Bissinger’s Handcrafted Chocolatier is expanding in St. Louis, increasing production space while maintaining its hand-dipped chocolate techniques. The larger facility will accommodate more artisans and new public areas, aiming to make the Candy Kitchen a neighborhood gathering spot. The expansion is designed to increase output while preserving the small-batch style that customers expect.
“As long as I’m here, Bissinger’s will stay in St. Louis,” Chief Chocolate Officer Dan Abel Jr. said, as the company outlined fresh production space and plans for a coffee shop, a speakeasy-style bar and a future event venue. Abel told Sauce Magazine that the expansion grew out of years of conversations with neighbors on The Hill and is meant to scale production without losing craftsmanship. The profile in Sauce Magazine lays out how the updated factory is designed to keep the focus on hands-on chocolate work.
The company says its chocolates are still made by hand in St. Louis and that retail and wholesale spots are supplied from the Candy Kitchen on The Hill, according to Bissinger’s. Store listings show locations ranging from the Hill facility to boutiques outside the Midwest, giving Bissinger’s a national reach that is still anchored in its St. Louis production base. Centralizing the work allows the chocolatier to keep small-batch recipes and regionally focused items in house rather than outsourcing.
Small lines, big variety
The revamped factory floor is set up around eight smaller production lines, each reportedly run by three-person artisan teams that can turn out eight to ten different confections per day. That structure lets Bissinger’s rotate offerings quickly and protect the kind of variety that big automated systems often trade away. The company notes that when you crack open a 25-piece Bissinger’s box, you often will not find two chocolates that are exactly the same…