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When you hear the phrase “most wonderful time of the year”, you probably think of Christmas, right? Well, here at Chuckanut Bay Foods, we think of HALLOWEEN!

And leading the pack of Halloween aficionados is Gina, our beloved Production Manager! Each year, she puts on an elaborate Halloween event, open to the public – with a specific theme, games & activities, and of course tons of Halloween candy… and this year is going to be a good one!

Six Years of Magic

The themes Gina has chosen are always creative – and fully immersive!

The past years have ranged from classic horror to pop culture scares – last year, for example, we visited “Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory” – and the year before was “Raven’s Roost”!

For this sixth iteration of our Halloween House, Gina settled on the theme “Carnival of Clowns”. And this year, there are multiple stations, including four carnival games, a cotton candy booth, a photo booth, the Clown Town Hooch House (hot buttered rum, anyone?) and an outdoor movie theater – and there’s even more we didn’t mention!

The best part? Over 500 carnival prizes, candy for each station, 8 dozen homemade cookies, and plenty of rum to go around!

It Takes a Village

We absolutely love watching Gina put on this event each year – and this year, it’s been especially exciting to watch 3 of our team members get involved as volunteers (both working during the event, and those who took the time to bake cookies)! Additionally, several other businesses in the community have also made contributions that have made a world of difference.

On behalf of Gina (and the rest of our team), a big thank you to Pacific Building Center for their loan of popcorn and cotton candy machines. What a great way to keep the kids happy! (And the adults… no judging here.)

The kids are also going to love the 2500 pieces of candy donated by Windermere Realty – and the pumpkins donated by CostCutter have gone miles in decorating for our Halloween House! We’re so grateful to our community who has come together to make the event an awesome one – especially during a year where nothing moves on as normal!

Creativity and Community

Every good business and event has their WHY – and the Halloween House is no different! Gina loves the reward that comes from

challenging her imagination each year – and the opportunity to create a new idea, filled with wonder and excitement.

But even more importantly, her favorite part is truly the people!

“It feels so good to give to the community. To see the little kids’ eyes light up with curiosity and magic is why I do it – and why I’ll do it until I’m in the dirt,” says Gina.

“Another fun element of this is the reaction I get from the grownups, who are almost as curious and thrilled as the kids – because I believe we all need a little magic, no matter how old we are!”

Join us this Halloween

We are so excited for this year’s Halloween House – and we’re so grateful for Gina and each person who has pitched in to make this year a fun one, for kids and their parents alike!

If you’re looking for Halloween plans, we’d love for you to join us! Our open house is from 5pm-8:30pm, Saturday the 31st! We’re at 608 C St in Blaine.

And of course, we’d like to note that Halloween House is an open-house, outdoor event. We are COVID-compliant and will be implementing six feet of separation, as well as wearing masks and gloves. All treats will be prepared in advance and pre-bagged, so no little hands are at risk.

We’ll see you there!

Picture with us, if you will, a business founded on creativity, melding the best techniques throughout history to create something both new and deliciously familiar. A standard of uncompromising excellence that never fails to inspire and delight – and satisfies that sweet tooth as well.

Curious yet? Meet Chocolate Necessities, a world-class artisan chocolate company that we’ve had the pleasure of building a close relationship with over the years here at Chuckanut Bay Foods. 

Allow us to introduce you to founder Kevin Buck and show you what puts Chocolate Necessities in a league totally their own!

A History of Excellence

Though Chocolate Necessities is based in beautiful Bellingham, WA, their story actually begins in Banff, Alberta. In the early 80s, a young Kevin Buck tasted fine chocolate (from prestige chocolatier Bernard Callebaut) for the very first time while there on a trip…and he immediately fell in love. 

At the time, there were only a few fine chocolatiers outside of Europe, so after his education in fine chocolate, Kevin had to make a decision: if he wanted to pursue creating (and consuming) chocolate fit for royalty, he would have to buy wholesale. And that meant one thing: starting his own business.

The year is 1986 – and Chocolate Necessities has its first retail location. They opened their doors in a small store on the Guide Meridian in Bellingham and it’s still there today. The first truffle created was Amaretto – still a fan favorite to this day!

International Meets Local – A Winning Combination

In order to create chocolate fit for a king, Kevin made the decision to source both locally and abroad, merging the best of both worlds to create something truly special. On the international end, he uses pure Tahitian vanilla for his truffles, straight from the source, and cocoa powder from Holland. 

But when it comes to the little touches that make Chocolate Necessities’ treats so special, Kevin knows the best is right next door. He’s proud to utilize local vendors such as Samson Winery, Holmquist Hazelnuts, Chuckanut Bay Distillery, and locally-roasted Lotus Coffee, just to name a few.

What Real Cheesecake and Real Chocolate Have in Common 

As it turns out, Chuckanut Bay Foods and Chocolate Necessities create different products, but at the same time, we share so much! Kevin Buck and his team share our commitment to using all-natural, 100% pure ingredients – even if sometimes that means having extra hoops to jump through. 

Kevin and our founders both emphasize combining creativity and precision to craft original, joy-inducing products while ensuring they’re consistent – every single time. It’s a science – but it’s also an art!

To Life-Long Friendships & Partnerships

We’re grateful for so many years of friendship with Kevin and his team. They always support our creation, encourage us to try new things, and provide an awesome local company to test out new products!

If hearing the word “chocolate” so many times hasn’t convinced you to treat yourself to North America’s best chocolatier, check out a few of these truffle flavors: Honey Roasted Almond, Mandarin Orange, Balsamic Caramel, and Strawberry Lemonade, just to name a very few. 

Besides truffles, Chocolate Necessities offers a huge variety of dark, milk, white and ruby chocolate products – and their second location in Downtown Bellingham also offers world-class gelato and sorbetto when you need a little authentic Italian refreshment!

We encourage you to indulge in a fine local chocolate company – and grab a fresh, delicious cheesecake while you’re at it! 

Do you love chocolate? We certainly do.

When it comes to treating yourself to a decadent treat, nothing satisfies like chocolate. You can’t help but crave it, love it, and savor every mouthwatering moment it brings to the senses. But there is more to the tale of chocolate than what you’ll read on a candy wrapper or experience with your taste buds. 

Here you’ll learn where our chocolate comes from, who makes it possible, and the steps we take to ensure only ethical practices create this exquisite ingredient. 

“Food of the gods”

While the word chocolate may bring to mind sweet truffles or candy bars, the chocolate of the past was actually a very cherished – but very bitter – beverage. According to written history, the Mayans made thick and frothy chocolate drinks for celebrations and as a way to finalize important transactions. 

Although chocolate was revered in their culture, it was available to almost everyone, no matter their status. Unlike the Aztecs, who believed cacao was a gift from their gods. In fact, the scientific name for the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao actually means “food of the gods.” Aztecs certainly enjoyed their chocolate drinks, but they also used cacao beans as currency to buy goods. To them, these beans were worth more than gold.

Why does eating chocolate feel so good?

Have you ever let a piece of chocolate slowly dissolve in your mouth and felt your heart flutter as if you just received a passionate kiss? This sensation occurs because chocolate contains very small amounts of chemical compounds called tyramine and phenylethylamine, which stimulate your brain cells to release dopamine. No wonder we love chocolate so much!

But it’s not all about the “feel good” factor. When choosing our chocolate, we’re not just looking for a great taste – we’re also looking for products you can feel good supporting. We believe we have a responsibility to our environment, our economy, and the dedicated farmers whose livelihood depends on us. 

From cacao tree to delectable treat

It’s hard to believe the core element of our chocolate truffle cheesecake and chocolate cookie crust actually began as a tropical tree. Cacao trees are native to Central and South America, but the growing area has expanded to West Africa, Southeast Asia, and pretty much any oceanic country located near the equator. These babies love that heat!

Cacao trees produce large pods that grow straight out of the trunk and can be nearly the size of a football. Within these pods lie 30-50 precious cocoa beans which are then left to naturally ferment and dry in the sun, completing the transformation from cacao bean to cocoa bean. Cocoa beans are then shipped to producers to be roasted, ground into cocoa mass, and mixed with sweetness to create the tasty treats that us chocolate lovers treasure.

But there is a vital component of this process that often gets overlooked – the hands that make it happen.

Real people. Real hands. Real lives.

It is important to us that all of our cheesecakes are made by Real people, and it is just as important to us that we support the Real hands harvesting the cacao beans that make their way into our desserts. 

In recent years, disturbing information has surfaced around forced child labor in the production of chocolate. This has only made it more imperative that we continue to maintain our awareness of where our products come from.

Cocoa farms are typically small, family-owned, and passed down from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, poverty is still a big issue as many farmers barely have access to basic things like clean water, health services, or education. 

The worst part? Much too often, cocoa farmers are drastically underpaid. The average price you would pay for a chocolate bar at your local store is likely more than what a cocoa farmer earns in a week. This is unethical, immoral, and frankly, unacceptable. 

Doing our part

At Chuckanut Bay Foods, we only buy chocolate from companies that share our values, engage in ethical practices, and pay these farmers a respectable wage that can support them and their families. We ensure that the money we spend on chocolate goes back to the farmers so they can feed their families and put roofs on their schools. 

Another key thing we look at when choosing our chocolate supplier is their environmental practices. Water conservation, energy-saving, reduction and recycling of waste, and managing environmental risk are essential. We feel we have a role to play in the healing of our planet and want to take every opportunity we can to contribute.

To sum it up… we love chocolate… and every element that creates it.

We love the taste, the way it makes us feel, and all the fun varieties it comes in. But as we have now seen, there is a deeper tale to chocolate than what first meets the eye. It’s a story of a wounded planet trying to heal, a cacao tree lounging in the sun, and millions of humble farmers looking to improve their way of life.

Without them, the chocolate we love so much would not be possible.

Explore all the savory flavors we have to offer