Help Area

Q. Why are you called “Honest Chocolates”? Are other chocolates dishonest?

A. We wanted our name to suggest that the taste of our chocolates matters more than their trappings. “Unpretentious Chocolates” just didn’t have the right zing. We are not implying anything about the integrity of any other chocolates.

Q. Why are your prices so low?

A. We really really try to have good-tasting chocolates at a reasonable price. So we don’t spend time or money on fancy packaging, exotic ingredients, big marketing campaigns, or European-trained chocolate artisans. (No offense meant here. We believe the upscale chocolates are worth their higher price tag, but want to offer an affordable alternative.)

Q. Why are your prices so high?

A. Ouch! Remember, we still make the candy and dip the chocolates by hand, in very small batches. It costs more to make than factory chocolate. We hope it tastes better than factory chocolate.

Q. I want to order something you had in your store in Oregon, but I can't find it here or it's out of stock.

A. Please use the "contact us" page to let us know what you're looking for, and we will try to help you.

Q. Where do you get your chocolate?

A. We use Guittard, made near San Francisco. We chose Guittard based on blind taste tests by customers, who preferred it to the Belgian, French, and German chocolates we tried. The specific products we use are eating chocolates, meaning they are not necessarily ideal for dipping or molding, but they taste very good.

Q. Do you have anything in white chocolate?

A. Yes! We use a really creamy, good-tasting white chocolate for our peppermint bark, white lemon dreams, white chocolate honeycomb and white chocolate brickle bark. And while it’s not a regular product, you can special order white chocolate almond bark.

Q. White chocolate’s not really chocolate, is it?

A. Good white chocolate has everything the others have, except cocoa. Not-so-good white chocolate may have vegetable oil, confectioner’s sugar, and other ingredients that make it more like a coating than a chocolate.

Q. How do you make your marshmallow?

A. With a VERY large mixer.

Oh, wait, you meant what’s the recipe? Sorry, we can’t share recipes.

Q. Are your chocolates organic?

A. Right now using organic ingredients would push our prices too high. We do try to use local and natural ingredients. For example, our cream comes from Alpenrose Dairy in SW Portland. As you can see from the label, there are no added ingredients such as polysorbate 80. It’s also rBHT free.

Q. I have sensitivities to soy/gluten/nuts/dairy. Can I eat any of your products?

A. Our products are gluten-free; we don’t use anything with modified food starch. We do use a LOT of dairy and our chocolate has soya lecithin. Some of our products have nuts. Some of our people are nuts.

Q. Do you make sugar-free chocolates?

A. We tried for awhile but could not find a sugar-free chocolate that tasted good and didn’t cause digestive discomfort. Whoever invents that chocolate will be richer than Bill Gates.

Q. Can you make decorative chocolates?

A. We could, but you probably wouldn’t want them. Remember, we’re about what the chocolates taste like, not what they look like.

Q. What about chocolate Easter bunnies and other molded chocolates?

A. We do some solid chocolate bunnies and other items for special holidays. Remember that we picked our chocolate based on taste so it’s not optimized for molding. This means our solid chocolates will have little pinholes and other character flaws. But they do taste good!

Q. Do you sell wholesale?

A. Right now we are too small to do much wholesale except for a few local accounts.

Q. Can I get a box?

A. You can't eat a box! Remember, we try to make good-tasting affordable chocolates. One way we keep our prices down is by using clear cellophane bags instead of boxes. We can seal the bags or tie them with a red fabric ribbon, whichever you prefer. (During special holidays like Valentines Day we do offer a box for an added charge.)

Q. Why can’t you just answer Yes or No instead of going on and on?

A. Oh. Sorry.