SCHARFFEN BERGER ROLLS OUT INNOVATION ACROSS THEIR PORTFOLIO

America's original craft chocolate maker expands offerings featuring on-trend ingredients including Oat Milk, Coconut Sugar, Maple Sugar, Dried Cherries, Almonds, Coffee, Toffee, Sea Salt and more

ASHLAND, Ore., Feb. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, America's original craft chocolate, is rolling out a host of new products across their portfolio designed to deliver more flavor, more ways to bake and entertain with chocolate, more on-trend options and more convenience to consumers. As promised in fall of 2022, Scharffen Berger is expanding on their core line, keeping the signature quality Scharffen Berger blend consistent with the past while expanding upon their legacy baking and bar offerings. In addition, the brand is launching Chocolate Provisions by Scharffen Berger, chocolate flats perfect for charcuterie boards, pairing parties, or simply snacking.

"Our team has accomplished a great deal in the past six to eight months, and I am so proud to follow up our announcement in October around the new branding, packaging, staff, and general direction for the business with this next bit of news about our innovation and expansion," said JP Mackey, president and chief sales officer for Scharffen Berger. "The innovation builds upon the history and quality of Scharffen Berger that has existed since the late 90's. These new flavors, new packaging formats and new product line are going to help us return this time-honored brand to its rightful leadership position among the innovators in chocolate."

The new direction for this time-honored brand was set in motion when Scharffen Berger was returned to private ownership in 2020. Since then, the company has debuted new branding, shored up the leadership and commercial team with "experienced entrepreneurs" to ensure quicker routes to success and are now expanding their top-tier fine chocolate portfolio to meet the needs of today's consumers and retailers.

Mackey continued, "We've got two brand-new chocolate chunk varieties—an Oat Milk Chocolate with Coconut Sugar and a Dark Milk Chocolate with Maple Sugar—plus we've re-packaged our entire chunk line in convenient, resealable stand-up pouches that will showcase the premium nature of the brand on shelf the way a fully craft made baking chocolate should be. We've added four delicious new flavors to our classic 3 oz. bar line, and we've officially invited chocolate to the charcuterie board with the launch of our Chocolate Provisions line. The best news is, we're just getting started!"

Scharffen Berger's chocolate maker, Ray Major, said, "I am immensely excited about all of our new product introductions. Our reputation was built making the finest dark chocolate. To these we eventually added a superb milk chocolate, and now finally all the stops are out as we add unique combinations of the highest quality ingredients to our chunks and our classic 3 oz. bars."

NEW Scharffen Berger 3 oz. Bar Flavors

Scharffen Berger's core line of three-ounce bars—currently offered in 41% Cacao Extra Rich Milk Chocolate, 62% Cacao Semisweet Dark Chocolate, 70% Cacao Bittersweet Dark Chocolate and 82% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate—welcomes four new flavors with irresistible ingredients into the family of top-quality offerings.

• 41% Cacao Milk Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt
• 41% Cacao Milk Chocolate with Toasted Coconut and Coffee
• 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate with Cherries, Almonds and Sea Salt
• 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate with Salted Almonds and Toffee

Major added, "I love all of these new flavors, each of which delivers an amazing eating experience, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the 41% Cacao Milk Chocolate with Toasted Coconut and Coffee, mostly because the incredible coffee it contains is sourced from the same valley where we source our Colombian cacao."

NEW Scharffen Berger Chocolate Baking Chunks

Scharffen Berger's signature baking chunks are specially formulated for optimum meltability, resulting in pools of melty goodness in every cookie. The current line, which features 62% Semisweet Chocolate Chunks and 70% Bittersweet Chocolate Chunks, adds two bold new expressions, which open up a world of possibilities for dairy-free or plant-based baking.

• 43% Cacao Oat Milk Chocolate Chunks with Coconut Sugar—dairy-free milk chocolate that performs like its milk-based counterpart, with all the same melting properties and Scharffen Berger's signature richer, deep flavor profile.
• 55% Cacao Dark Milk Chocolate with Maple Sugar—love milk chocolate but want a little more oomph? Or love dark chocolate but wish it were a bit more mild? Get the best of both worlds with this high cacao content milk chocolate chunk with maple sugar to tone down the over sweetness with losing a bit of the creaminess.

"I was overcome with excitement to see how well the 43% Cacao Oat Milk chunks performed as a baking chocolate. I treated it just like the 41% Cacao Extra Rich Milk chocolate and it held up to expectations," said Sarah Pineda, professional pastry chef and Scharffen Berger recipe developer. "Having a dairy-free milk chocolate will be a game changer when it comes to creating something that will fit the needs of people with dietary restrictions while at the same time taste amazing."

In addition, the full line of baking chunks will now come packaged in stand-up, resealable pouches for convenient use and storage of leftovers as well as ease of display on retail shelves.

NEW Chocolate Provisions by Scharffen Berger

Scharffen Berger is bringing bite-sized chocolate to the party with the launch of Chocolate Provisions by Scharffen Berger. This all-new product category features 20 chocolate flats (9 g) packed in a cracker-like sleeve box, delivering a sweet solution to building charcuterie, cheese, dessert and brunch boards. Flavors available now include:

• 41% Cacao Simply Milk Chocolate—this is a rich, creamy and luxurious chocolate treat. With extra cacao and hints of caramel, these flats feature less sugar than most milk chocolate.
• 41% Cacao Milk Chocolate with Cacao Nib Crunch—silky milk chocolate with the added crunch of cacao nibs makes these flats irresistible.
• 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt—enjoy this flavor's bright fruitiness and long, smooth finish.
• 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate with Toasted Coconut and Almonds—the toasted coconut and almonds add complexity to these balanced dark chocolate flats, giving a little extra oomph to mild cheeses and complementing fruits, nuts and charcuterie.
• 82% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate—taste rich notes of dried figs, red currants and sour cherry and a mild, peppery spiciness that lingers on your palate.

All of Scharffen Berger's new innovations are available now at www.scharffenberger.com and will be hitting store shelves soon.

About Scharffen Berger

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker has been blending America's original craft chocolate since 1996. Founded by winemaker John Scharffenberger and fine food enthusiast Robert Steinberg, Scharffen Berger pioneered the bean-to-bar chocolate movement in the U.S., employing a craft process that is still in place today. Headquartered in Ashland, OR, Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker crafts a select assortment of fine baking bars, baking chunks, chocolate bars, Chocolate Provisions Chocolate Flats and all-natural cocoa powder. Scharffen Berger chocolate is sold at premium grocers and specialty food shops across the US and online at www.scharffenberger.com. For more information, visit www.scharffenberger.com.

SOURCE SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Maker