Kopper’s Chocolates

July 10, 2009

While in New York last week, we had the rare privilege of being offered a tour of Kopper’s chocolates in Greenwich Village. Kopper’s might possibly be the greatest confectioner that you’ve never heard of – they’ve been making amazing panned chocolates and other quality confections for over 70 years. Remarkably, they still make all of their candy in a loft building in the far West Village; very little manufacturing remains in the area, and most of the buildings on their block have long since been converted to upscale condos. But such is Kopper’s commitment to tradition and to the City of New York that they persevere, fending off multi-million dollar offers from developers on a weekly basis.

A true family business, Kopper’s is run by Jeff and Leslye Alexander, grandchildren of founder Fred Stern, who started the company in 1937. Among their greatest accomplishments is the introduction of the chocolate-covered gummi bear (incidentally, one of the most popular candies we carry) as well as the chocolate-covered espresso bean (copied by confectioners the world over). Jeff and Leslye’s involvement in the day-to-day operation of the business is evident: the day we arrived, Jeff personally showed us around the building like a proud papa, and Leslye let us sample a delicious limoncello confection she had dreamt up on the way to work that morning.

People always tell us that they feel like they’ve walked into Willy Wonka’s factory when they come into our store, and that is exactly how we felt the minute we entered Kopper’s (an impression underscored by Jeff’s uncanny resemblance to Gene Wilder). The tour was a truly memorable experience – we saw everything from the loading dock to  the roof, with its vintage water tower. Much of the work is still done by hand. Kopper’s products have always been extremely popular at our store — Ultimate Malt Balls, Buttercrunch Toffee, Mocha Lentils, and Chocolate-covered Orange Peel, to name a few. And in the next week or so, we will be receiving a shipment of their colored milkies, candy-coated chocolate lentils that pre-date M&M’s! Kopper’s is the type of confectioner that we love to support — they are truly an American treasure.

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