our roots

The Hart family first became involved in the food business in 1989 making their own Maple Syrup as North Coast Sugarbush by tapping the trees on the family farm. Dennis Hart, first generation in the food business, offered maple products to the public through various trade shows in the area. As he attended the shows, he added cinnamon roasted nuts to his menu. This was the foundation of the next company he started, European Gourmet Almonds, a venture which he included his children Brian, Craig, and Eric.

After much success as a small family business, we added gourmet chocolates and fudge to our product line. In 2004 we opened The Buckeye Chocolate Company in Newbury OH, making hundreds of different confections. In 2014 we purchased our own 20,000 square foot building in Middlefield OH to start the next chapter of our business.

Buckeye Chocolate Cafe

Buckeye Chocolate Cafe was founded in 2013 in Middlefield OH. Our cafe offered gourmet chocolates and gift baskets, espresso and coffee bar. We had much support from our community. We opened another cafe in Chardon OH in 2014 and added food to our menu. We had tremendous demand for our concept and soon became a staple in the community. In 2019 we opened a third cafe in Bainbridge OH that mirrored the concept in Chardon. We now roast our own coffee each week in Chardon and continue to enjoy our small business in the community.