Chocolate Worth Slowing Down For

Micelli Interviews Wildwood Chocolate

 

Somewhere along Portland's Wildwood Trail, between a stand of Douglas fir and a patch of wild fennel, a chocolate company found its brand. The trail is the namesake, the muse, and, in a very literal way, the design brief: every bar and caramel Wildwood makes is meant to feel like something you might discover on a walk if you slow down enough to notice it.

That idea has carried the company from a lineup of ten chocolate bars to an award-recognized collection of bars, caramels, and drinking chocolate, and into the pages of publications from Food & Wine to Good Housekeeping. We sat down with the Wildwood team to talk about where the idea started, why they refuse to chase trends, and how intricate mold design became central to the Wildwood experience.

A Trail That Became a Brand

Wildwood was founded in 2018, when Rebecca Adams Savage and Steven Lawrence joined forces to bring the highest quality confections to market. Steve, the company's co-founder and chocolatier, arrived with more than 28 years of experience managing chocolate confection production, including his own craft chocolate business, The Chocolate Maker's Studio, which he started in 2010.

The first collection was ten chocolate bars, many of them the flavors customers still know today. An eleventh followed soon after: Yuzu and Roasted Brown Rice, a nod to Japan, home to one of Portland's sister cities. Individually wrapped caramels arrived in 2022 and quickly became fan favorites. This year, the Woodland Collection adds a line of personal-sized bars with six new designs, including Nightfall, a 70% solid dark chocolate bar.

A Passport in a Bar

Ask the team what shapes their approach beyond chocolate, and the answer is a mix of forest and map. The Pacific Northwest provides the visual language, but the flavors travel. Wildwood's offerings, they say, have become "a passport to global flavor exploration," tracing how spices cross continents, adapt to new cultures, and inspire traditions, all while keeping the classic caramel and chocolate cravings intact.

That curiosity shows up in pairings few others are making: cardamom and honey, yuzu with roasted brown rice, fennel pollen. "What drives us is creating flavors that few, if any, others are creating," the team says. The next experiment is a soy sauce caramel. It's an unexpected idea, they admit, but they love Japanese flavors and are excited about where the taste could go.

Designed to Be Discovered

 

For Wildwood, the experience of a bar begins long before the first bite. "The discovery that begins with the eye is met by the discovery of the first bite," the team explains, "and the flavor lives up to what the design promised."

Even the packaging is built to showcase the bar itself, and one journalist recently described Wildwood's chocolate as "part art, part confection, and pure dopamine," a line the team is proud to claim. A great deal of their time goes into designs that strike a balance between craft and haute couture, with delicate creatures and patterns worked into every piece, drawing on the Wildwood Trail and the team's travels.

They also invite customers to take a closer look. With the newer bars especially, they encourage people, through newsletters, social media, and direct conversations, to turn the bar over and discover the design on the back. "Inviting people to slow down has become something of a signature for us."

Where the Design Meets the Mold

 

Designs this detailed need a mold maker who can keep up, and that's where Micelli comes in. "That's why finding a mold maker like Micelli who could work at that level was essential for us," the team says. "Our molds have to reflect the same originality as what's inside them."

The work is technical: translating Wildwood's illustrations into mold designs, then finding the right depth so every detail comes through on the finished bar. "Micelli is a true partner," they say. "The design and production team brings our dreams to fruition. Without Micelli, we couldn't let our imagination run, nor would we be able to develop the incredibly unique trademark designs for which we are known."

A Bar Built for Celebration

 

If one bar captures the Wildwood spirit, it may be Berry Berry, one of the company's most loved and a recent winner of Best Premium Chocolate in Good Housekeeping's snack awards. It's shaped into small hearts for Valentine's Day and has joined the new Woodland Collection.

The team describes it as a bouquet in bar form: a favorite for Valentine's Day, but just as often chosen for bachelorette parties and Mother's Day, and meant to be enjoyed with a glass of rosé, a cup of tea, or a mug of hot chocolate. That sense of gifting is what keeps the work exciting. Wildwood bars turn up at baby showers, weddings, and holidays, and sometimes as a last-minute airport souvenir. "Every time we send one out, we think of the many moments and the many lives it will touch."

Craft as Conservation

 

Environmental sustainability sits at the heart of Wildwood's mission. It's right there in the name. As a small company that handcrafts everything, the team balances that commitment against the realities of production costs, and they're candid about it: "It isn't an all-or-nothing approach, but it's an honest one."

In practice, the sugar in their caramel and brittle is U.S.-grown, regenerative, and organic. Many other ingredients, from chai to maple syrup, are organic as well, and the caramels are wrapped in compostable material. Beyond sourcing, conservation is treated as the mission itself rather than a marketing angle. Wildwood donates product throughout the year to auctions and fundraisers supporting habitat protection, makes direct pledges to Oregon-based organizations when it can, and each April runs an Earth Month campaign offering customers a discount when they donate to groups like Oregon Wild, Crag Law Center, or Deschutes Land Trust.

Growing on Purpose

 

The company's goals are as intentional as its designs. Wildwood wants to grow by crafting products rather than responding to hype, staying true to the inspiration behind the brand. The plan is to keep pushing caramel in a more botanical, modern, and sensory direction while keeping chocolate rooted in elegant simplicity, and to expand the world of Wildwood with a line of small bars featuring new illustrations.

Asked what they'd hope someone discovering the brand fifty years from now would say, the team's answer is a quiet counterpoint to modern life. "We would hope they'd say that Wildwood gave them a reason to reconnect: to nature, to time, and to themselves and to those for whom they care." In a world leaning toward screens, fast consumption, and same-day delivery, they hope to offer a reason to slow down, to explore, enjoy, share, and be present with the people around them.

Advice for Aspiring Chocolatiers

The team's advice for newcomers is refreshingly practical. They favor legacy products that ring true to what inspires them over chasing global trends, and they recommend making product decisions cautiously rather than on impulse.

"I could have said something cliché like 'just go for it!' but my real answer is to understand your market and competition, determine if there is a customer base and a need, and what sets your idea apart from others. Be able to envision growth, and approach your business cautiously… don't go out and mortgage your house… make fiscally responsible decisions that allow room for your business to grow."

For The Love of Making Chocolate is proud to spotlight makers like Wildwood Chocolate, where nature, design, and patience come together to make chocolate worth slowing down for.

Follow Wildwood Chocolate on Instagram and Facebook! @wildwoodchocolate

Read the original interview at Micelli's "For The Love of Making Chocolate" here