Fruition Chocolate Works founders Bryan and Dahlia Graham have always gone the extra mile when creating chocolate. Sweet treat enthusiasts in Shokan rejoiced when the pair opened the doors to their 5,000 square foot factory-store along Route 28 in the fall of 2011, and since then the chocolatiers have made it their mission to get hand selected, in-house roasted chocolate confections into the community and beyond.
That’s why when a spot opened up in Eastdale Village, Poughkeepsie’s up-and-coming walkable community, the couple were quick to spot the chance to take their business to the next level. The new shop is set to open on February 1. Eastdale Village has become home to a wide range of distinctive businesses ranging from a high-end cigar vault and an oil and vinegar tasting room to dance studios, luxe salons, and more than half a dozen restaurants. The Grahams had dreamed of joining Eastdale’s community since its early construction phase, donning hardhats to view site plans of potential spaces. After a few false starts, the pair is now “ready to roll” on this opportunity, and brimming with possibilities for creating a foothold east of the Hudson River.
Dreaming big isn’t new for Bryan and Dahlia. When Bryan was just 18 years old and fresh out of high school, he quickly worked his way up the rungs at the beloved farm-to-table restaurant Woodstock fondly remembers as The Bear Cafe, crafting the eatery’s extensive selections of breads, pastries and desserts as the head pastry chef. Later pursuing his passion at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, he found himself particularly drawn to the art of chocolate making. In 2013, Bryan was named Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America by Dessert Professional magazine. Enlisting tools honed by hard-earned experience and fine culinary training, Fruition melds art and science to create a uniquely cultivated treat.
As “bean-to-bar” chocolate makers, the legwork begins long before the cacao beans get to roasting. Farms are chosen from chocolate producing regions 20 degrees north to south of the equator, where the weather is tropical enough for cacao to thrive. “We source from Peru, Ghana, we’ve been down in person to the Dominican Republic,” Dahlia recounts, “we’ve popped pods and tasted the seeds ourselves.” In addition to selecting based off of consistent quality and flavor, Fruition places priority on transparent trade. “We know who’s involved, we vet the sites, we know exactly who’s contributing to the process from the beans to the bar.”
What qualifies as transparent trade? According to Uncommon Cacao, a leading cacao supplier focusing on systemic transparency, “verifiable, published pricing for every transaction related to a cacao purchase along the supply chain, including information about who produced it and where.” Taking these added steps to ensure the beans originate from ethical foundations goes a long way in creating a commodity globally minded consumers can feel good about indulging in.
Similar to their Shokan tasting room, Eastdale shoppers will find all the best sellers such as brown butter bourbon caramels and bourbon 61 percent dark milk chocolate bars made with Hudson Whiskey from Gardiner’s Tuthilltown Distillery. Niche chocolate enthusiasts can even find 100 percent Dark Chocolate, “the black coffee of chocolate,” as Dahlia describes it. “There’s no sugar, so you can really taste the chocolate in a different kind of way.” The retail location will be a “chocolate-centric” full line of everything Fruition makes, including a curated selection of over a dozen non-Fruition brands of chocolate handpicked around the world. “If there’s a flavor we don’t make, you can still find it here,” Dahlia shares, “there’s a bit of everything; mango chocolate, spicy chocolate” mixed in with all the fan favorites, and new products such as the recently launched hazelnut crunch milk chocolate bar and cherry pistachios tumbled in white chocolate coating, a Valentine’s Day must-have.
Dahlia relates the Fruition retail experience as akin to shopping in a wine store, made for thoughtful procurement with a focus on quality and ethical transparency. The chocolate bars range from $12 to $15, the higher price tag reflecting the elevated level of care and mindful curation of each ingredient and flavor. Fruition Chocolate Works has received an extensive list of awards ranging from the 2024 International Chocolate Awards Americas Round, where they secured multiple gold ratings for their Colombia Tamaco 85%, Dominican Nacional Dark Milk 68% and Brown Butter Milk 43% chocolate creations, to the 2024 Good Food Awards for their Cinnamon Maple Bourbon Dark Milk 65% bar. “As we grow, the chocolate gets better.” Dahlia explains, “we learn as we go, we subtly tweak recipes and find new ways of doing things. We’re humbled to be recognized as one of the best chocolate makers out there in terms of our quality.”
There will be a grand opening celebration for the Eastdale Village location, 42 Eastdale Avenue North, on February 1, from 2 to 4pm. The shelves will be fully stocked, with plenty of hot chocolate and samples to be savored with their expanded community.
