Lake Champlain Chocolates offers sweet indulgences that capture the
essence of Vermont, the tradition of making fine chocolate, and the
pride that goes into each bite. It started with a dare in 1983, in the
kitchen of the Ice House Restaurant in Burlington. Every year, Jim
Lampman would buy his staff fancy chocolates as holiday gifts. One year,
his pastry chef confessed that the chocolates were pretty mediocre. So
Jim dared him to make something better. Together they began making
Lake Champlain Chocolates offers sweet indulgences that capture the
essence of Vermont, the tradition of making fine chocolate, and the
pride that goes into each bite. It started with a dare in 1983, in the
kitchen of the Ice House Restaurant in Burlington. Every year, Jim
Lampman would buy his staff fancy chocolates as holiday gifts. One year,
his pastry chef confessed that the chocolates were pretty mediocre. So
Jim dared him to make something better. Together they began making the
most amazing, hand-rolled, creamy truffles. And the rest, as they say,
is history.
Today, Lake Champlain Chocolates is a
multi-generational family business, just like the generations of
Vermont family farms where they source fresh butter, cream, maple syrup
and honey. And like the generations of cacao farmers in places such as
the Dominican Republic and Guatemala with whom they have direct
partnerships. Today, Jim’s son and daughter, Eric and Ellen, are
defining the future of Lake Champlain Chocolates by developing
award-winning organic products and spearheading sustainable sourcing
initiatives.
