“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.“

–  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Greetings fellow chocolate lovers, and welcome back to Chocolate Connoisseur Magazine! It’s been a minute!

I will tell you, I felt a bit apprehensive as I prepped the re-launch of Chocolate Connoisseur, now here in its third iteration believe it or not (it’s been a long time since that initial debut on the Apple Newsstand way back in 2013)! The apprehension didn’t stem from the business side of things, as the new structure to our publishing removes the insane amounts of stress myself and Rene were both under during that four-year run we wrapped up during the pandemic.

Rather, the apprehension stemmed from the changed chocolate landscape I knew I was about to step into, knowing what’s been lost. Our all-time favorite chocolate maker, Letterpress Chocolate, closed its doors, as did Lillie Belle Farms run by Jeff Shepherd. Between Jeff and David Menkes of Letterpress, those two legends were our “chocolate experts” here at the mag, and two great people well beyond their expert status as well. They are missed.

Tiny House, one of my all-time personal favorites chocolate-wise is gone, along with the once rising international star Wabi Chocolate, plus Ococoa, Cadence Chocolates, heck, even juggernaut Theo underwent massive downsizing recently.

Then there’s the painful loss of Enliven Cacao, one of our favorite mission-driven organizations that we held in such high regard. We definitely lost a lot in the chocolate community over the time Chocolate Connoisseur sat mostly in hiatus.

Can’t wait to bring you the latest Good Food Awards winners next week

Hitting a New Horizon

That said, however, I am still an eternal optimist, so let’s take a look at the beautiful bursts of sunshine here too.

First, a good amount of the great chocolate makers we grew to know and love are indeed still alive and kicking, and some even appear to be thriving despite the chaotic landscape of recent years.

Second – and this is what I love about working in chocolate as a publisher – that means plenty of great people are still making a living by delivering incredible chocolate to their customers. This includes another of our all-time favorites, Goodnow Farms. In fact, Tom Rogan at Goodnow reached out to me upon learning that Chocolate Connoisseur returned, offering words of encouragement right out the gate. It doesn’t take long to remember all of the great things that the wonderful world of chocolate gives us too.

New writers connected with us, old and new readers alike sent personal emails… it’s truly been an uplifting re-launch experience, and I’m very happy with where we’re at now at Chocolate Connoisseur.

Now, I’ll pivot to what we do best here, honoring these awesome folks who dedicate themselves to their craft. And let me tell you, as sad as it was to learn of all the closures, it’s also been incredibly uplifting to see all these familiar faces winning Good Food Awards for 2026! Extra special shout-out to Goodnow Farms for pulling in another win, by the way, whom we’ll be spotlighting in week two of our Good Food Awards coverage.

We’re actually covering the awards in three parts before the actual ceremony on June 28^th, and the first article lands tomorrow, June 15th. Stay tuned, and BIG THANKS to all of you who have sent the “welcome back” messages of positivity over the past couple of weeks. Take three, here we go!

— Eric