By Rose Lovett, GMFTS Development Manager
Rustic and a little unconventional, Sweet Mountain Chocolate LLC uses local Vermont ingredients for a truly tasty treat. Rather than make a traditional bar, the Westfield-based chocolatier, Jennifer Grace, creates yummy chocolate bites in a range of Vermont-themed flavors.
Jennifer Grace started Sweet Mountain Chocolate LLC just over two years ago with a vision of capturing the sweetness of the Vermont landscape in her handcrafted chocolates. “When I would walk or drive throughout Vermont, I felt the fields smelled sweet, especially when they were freshly hayed, such a lovely natural smell,” reflects Jenn. Incorporating local ingredients is important to Jenn, and means her chocolate captures some of that natural sweetness that the Vermont landscape produces. Ingredients include local maple syrup and Vermont Creamery butter, as well as locally distilled rum for flavoring.
Growing up in southern, NH, Jenn’s hometown hosted the Deerfield Fair, a large agricultural fair that supported area farmers. That appreciation for local farmers and food systems would stay with Jenn her whole life. Her love for cooking and baking was sparked in her undergraduate days at UNH, where she did her work-study in the university kitchen. Chef Les Martin taught Jenn about organic cooking and followed Molly Katchen’s “The Moosewood Cookbook”. Ten years after college, Jen was a nurse traveling around the world on various medical missions. Her appreciation for quality foods and ingredients stayed with her. Traveling through Europe and the Middle East, she was drawn to trying different dark chocolates. During those years, Jenn says, “I developed a deep love and taste for the art of dark chocolate!”
After a career of 30 years as a nurse, Jenn’s dream was to start her own business and pursue her entrepreneurial spirit. Jen says, “I have always loved Vermont, and when I discovered the Northeast Kingdom, I wanted to live here to support Vermont farmers and create my chocolate that would use local ingredients.” Jenn moved to Vermont almost three years ago, settling in Westfield. She started experimenting with dark chocolate concoctions soon after and joined the Vermont Farmers Bureau as an associate member for Orleans County. Jenn shares, “I made my first batch for a local Jay Focus Fundraiser. One of the members liked my chocolate so much, she wanted to send it to her former exchange student in France! I was inspired, this started the whole chocolate-making process moving forward!”
Jenn says her favorite part of her work is the process of getting the dark chocolate to come together. “It is really a beautiful sight when you have a bowl of deep dark melted chocolate. It’s never boring. It has taken a year to get chocolate to blend with butter, rum & maple syrup! Chocolate making is an art & science, chocolate is temperamental, but life can be too! So my chocolate making has evolved over time!”
Jenn first heard about Green Mountain Farm Direct through the Taste of The Kingdom event that GMFTS hosted at Jay Peak in April 2024. Around that same time, she participated in the Maple Festival in Saint Albans. “I was meeting many customers and visitors who suggested I get my chocolate over to the western part of Vermont, Burlington area,” Jenn shares. “Having the opportunity to work with Green Mountain Farm Direct has enabled me to promote and expand to other areas of Vermont. I am very thankful and proud to have my Sweet Mountain Chocolate listed with Green Mountain Farm Direct! Thank you so much for supporting my art and love of making chocolate, it is a great feeling to see the smile it puts on peoples’ faces!”
Learn more about Sweet Mountain Chocolate LLC on the company’s new website.
