Santa Monica USA

You may think there’s a guy named John Kelly who started it all. A lot of people do.

But it’s actually two guys named John and Kelly. John spent his pre-chocolate career working with luxury retailers and designers in Beverly Hills and New York. So he is uncompromising when it comes to quality and product integrity. He’s the one with the highly visual and creative eye, the one who is always thinking about innovative new products for John Kelly that still feel true to its core values.Kelly came from a world of branding and advertising, managing worldwide campaigns while also indulging his creative side – whether it be cooking, writing or playing the piano. He knows how to bring creative solutions to the table, which he’s literally needed to do, ever since founding John Kelly. He’s the one who likes to find a way to bring an idea to life. And to make sure everyone knows about it. They bring different personalities and different points of view to the company. But they are united in their love of quality and creativity, and their passion to make John Kelly the best it can be.

From humble beginnings, John Kelly Chocolates has grown to a national brand that never forgets what’s really important.

In 2004, on a charming street off Sunset Boulevard, they opened a small chocolate factory in Hollywood. Armed with nothing but determination and a recipe for an amazing, gourmet chocolate fudge, they have since turned John Kelly Chocolates into an award-winning national brand sold in high-end department stores, specialty shops, hotel gift shops, grocers – and online. They now make 17 variations on that original recipe, something they call “truffle fudge”, along with an array of other products, such as walnut caramel clusters, molded chocolates, salted caramels, chocolate-dipped fruit, and more.

You might be wondering, OK, but how did it all happen? And why on earth did we decide to put our hearts and souls into something like chocolate?

The answer is that both of them, John and Kelly, have lived their lives with an appreciation for creativity and high quality, while at the same time enjoying sharing that creativity and quality with other people. And chocolate works on all of those levels – what else can you do in life that has so much potential to satisfy all of your creativity, while bringing so much pleasure to other people at the same time?

They are also not afraid to experiment, even if it carries a little risk. So when they decided to try their hand at owning a business years ago, they looked around at the chocolate that was widely available and knew they could do better. They knew the American palate was becoming more sophisticated, but where was the sophisticated chocolate? Or maybe more to the point – where was the sophisticated chocolate that was actually delicious, unique and more than just pretty to look at?

www.JohnKellyChocolates.com