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From the get-go, Adam and I knew that craft chocolate was totally different from mass-market chocolate. We were using the best ingredients on earth with the highest quality possible. It was this really elevated chocolate experience, but made with simple ingredients. And we wanted our packaging to reflect that: high-quality, simple, elegant. Back then, if you walked into a grocery store, everything in the chocolate section was glossy. Gold, black, super shiny. That just wasn’t us. To reflect who we were, we went in a completely different direction. In those early stages, we were literally wrapping chocolate bars in wallpaper and using generic molds, over-the-counter items, to make something that still felt thoughtful and elegant. But when we realized this business was actually going somewhere, we knew we had to start taking ourselves seriously. That’s when we got inspired by more art-forward branding. I come from a family of artists, so I wanted it to be beautiful—detailed but still simple. We used textured paper and pen-and-ink drawings by my illustrator brother Garrett Taylor that told our story. They tied into our background as carpenters and connected us to a sense of place here on the Humboldt Bay. All of those things came into play. The brand has evolved over the years, but what we’ve created is something I’m really proud of and it still feels true to who we are. It’s timeless. Dustin Taylor (Owner/Creative Director) |
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HAND CRAFTED PACKAGES
Packaging made with upcycled trail maps and home printer labels helped get our first bars out into the world. In the early days, every bar was wrapped by hand in a gold foil wrapper and ornamental paper. Back labels were glued one at a time and each package was finished with a band featuring our iconic logo.
AN HOMAGE TO TRADITION
After the first year, we needed to stand out. Everything else in the market seemed shiny and slick. We wanted our packaging to reflect the simplicity and elegance of our high quality ingredients. White linen paper, hand sketched artwork and traditional letterpress packaging fit in perfectly with our approach to making single-origin batches of craft chocolate.
The sailing themed graphics on our envelopes connect us to our carpentry background. Building a sea worthy vessel symbolizes the pinnacle of wood working craftsmanship while tying us to the Humboldt bay’s boat building past. We partner with printers to provide high quality envelopes that feature our original nautical illustrations.
TRUE CRAFTSMANSHIP
We acquired a vintage letterpress machine and switched to custom chocolate molds with the decorative argyle patterns that you see on our bars today. We also introduced a flow wrapper to ensure the utmost quality. When you open one of our sealed bars you are going to experience the freshest flavor.
