Kennebec Chocolates:
Sweet Retreat
by Michelle Troutman

Like the ingredients in their creations, Kennebec Chocolates owners Andrew and Jennifer Dumond are a team that melds together as one.

Beneath the chocolate, the sugar, the butter, and the cream, mix equal parts passion, commitment, and an eye for detail. "It's made with love – seriously," says Andrew.

"She'll go through several recipes before she gets it right,” he continues. “I've got one wholesale account that will say, 'Can you match this taste?,' and we'll work it until we can, or make it until it's better. Yeah, twice we made it better. It's all about science, math –“

"—Chemistry," adds Jennifer.

"That's where she comes in. Once she gets it down, gives me directions, I can make it."

They met five years ago; Andrew was a frequent customer Jennifer served while she moonlighted as a waitress.

Upon graduating from college, Jennifer struggled to find a job, ending up selling clothes at Filene's. She decided to use her experience working at Fedele's Chocolates in Pembroke, Massachusetts during high school and college to open Heart of Maine Fine Chocolates in 1996.

In 2000, after the Skowhegan store closed, she opened Kennebec Chocolates in Augusta, and about six years later, the Dumond partnership expanded to a Waterville branch.

Operating from a brick building between two banks, across from The Center in downtown Waterville, their green and yellow logo decorates the front window. Inside, around the window are small tables with chairs for people to sit and drink coffee and eat chocolates.

Jars of candy fruit slices sit atop a case of "Classic Chocolates" carefully arranged on small platters in cups: raisin clusters, orange sherbet, vanilla, and dark chocolate butter creams, almond, caramel, pecan, and pineapple barks, rum truffles, cherry cordials, and the like. Another case is filled mainly with sugar-free chocolates, cashew clusters, peppermint patties, orange jellies and almond butter crunch, milk-almond clusters, mint truffles, and chocolate-covered cherries. These can be purchased by the piece or by the pound.

Along a side wall are shelves and a table below them with sets of molded chocolates geared to hobby and career themes. A "dance recital" set has chocolate ballet shoes, a music set contains a tiny keyboard, tuba, violin, and trumpet, the firefighter kit comes complete with ladder, fire hydrant, badge, helmet, and fire truck. The police box includes a pair of chocolate hand cuffs.

Beyond the confections, they offer Italian ices, popular during the 3-on-3 basketball tournament, in orange cream, blue raspberry, cotton candy, mango, and lemon. They plan to sell four flavors of coffee at a dollar a cup. Andrew says, "I'm hoping that catches on this fall, and that people realize we have that. So, we set up the tables so they can rest and have a cup of coffee, with chocolate."

They make and sell milk chocolate, white chocolate, and dark chocolate, including a 72% variety. Big sellers include English toffee, peanut butter cups, and turtles. Chocolate-covered cherries are popular at Christmastime and Valentine's Day; fudge sells in the summer. "Of course, that fudge is truly homemade," says Andrew.

The business, from the chocolate and candy making to customer service, is conducted with a personal touch; the confections are cooked to the taste. Except for an enrobing machine that coats them, the chocolates are handmade and hand-packaged, and the ingredients hand-picked.

"We use the best chocolate that's out there," says Jennifer. "We use the best butter. We don't use margarine. We use whole cream, that kind of stuff. We don't go for the second-rate ingredients that have got to be cheaper."

As for the chocolate and candy making, Andrew explains, "There's no kits, there's no pre-mix. It's made from scratch. Everything, even the candies, are all made in copper pots. A lot of people say that it's all hand-stirred, but they've got a machine with a paddle on that does it. Ours is all done by hand."

The hand-dipped chocolate making process involves melting chocolate at certain temperatures to smoothen it or temper it, and adding the ingredients, cooling it at the right temperature, and later reheating.

The chocolate creams are slightly more involved, requiring two days of work. They cook the syrup, pour it into a machine, and let it set. Then they beat the mixture, add flavorings, knead it, cut it, and let it set overnight. The next day they are dipped in chocolate.

If these steps aren't done correctly, the chocolates turn out dull or the creams are too grainy, they're considered bad batches.

As Andrew says, "It's all about my name, our reputation. It's not about a big profit, because if we're in this to make a big profit, we need to close the doors."

Riding the healthy eating trend, chocolate is now touted as a mood lifter. Studies suggest that flavanoids, antioxidants in dark chocolate and red wine, help boost brain function and lower blood pressure and cholesterol. The cocoa butter contains stearic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. But the high fat and calories in some chocolates lead experts to recommend eating in moderation. More studies are being conducted to find out if flavanoids can kill cancer cells.

Sometimes just the mere thought of chocolate can make people happy, apart from the effects from eating it. Says Andrew, "Here, it's nice -- people smiling when they come in. Somebody comes in that's kind of grumpy, 'Hey, you want to try a piece of this? It's on me.'"

Right now, the Dumonds are molding and dipping for Christmas. "We're both in the kitchen probably about six hours a day at least," says Jennifer. In the weeks before Christmas, those sessions can stretch between eight and ten hours a day.

Christmas and Valentine's Day remain their busiest holidays, followed by Easter and Mother's Day. Halloween is their lead-in before the Christmas season. Customers buy items for Halloween parties, such as party favors; parents, neighbors, and grandparents will buy unique chocolates for their favorite kids.

Asked what they like best about the business, “The fact that I love my boss,” Andrew replies. “I like the fact that if anything good happens, it's because we made it happen, our people made it happen. If anything bad happens, we made it happen. We fix it."

In the end, the people also make it a rewarding experience. "I like working in a business where 99.9 percent of the people are happy," says Andrew. Jennifer adds, "And the ones that aren't, you can pretty well send them on their way happy."

The 108 Main St. store is open Monday through Saturday, 9am to 5pm. The store at 10 Western Ave. in Augusta is open Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm and Saturdays 9am to 4pm. In December, both stores are open seven days a week; call for extended hours. For more information, or to place orders, call 877-7711 or 621-2200, or visit their new Web site, www.kennebecchocolates.com.

Visit the Meet Me Downtown home page to read our other business profiles.