Chuck Siegel's Email & Phone

Chuck Siegel: Founder and CEO Having parents who loved to travel and a mother who enjoyed searching for the best chocolates, Chuck Siegel has been exposed to the finest chocolate confections since a young age. His love for chocolate grew as he became familiar with the world of premium chocolate that did not exist in his hometown of Flint, Michigan. During his time in college, he began experimenting with chocolate when he bought a book on truffle making and a block of Belgian chocolate. What started as an attempt to impress a female friend who was a chocolate connoisseur, ended up being a passion of Chuck's that would later define his career. Chuck has been a part of the San Francisco chocolate scene since 1987. He taught himself everything he knows about the art of chocolate making through trial and error until he perfected the confections that are sold in stores today. He started his first premium chocolate company, Attivio Confections, at the remarkably young age of 25 when his friends encouraged him to turn his hobby into a career. New to San Francisco and the chocolate industry, Chuck set out to find people who could help him in the business. With the help of artisan chocolate pioneers, Joseph Schmidt and Alice Mendrich, he learned the skills he needed to start his own company. For over 7 years Chuck dedicated himself to recreating many of our favorite childhood favorites with a decidedly gourmet sensibility. Many products that are now fairly common in the world of gourmet confections were first created at Attivo. These include the Apple?, a giant Granny Smith apple coated in fresh cream caramel, dipped in bittersweet chocolate and then coated with Macadamia nuts or crumbled biscotti as well as the first gourmet s more, featuring an organic graham cracker covered with a slab of bittersweet chocolate and a square of homemade marshmallow. After selling Attivo in 1995, Chuck took a break from making confections to work as a business consultant. He was often times approached by people who were seeking advice on how to start a chocolate company and it was through these consultations that Chuck realized how much he missed making and selling chocolate. Not being able to stay away for long, Chuck founded his second artisan chocolate company, Charles Chocolates, in 2004 where he remains today. With Charles Chocolates, Chuck has set out to redefine the world of fine chocolate confections by using only the finest ingredients, including some of the world's best chocolates, organic herbs, fruits, and nuts as well as the freshest cream and butter. The guiding philosophy that drives both how we make our chocolate and the ingredients we use,? Chuck says, is that I view every chocolate I make as equal to the worst ingredients I put in it. This, combined with his unique sensibility, which marries classic artistry and culinary skill with groundbreaking vision, is the reason that the products being crafted in the Charles Chocolates kitchen are among the most coveted in the industry.