Whetstone Chocolates in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...

was founded in 1967 by Henry Whetstone and Esther Whetstone. The

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

manufacturer merged with Oakleaf Confections of

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and Niagara Chocolates of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

to form SweetWorks in 2002 before selling all of its stock holdings in the umbrella company in 2004.Peter Guint
Whetstone sells national line, keeps core business
September 15, 2004 St. Augustine.com At the same time it initiated a plan to close its national product line and lay off an estimated 41 employees, while continuing as a manufacturer and retailer in St. Augustine. It started out as a family operation out of a home kitchen and a small ice cream store on St. George Street that remains in the historic business district of St. Augustine as Tedi’s Olde Tyme Ice Cream. The business grew into a factory operation until 2004. According to Whetstone's website it has now "transitioned from making mass produced chocolates to making artisan chocolates".
Whetstone Chocolates website

History

Virginia Whetstone, daughter of the founders, said her father invented many of the production machines used to manufacture candy at the factory off

State Road 312 The following highways are numbered 312: Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 312 * Nova Scotia Route 312 * Prince Edward Island Route 312 * Saskatchewan Highway 312 China * China National Highway 312 Costa Rica * National Route 312 (Costa Rica), N ...

, "such as the machine which mixed chocolate and nuts into their nut cluster product". She said her father later sold the patent and said her brother also developed machines used on the production line and holds U.S. and foreign patents for designs involving chocolate and toy combinations. According to Hank Whetstone, "The chocolate and toy combination products represent an enormous opportunity and we intend to develop this area with partners in the industry."

References

{{Reflist

External links

Whetstone website
1967 establishments in Florida American chocolate companies American companies established in 1967 Food and drink companies established in 1967