer you a true experience like Compartés Chocolate. While the convenience of mainstream companies is nice, should this convenience be at the expense of experience, quality or personalization? When you pick up a Compartés Chocolate bar, the first thing that catches your eye is the beautiful graphic on the box, and the bar itself is individualized to capture the essence of the chocolate based on the flavor. They really give a visual for the sense of taste that the bar has. For example, “The Drive In” bar box depicts an image of old-fashioned cars at a drive-in movie theater. In addition it has images like pieces of popcorn and a background of a classic California sunset, and it is so detailed they don’t even leave out the beautiful palm trees. The type of color and the font chosen reflect the notion of luxury and quality as well. After opening the box, you encounter a gold foil packaging that is wrapped around the bar with “Compartés chocolatier 1950” printed on the foil. What screams luxury and treating your self more than gold printed foil, and before you take a bite, you can remember that each bar was made by hand. Overall, you should consider treating yourself this halloween with Compartés Chocolate, where they keep up with their brand identity, their luxurious feel, their consistence of quality maintained with each bar, their physical appearence of the store, their chocolate, and their luxurious packaging.