Joseph Schmidt Confections was a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

-based

chocolatier A chocolatier ( ; ; ) is a person or company that makes and sells chocolate confections. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other raw ingredients. Chocolatiers work artisanally with pre- ...

, which created gourmet confections with imported Belgian chocolate. The line of confections included

truffles A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Peziza'', '' Choiromyces'', and ' ...

of various sizes, slicks, and mosaics. Joseph Schmidt confections ceased operations in 2009.

History

Early

Joseph Schmidt Confections was started in San Francisco during 1983. Joseph Schmidt, a European-trained baker, opened the store with his partner Audrey Ryan, a European-trained confectioner, and together, they sold baked goods and chocolates. Joseph Schmidt's signature egg-shaped truffle was the company's trademark. In 1985, Joseph and Audrey brought in two partners to grow the business: Jeff Smith, a successful restaurateur and veteran of Nestle, and Duane Papierniak, an engineer. They continued to run the company until 2005, growing the business both nationally and internationally. At different times, Joseph Schmidt products have been available in such

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made ...

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

and

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

in the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, David Jones in Australia,

Takashimaya is a Japanese multinational corporation operating a department store chain selling a wide array of products, ranging from wedding dresses and other apparel to electronics and flatware. It has more than 12 branches in Japan located in 2 region ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, and a variety of locations in Canada. North America includes department stores such as

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

Bloomingdales Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

, and

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...

, and gourmet grocery stores such as

Whole Foods Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined. Examples of whole foods include grains such as oatmeal and rice, fruits, vegetables, dried beans, nuts, seeds, unprocessed meats, and fish. Depending on the context this may sometimes refe ...

Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American grocery store chain headquartered in Monrovia, California, with 597 locations across the US. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California. In 1979, the chain was s ...

and the

Fresh Market The Fresh Market, Inc. is an American chain of supermarkets based in Greensboro, North Carolina. History The Fresh Market was founded by Ray and Beverly Berry on March 5, 1982, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The first store was opened in the f ...

, as well as other independent stores. The company had stores in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco, and in San Jose.

Current

In November 2005, Joseph Schmidt Confections was purchased by Artisan Confections Company, a

Hershey Hershey may refer to: People * Hershey (name), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname Places * Hershey, Nebraska, a village * Hershey, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community, home to the chocolate company * Hershey, Cuba ...

subsidiary, which had previously purchased

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Scharffen Berger is an American chocolate manufacturing company, which was a subsidiary of The Hershey Company after it had been acquired in 2005.Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. In November 2006 Artisan Confections purchased Dagoba, an

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population w ...

-based manufacturer of organic chocolate. Hershey's later began to consolidate the production of Scharffen Berger products in an upgraded factory in

Robinson, Illinois Robinson is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,150 at the 2020 census, down from 7,713 at the 2010 census. Geography Robinson is in the center of Crawford County at . Illinois Route ...

. In early 2009 Hershey's announced plans to eliminate the Joseph Schmidt brand. By July 2009 both the production facility and retail store on 16th Street in

closed, laying off approximately 150 local employees.

References

External links

Joseph Schmidt Confections - website - 2007
{{authority control Chocolate companies based in California Companies based in San Francisco Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area The Hershey Company brands Confectionery companies based in California