8 Companies Sweetening Easter & Passover with New & Creative Chocolate Confections

Spring is upon us and that means Passover and Easter. Both are holidays that signal the season and come with sweet treats. This year we’re seeing not only fun holiday offerings from chocolatiers, but innovations that are impacting the marketplace.

Laurent Gerbaud

In Brussels, esteemed chocolatier Laurent Gerbaud and his team are once again offering their Easter treats exclusively in glass jars. Not only is the packaging a win for the environment because it’s reusable and recyclable, but a win for buyers and recipients as well — locals can bring the glass jars back into any one of Gerbaud’s three shops to receive 10% off their purchases to refill them. In fact, Gerbaud’s customers can bring in any of their own jars, boxes, or tins and receive 10% off their purchase of treats to fill those items; this is the fifth year of the reduce-reuse-recycle initiative.

In addition to his sustainable packaging, Gerbaud has partnered with longtime friend artist Donnatienne Nieus for this year’s seasonal artwork. For the packaging, she’s adapted her drawings — inspired by Alice In Wonderland — for the packaging.

“I love her sense of humor and the delicate clin d'oeil she gives to her drawings,” says Gerbaud of Nieus. “We have collaborated so far on a very beautiful Advent Calendar, Christmas, St. Valentine’s, Easter, and soon summer and autumn, so that the whole year will be illustrated by Donatienne.”

MarieBelle Easter Chocolate Bunnies Lunch Box photo credit MarieBelle

MarieBelle New York

Another chocolatier who incorporates art into her sweet offerings is Maribel Lieberman, founder and CEO of MarieBelle New York. Combining her passion for chocolate and fashion, MarieBelle’s signature 6- and 16-piece artisanal ganache collections are beautifully adorned with colorful artwork; the boxes are festive, too, with a unique Easter design. A bit of whimsy went into MarieBelle’s Double Easter Bunnies Lunch Box, which can be used and enjoyed long after the milk chocolate and dark chocolate bunnies have been enjoyed.

It’s not only artwork that is a result of Lieberman’s passions, but flavors, too. Spring-inspired flavorful bites like mint maltball, lemon shortbread, pastel apricot and natural blueberries are enrobed in chocolate in the Easter Mixed Chocolate Bites.

J Street Chocolate

Julia Street, owner/maker at J Street Chocolate in San Francisco, was inspired by Passover when she created her 72% Miso Matzoh Crack: matzoh and toffee covered in chocolate and dusted with a cacao miso powder. The bar is vegan, and though it’s not certified kosher, it perhaps could be — matzoh, Miyoko’s vegan butter, sugar, cacao beans and cocoa butter round out the ingredients.

Street’s take on chocolate is pretty innovative in its own right… she focuses on single-origin chocolate paired with fermented flavors. Aside from miso, ferments Street works with include koji (an ingredient used in miso, sake, soy sauce and more), sourdough and moromi (a fermented liquid that results from pressing shoyu).

She also upcycles food to use in her chocolate bars, like incorporating unused sourdough bread from Fox and Lion Bread Co. that she turns into crispy bread crumbs for her 74% Sourdough Crunch bar.

Venchi

Sustainability is a part of Venchi’s Easter 2022 collection, which was guided by three key principles: taste, aesthetics and sustainability. On the sustainability side, all of the wrappers for this season’s chocolates are made from at least 70% recycled PET or cotton-blend materials, and traditional polyester ribbons have been replaced by cotton and paper. Additionally, egg holders are made from recycled PET, and the small bags used for mini eggs is made of aluminum. Through these efforts, Venchi has been able to use 6 tons less of virgin plastic this year over 2021 for its Easter collection alone.

Of course, flavor profiles are important, too, and Venchi has debuted new flavor combinations this season, like the new Chocoviarpistachio egg, with white chocolate and pistachio paste with toffee, pistachio grains and nibs. As the name implies, the pink/lavender Raspberry & Nibs Egg will delight with its white chocolate, raspberry and nibs. True connoisseurs will delight in the Brutto & Buono, 30% crunchy and lightly roasted Piedmont Hazelnuts covered in pure milk or dark chocolate.

Éclat Chocolate

Chris Curtin has taken a page out of a few retro children’s books to adorn his Easter collection this season at Éclat Chocolate in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The likes of Peter Rabbit lend a nostalgic feel to the 9- and 16-piece boxes of Peanut Butter Filled Rabbits. As delicious as they are, don’t overlook the colorful, filled Easter Eggs on offer, too, also in 9- and 16-piece boxes with flavors like coconut, hazelnut, cherry and milk caramel ganache.

Bixby Chocolate

Local sustainability is on the mind of Kate McAleer, founder of Bixby Chocolate in Rockland, Maine. In addition to her Easter favorites like Peanut Butter Ganache Chocolate Eggs and Passion Fruit Caramel Eggs, McAleer makes “chocolates with a conscience.” As a company, Bixby Chocolate is committed to verifying that the beans that they use in their chocolates are “ethically harvested to ensure that all workers throughout the production line are treated well.” Additionally, the company is committed to fairness, sustainability, minimal environmental impact and community enhancement.

One way that McAleer and Bixby Chocolate is enhancing their Maine community is by creating their milk and dark chocolate puffins as a nod to their sponsorship of Project Puffin. This cute little chocolate bird is a fun alternative to a bunny this season.

Divine

A different type of innovation is at hand at Divine: they are the first and only Fairtrade, B-Corp premium chocolate company that is co-owned by the farmers. What does that mean, exactly? The cacao farmers from whom Divine sources have board representation, receive dividends, benefit from the company’s producer support & development fund, receive a guaranteed minimum price for their crops regardless of the market, and receive a fairtrade premium to invest in their local communities’ initiatives.

This season, it’s easy to enjoy Divine’s sweet successes through milk, dark and vegan chocolate mini egg and gift sets.

See’s Candies

In regards to innovations in See’s Candies’ Easter collection this year, it comes by way of a popular flavor, and in its production. Fan-favorite Rocky Road is now in egg form, filled with a luscious mixture of walnuts, milk chocolate and marshmallow. The mixture is hand-packed into molds, and, when ready, delicately piped with a white border and adorned with handcrafted roses and rosebuds. It’s a classic design that harkens back to many of our childhoods.

Rocky Road is such a popular flavor among See’s fans that the company has designated “Rocky Road Rooms” in its factories. For such special treatment, you know it’s good!