Remote Chocolate: How Alaska's Isolation Built a Bean-to-Bar Story

A ski trip brought Ryan and Emily Wiswesser to Alaska. What kept them there was a problem: finding small-batch Alaskan foods to send home to family proved surprisingly difficult. In 2012, they launched Alaska Artisanal, packaging Alaska-grown foods into gift boxes. Pancake mix from Delta Junction. Biscotti from Palmer. Potato chips from Anchorage.

One supplier was Chugach Chocolates, founded in 2011 by two fourth-generation chocolatiers at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood. Alaska Artisanal became their largest customer. When the founders left the state in 2016, the Wiswessers bought the company.

For readers in Sofia, this story carries a familiar shape. A small market. Limited local supply chains. The challenge of building a craft brand when geography works against you. The Alaskan model mirrors how craft makers in Bulgaria think about production: what comes from far away, what comes from next door, and how the combination becomes something distinct.

Learning by Doing

Ryan came to chocolate from finance. He learned the trade by speaking with previous owners and attending training sessions. "Sort of fell into chocolate," he told Alaska Magazine.

Early production was improvised. Two-pound roasting batches. Chocolate poured onto a marble cooling table, cut by hand. On summer days, chocolatiers started at 3 a.m. so bars could set before the room warmed. Chocolatier Kyli Stewart described early batches relying on blow dryers and PVC pipes.

Cacao trees require tropical climate. Every bean travels far to Anchorage: Madagascar, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Vietnam. The company's homepage states the mission plainly: "Alaska has world-class beer, food, and wildlife; we should have world-class chocolate too."

Scaling Without Losing the Process

In 2020, Chugach Chocolates moved into a larger factory in midtown Anchorage. A flow packaging machine increased capacity from 90 bars an hour to 90 bars a minute, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. When some flavours would not run through the machine, the Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership sent a specialist within a week. The cause was identified. Every flavour went on the line.

Each batch of single-origin bars is still hand-sorted, roasted, refined, and tempered over several days. "The Madagascar is really bright and fruity," Stewart said. "Vietnam, you can taste the ashes, like the volcanic ashes."

Alaska as Ingredient

The flavoured bars start with 62% cacao dark chocolate and incorporate ingredients from other Alaska producers. Birch toffee uses syrup from Bridge Creek Birch Syrup in Homer and Kahiltna Birchworks in Talkeetna. Kelp and cayenne bar sources from Kachemak Kelp in Homer. The potato chip bar features Mat-Su Valley potatoes from Alaska Chip Company, the same brand that once supplied Alaska Artisanal's gift boxes.

For the Prince William Sound sea salt bar, the company makes salt from seawater collected by the owners in Whittier. Wild raspberries picked by the couple go into a bar studded with cacao nibs. Spent wort from Brewerks brewery becomes the Beer Crispie. A dark chocolate espresso bar debuted in 2017 as a collaboration with Anchorage's Black Cup.

Distribution in a Vast Place

Boutique shops closed. Summer inventory sat. The company pivoted to direct-to-consumer sales.

A planned storefront was delayed by the pandemic and labour shortage. The tasting room finally opened in April 2023. "It feels like this has been a long time coming," Ryan told the Anchorage Daily News.

Reaching customers across Alaska required creative solutions. Chugach Chocolates partnered with Starboard Cruise Services to bring products to cruise-ship stores. "We're a small chocolate business utilizing local flavors in a state with one of the smallest populations, the largest in-land area, and challenging transportation," Ryan told the Moodie Davitt Report. "Having our products on cruise ships to all reaches of the state has been crucially important."

In July 2026, FinanceBuzz named Chugach Chocolates Alaska's pick for tastiest chocolate shops in every state.

A recent social media post thanked "all the small business that make it possible to do what we do, from the farmers and co-ops that produce cacao, to the local companies that gather and make truly exceptional Alaska ingredients."

Stewart's statement about what comes next: "Alaska is our brand. What's next for us is just continuing to strive to have the best chocolate that is made in Alaska."

Cacao from the tropics. Birch syrup from Homer. Sea salt from Whittier. A gift-box company that became a chocolate maker because the supply chain led there.