• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
You’re here. Awesome! 😉 Here’s a Free Thank You Gift.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
DBD International Logo

Award-winning branding, rebranding and package design

How brands outshine, outlast and outperform their competition

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • About David Brier
    • In The Press
    • Keynote Speaking Engagements
    • The #1 Alexa Skill on Branding and Rebranding
  • Brand Intervention
    • Branding
    • Rebranding
    • Storytelling for Entrepreneurs
    • Leadership
    • Portfolio
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Blog
Rising above the noise with David Brier

Another Shameless Chocolate Adventure (with a Confession)

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Chocolate and branding. They’re my drugs of choice.

It’s an obsession, like “50 Shades of Brown”….

So when I go to a city that I’ve not been to before, I find the best chocolatier in town.

This past weekend was Portland, Oregon. Lovely city. Made only more lovely by this one purveyor of chocolate: Cacao.

chocolate is good -- chocolate truffle stash

Winning the Chocolate Lottery

I was told they made incredible chocolate. When I got there, I found out they sell amazing artisanal chocolate from an exotic array of unique boutique chocolatiers versus making the stuff (except for their sipping chocolate).

They sell handmade truffles, their amazing European-style thick, decadent sipping chocolate with heat and spices (yum!) and an array of artisan chocolate bars to satisfy any chocolate snob. Per their own Website, they have this to say:

“Cacao features a hand picked selection of chocolate from around the world, including an extensive range of premium solid chocolate bars from small producers, select chocolate from the best local chocolatiers and makers, and our house-made drinking and hot chocolates.”

So while my wife was enjoying sleeping in, I strolled the streets and found Cacao. Once there, I spent about 40 minutes perusing every possible bar and maker, savoring my sipping chocolate, and spending a LOT more than I should’ve.

I brought my chocolate discoveries back to our hotel room overlooking the Willamette River, told my wife of my morning adventure and shot these to share with you.

chocolate is good

And that’s just the collection of bars in addition to the handmade truffles I purchased ….

Why Skinny Dipping in the Dark Doesn’t Count

It’s the same as if you’re in a forest and a tree falls and there’s no one to hear it…. In other words, you have to have a witness. This blog post is my “witness” — my proof I did what I said I did.

So, here in no particular order are some of the details I admire about chocolatiers and the passion each of their brands offers chocolate lovers. Smaller companies embrace those passions and consumers can tell.

The folks at Holy Wood merge chocolate with hints of wood, and the taste is fabulous. Plus they seal each package with a wax seal. Whoa.

chocolate is good

These folks bring chocolate from the island of Madagascar with some interesting taste profiles:

chocolate is good

I’ve yet to sample this bar but the simple embossed package caught my eye.

chocolate is good

Here’s a close-up of the embossed logo.

chocolate is good

And for my friends who love chocolate as much as coffee, there’s Ka-Pow!

chocolate is good

Then I ran across the new Dandelion chocolate bars. They just opened this month in San Francisco. Their packaging and use of fine papers from overseas really caught my eye as well as their attention to detail, such as signing the backs of each bar help them “raise the bar” (pun intended).

Chocolate is damn good for you....

chocolate is goodchocolate is good

chocolate is good

So, there it is. My chocolate confession.

May your chocolate adventures be as fun.

Related articles:

Branding 101: Ability to Pivot
Why Certain Designs Work and Others Fail? (in 60 seconds)
LinkedIn’s Secret: Human Minds, Anteaters, and the $821 Million Startup
The Rebrand and The Power of Color
Contact David Brier

Found this helpful? Never miss an issue

Join 7,500+ subscribers who get step-by-step
actionable brand strategies every two weeks


    Ready to defy gravity?

    For over 30 years, David Brier has worked with large and small companies and startups that refuse to blend in and want — not only a brand that has something to say but — a brand that demands to be heard: to defy gravity and rise above the noise. Read More…

    Discipline
    • Branding
    • Rebranding
    • Storytelling
    • Leadership
    • Portfolio
    4 ways I can help you
    • It’s the Entrepreneurs Bible. Yours Free
    • Amazon’s #1 BestSeller “Brand Intervention”
    • Transform Your Business and Brand in 9 weeks
    • Work With Me And My Team :One to One
    Subscribe to my branding insights email and get my free e-book on branding
    Free Branding Ebook - The Lucky Brand
    You Know You Want To!

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube

    Copyright © 2023 · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Log in