CAMP HILL, Pa. (WHTM) — With Valentines Day quickly approaching, like me, you may be frantically looking for some ‘sweet’ ideas to get for your significant other – look no further than the locally owned Cocoa Creek Chocolates.

The Camp Hill-based Cocoa Creek Chocolates was founded back in September 2020 during the pandemic and is owned and operated by self-taught chocolatier Diane Krulac. Prior to opening Cocoa Creek Chocolates, Krulac had owned and operated a separate artisan chocolate-making business in Mechanicsburg called Brittle Bark, which opened in September 2008.

Krulac says she always had a passion for candy making, and when the opportunity presented itself to make a career out of it, she was all in.

Cocoa Creek Chocolates storefront in Camp Hill (18 S. 18th St. in Camp Hill)

“I enjoyed confectionary candy making a long time ago, and then eventually I had the opportunity to change careers – by choice,” Krulac said. “That was something that I thought would be really fun.”

Recently, near the end of 2022, Krulac closed her Brittle Bark storefront and instead decided to offer some of those popular products from Brittle Bark online, and at her current shop in Camp Hill. Though she and her team of 13 chocolatiers still produce their wide-ranging products in Mechanicsburg – their only retail storefront is at Cocoa Creek Chocolates on 18 S. 18th St. in Camp Hill.

What makes Cocoa Creek Chocolates stand out from all the other chocolates around, is their prioritization of quality, variation, and most importantly, flavor. According to Krulac, she sources all kinds of chocolates from 25 different places around the globe – in areas like:

  • Indonesia
  • Peru
  • Dominican Republic
  • Hawaii
  • South Africa
  • Haiti and many more!

“The Flavor is absolutely what makes us stand out the most. We use pure natural ingredients and all-natural fruit purées in our products,” Krluac added. “We have many purees like passion fruit, grapefruit, blackberry, strawberry, etc.”

The flavor is such a priority at Cocoa Creek Chocolates that Krulac and her team produce all of their products in small batches to ensure freshness, quality, and flavor. According to Krulac, these small batches usually range between 35-140 chocolate max, at a single time.

Garden Party truffle collection

According to their website, Cocoa Creek Chocolates offers a variety of products, such as:

  • Different flavors of Chocolate Bars
  • Different kinds of Truffles
  • Salted or unsalted Caramels
  • Brittle Bark (found on the Brittle Bark website)
  • Specialty chocolate pretzels and Oreos (found on the Brittle Bark website), and a lot more!

In addition to having wide-ranging, unique chocolate options, Cocoa Creek Chocolates also has gift box options for customers to choose from. According to Krulac, every box of chocolates that is sold comes with an original, personalized story that relates back to the chocolates themselves.

“We tell stories without chocolates,” Krulac said. “Our story cards are packaged with every product that goes out the door.”

For more information on what Cocoa Creek or Brittle Bark have to offer, you can visit their websites at www.cocoacreekchocolates.com and www.brittlebark.com

Until Valentines Day, Cocoa Creek Chocolates retail store will be open: Tuesday – Friday 10a.m. until 4p.m. and Saturdays 10a.m. until 3p.m. After the holiday, their hours will go back to Tuesday – Saturday 10a.m. until 2p.m..