A few weeks ago, I received a strange package. It was small enough to be a bomb and big enough to be a bomb, so I took the time to examine it before ripping through the tape (bomb-proof, of course). Messy cursive was scrawled down the side in pencil-dark, milk PMS, huckleberry, caf�, bark - what did it all mean? Just then, my managing editor noticed me pawing at the box like a tinfoil-crazed raccoon.
"It was really hard, but I didn't eat any," she said.
"Eat?" I said. That was all I needed to hear. The box flew open, and inside were several pounds of individually wrapped, intoxicatingly fragrant chocolate bars. For me, this was like being told I had won Publisher's Clearing House by an oil-slick underwear model, and I raced home to commence Chocolatemania 2003 (Part 16).
In an embarrassing amount of time, I polished off nine bars of specialty chocolate. All were more than edible, but a few flavors stood out enough to prompt a personal call to salmon River Foods. Sales Manager Jeanie Brown dished on her favorites and the origins of the company, but specifics were left to founder and chocolate guru, Kay Johnson.
Kay's voice sounded nothing like Gene Wilder's but I couldn't shake the image of Willy Wonka as he shared the history of SRF. After a definitive trip down the Salmon River, he decided to sell his food brokerage business and start a company that catered to white water outfitters. It began with the production of "river music" CDs that expanded to include souvenir chocolate bars. The bars were made with custom labels, and the gift idea caught on across the country.
"Two dollars for commemorative bars instead of $18 for T-shirts - people loved it, and we decided to focus on chocolate," said Kay. He and his associates purchased some commercial equipment, hired a graphic artist and sourced a bunch of German companies for the perfect chocolate. And what started with one basic milk chocolate bar has grown to include two milks, two darks, two semi-sweets, one white, one bitter-sweet and various adaptations involving coffee, berries and spices. The base chocolate is shipped in from Germany, melted and flavored before being tempered (a process that aligns the crystals in molten chocolate to produce the best texture balance of firm and creamy). "It's a high-end process," Kay said. "The chocolate is temperamental, and much like wine, there are many different kinds, qualities and layers of flavor. We try to make ours less sugary and more pure such that chocolate is the first thing you taste."
The chocolate is good regardless (says my pile of crumpled wrappers), but the real charm of the product is its custom labeling. For individual sniggity snacking, Salmon River Chocolates are sold in specialty markets like Crane Creek, City Market and the Co-op, but they are also available for corporate use and celebratory events like weddings, birthdays and graduations. There is a &65 fee for setup and artwork, and the minimum purchase is 150 at $1/bar. Photographs, drawings or digital images can be matted with any text, and the result is a novelty gift that warms the heart and enflames the taste buds.
Kay and I talked about his special Idaho Christmas Bars (featuring an Idaho horseman) and the perks of the business (free chocolate and the mystique of owning a factory), but he emphasized the satisfaction of making good sweets.
"Everybody who works around here loves it," he said. "It's a lot of fun and it's an art."
Article copyright Bar Bar Inc.
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