How Sted Foods Interprets Minnesota Roots with the Cacao of Latin America

Josh and Kristin Mohagen photo credit Sted Foods

Fergus Falls, Minnesota (population 14,029), is over 2,000 miles away from the tropical climate where cacao flourishes. But Sted Foods has managed to create artisan chocolate bars that evoke both the terroir of the farms where the cacao is grown as well as the small Minnesota town where it’s transformed into uniquely flavored bars.

History of Sted Foods

French Grey Sea Salt bar photo credit Sted Foods

Sted Foods was founded in 2013 by husband-and-wife team Josh and Kristin Mohagen as Terroir Chocolate. Kristin first fell in love with the creative potential of chocolate during a yearlong pastry and baking course, and Josh’s business degree helped the couple achieve their dream of launching an artisan chocolate company. The company has come a long way from its origins in the basement-turned-commercial kitchen in Kristin’s parents’ farmhouse, and today it has expanded to a 7,000 square-foot facility with about 30 employees.

“The company is growing and expanding, so it was time for a name that can go national and is easy to pronounce—Terroir is not!” says sales coordinator Hayley Bouressa of the recent name change. “‘Sted’ is Norwegian for place. We’re focused on where the ingredients are sourced from, where we make the chocolate, and where people can enjoy it.” It’s also all organic.

Bean-to-bar chocolate makers are few and far between in Minnesota, and Sted Foods was among the first. The company sources cacao beans from two farms in the Dominican Republic, El Valle and El Ramonal, via fair trade company Rizek Cacao.

“Our chocolate is very taste-forward,” says Bouressa. “It’s been great to see people experience a totally different type of chocolate...A bar like this is heavy on cacao, and the cacao itself has more flavor to begin with—it’s an interesting, lovely flavor, even without sugar.”

Finding Inspiration Rooted in Minnesota and Beyond

Sted Food chocolate bars photo credit Sted Foods

In addition to the terroir of the cacao, some flavors are informed by Kristin’s Norwegian heritage (shared with many Minnesotans), like the cardamom krumkake cookie bar inspired by a traditional Norwegian wafer cookie.

“We make a giant, flat flaky cookie and break it up and put it into the bar,” says Bouressa. “All of our flavors are gluten free, so the cookie is made with rice flour.”

Minnesota flavors are also combined with cacao in the Caramel Crack bar, which features toffee made with Minnesota-produced maple syrup. Other bestselling bars include Mint Mocha, Almond Maple Brittle, and French Grey Sea Salt. Bouressa is partial to the scorpion pepper, which balances dark chocolate with the heat from Trinidad scorpion peppers. “You first take a bite and it tastes one way, then it starts to change on your tongue,” she says. “It’s like taking a sip of wine.”

Chocolates and map photo credit Sted Foods

Even the product packaging highlights Sted Foods’ sense of place, with a drawing of downtown Fergus Falls as well as a map showing how the chocolate is made, starting with the farms where the cacao is sourced. Although Sted Chocolate is now distributed to hundreds of stores across the United States, it’s still a standby for Fergus Falls retailers, just like it has been since the beginning. According to Bouressa, “When I talk to our longtime direct customers, they say they have to keep it stocked in their house at all times!”