Sweet beginnings

In 2010, after 15 years in the industry, sweets-maker Steven Lawrence founded a craft chocolate business called The Chocolate Maker’s Studio, located in Austin, TX. Five years later, he moved back to Portland, and the company was renamed Wildwood Chocolates.

Wildwood was officially founded three years after that, in 2018, when Lawrence and Savage joined forces to introduce high-quality confections to market, drawing upon the lush beauty found in the forests surrounding Portland as inspiration for their intriguing flavor pairings and brand aesthetic. In fact, the brand’s name comes from the Wildwood Trail that runs through Oregon’s Forest Park.

In the early days, the company focused production on 10 of its chocolate bars with familiar flavors its customers know and love today. Soon after, the 11th bar (Yuzu and Roasted Brown Rice) was born, to highlight ingredients and flavors from Japan, where one of Portland's sister cities is located. The brand’s individually wrapped caramel pieces were introduced in 2022 and quickly solidified themselves as consumer favorites, Savage shares.

Courtesy of Wildwood

The brand’s current offerings include artisanal caramels, gourmet drinking chocolate, salted brown butter Texas pecan brittle, and artful chocolate bars that aim to embody the beauty of nature. All of its bars are made from 70% dark chocolate, and some have inclusions such as fruits and nuts, plus confections like caramels and brittles that the brand puts atop the chocolate. Some of its most popular flavors include ones that contain cardamom, such as its Cardamom Honey Caramel Chocolate Bar.

“We combine our dark chocolate with the finest ingredients, like freeze-dried berries, yuzu, or Marcona almonds, or sandwiching sheets of our decadent caramel, for a unique and unforgettable flavor experience,” Savage states. “The most inspiring thing about this business is observing the delight that spreads across a person’s face the moment they enjoy their first bite of a Wildwood caramel or chocolate bar.”

The art of caramel

The company aims to approach caramel and chocolate like an art form, striving to translate the feeling of the Pacific Northwest into confections that feel both grounded in nature and elevated in experience.

“Though we are continually inspired by the lush forests that surround us, our offerings have become a passport to global flavor exploration, highlighting how spices travel across continents, adapt to new cultures, and inspire traditions, all while maintaining classic caramel cravings,” shares Savage.

The company decided to launch individually wrapped caramels because its caramel chocolate bars were so popular, it thought branching out with a caramel-only line would be an interesting experiment—and it has paid off, she notes.

Wildwood offers caramel flavors that aren’t as prevalent in confectionery, such as Chai, Matcha, Cardamom, Rosemary, Ginger Pistachio, and more. In terms of seasonal offerings, the brand’s Berry Berry and Chocolate Raspberry Caramels reportedly are popular for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day. The brand’s caramels are offered in gable boxes of 18 pieces, or smaller artisanal boxes that contain five pieces each.  

Courtesy of Wildwood

The secret to the company’s confections is reportedly in the textural balance—not too soft or too hard, with a satisfying chew and melt in your mouth. The brand accomplishes this by perfecting the temperature and time it takes to cook its caramel, taking into consideration environmental humidity.

“[Our] caramels are becoming increasingly popular. Having launched caramels has also provided us a new outlet for creativity, as we can [move] flavors to market in ways we could not with just chocolate bars,” Savage adds.

Expansion

In the past few years, Wildwood has grown by launching new product lines and scaling manufacturing, particularly with respect to private-label caramel production. Savage recommends growing with craft, versus scaling quickly according to trends.

“Growing with the intention of crafting products instead of responding to hypes and trends comes down to intention and fealty to the inspiration behind the Wildwood brand,” she explains. “Our philosophy is rooted in the ethos of creating artisanal products that taste delicious and look beautiful because they contain the finest quality ingredients and are handmade in small batches.”

The brand is more interested in developing legacy items that ring true to what inspires it—the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest—than responding to global trends, such as the Dubai chocolate bar, she notes, saying she recommends making product decisions cautiously and not on impulse.

Courtesy of Wildwood

This year will see the return of the company’s Blood Orange bar, “long missed due to suppliers not meeting our exacting standards for product quality. We are excited to revisit this flavor with a new supplier whose blood oranges are being specially produced for us without any preservatives,” says Savage. “We will also launch a line of small bars featuring a new set of mold designs that expand upon the illustrated world of Wildwood with creatures that can be found around our namesake.”

Courtesy of Wildwood

Wildwood also has plans to expand its holiday offerings, embark on larger partnerships and collaborations, explore affiliate marketing, and, at some point in the future, move into a larger facility.

The brand also exhibited at the Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) Winter Fancy Faire this past January in San Diego. It participated in the conference’s Discovery Pods, a curated showcase highlighting the Show’s most innovative products, where it presented its “Flavor Journeys” experience—through scent, sight, and taste, attendees were invited to follow the path of a Wildwood caramel from ingredient to final product.

“Caramel and chocolate can be warm, aromatic, layered with nature. They can shift a moment,” says Savage. “When attendees taste Wildwood at Fancy Faire we want them to feel a quiet spark, the comfort of something familiar brought into a new light.”

Recognition and awards

The brand recently was honored in the 15 Years of Good Food Awards, from the Good Food Foundation (now a part of SFA).

Out of the 55 products that garnered the most votes from among a panel of past award-winning companies, Wildwood received recognition for its Cardamom Honey Caramel, Orange Confit & Cherry, and Fennel Pollen Caramel Bar. The Good Food Foundation also does a regular, yearly award, and the brand’s Chocolate Raspberry Caramel is currently (at the time of this writing) a finalist for that recognition, with the winners being announced on or before June 28.

“While we are partial to all of our products, our current obsession is the Chocolate Raspberry caramel, which has been named a Good Food Award Finalist for 2026,” shares Savage. “Chocolate Raspberry is everything we love about caramel. The flavor is indulgent yet composed, luxurious without excess. It’s rich, silky, and comforting, with that unexpected burst of fruit that makes the experience feel alive. When a piece like this resonates beyond our own kitchen, it tells us that people are hungry for flavor that feels considered, not rushed.”

Wildwood also received two Good Food Awards in 2021, for its Cardamom Honey Caramel bar and its Orange Confit with Cherries. Additionally, it was a finalist in 2023 for its Chai Caramel, and in 2024 for its Chocolate Caramel, Chai Caramel, and Runamok Maple Smoked Chili Caramel.

In 2021, the brand was also named a Master Chocolatier by The International Chocolate Salon and cited as “The Best Chocolate in America” by Food & Wine magazine. Additionally, in 2022, it was included in The Today Show’s Gift Guide and won a gold medal for its Cascade Mint Drinking Chocolate in the Chocolate Alliance & NW Chocolate Global Artisan Product Competition.

Sustainability and sourcing

Environmental sustainability is integral to Wildwood’s mission and inspiration. Although still a small company, its founders strongly believe that it should do what it can to be sustainable in its production practices, and to support organizations working towards environmental sustainability when possible.

Courtesy of Wildwood

As a small company that handcrafts its products using the quality ingredients, Wildwood must balance sustainability practices with the realities of production costs, Savage notes.

“We source as many organic ingredients as we can afford to and are particularly proud of the sugar used in our caramel and brittle products, which is U.S. grown and organic,” she specifies. “Many of the other ingredients we use, from our chai to maple syrup, are also organic. Possibly more importantly than sourcing organic ingredients is the fact we use compostable ‘plastic’ wrapping material on our caramels. It's not an all-or-nothing approach, but it's an honest one.”

The brand’s conservation ethos runs deeper than just sourcing. Environmental conservation and wildlife protection aren't marketing angles for Wildwood—they're the mission, Savage adds. Wildwood donates product throughout the year to silent auctions and fundraisers for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focused on conservation, wildlife rehabilitation, and habitat protection. The brand has also made direct financial pledges to local Oregon-based conservation organizations when possible.

Additionally, every April, for Earth Month, the company runs a campaign where customers who donate $30 or more to organizations like Oregon Wild, Crag Law Center, or Deschutes Land Trust receive a discount on their purchase.

Savage and Lawrence say they genuinely see the company’s caramels and its confections in general as an ode to the nearby forests that inspire them, she shares. As the company grows, its intention is to grow more sustainable.

“It's not about greenwashing or checking sustainability boxes. It's about creating something that asks people to slow down and notice, the way you might notice Douglas Fir or fennel on a forest hike, and then channeling that reverence into support for the landscapes that matter to [us],” Savage describes. “It's craft as conservation, in a sense.”