If you’ve ever needed a place to acquire Alaskan souvenirs, Alaska Wild Berry Products may have crossed your mind. Alaska Wild Berry is well known not only for high-quality Alaskan souvenir gift baskets, jams and jellies, meats, clothing, various accessories, and other goods but especially their chocolate and impressive chocolate fountain.
Alaska Wild Berry first began around 1946 when Hazel and Kenneth Heath started making jams and jellies with fresh Alaskan berries. The two kept making said jams and jellies until 1973 when Betty and Harry Brundage bought the company. The company was then bought by Peter Eden in 1975. Eden then opened the Alaska Wild Berry store we’re likely all familiar with in 1994, and it wasn’t until 2020 when Eden passed away that the company was then passed down from his hands to an employee of his, Dawee Lor.
When asking Lor what she likes about being the owner here, she states “The creativity of it all is what keeps me going. There’s never really a dull moment, and we’re always trying out new flavors, and we’re always coming up with new items to offer to the public and the community, so that keeps driving me to always offer something for our Alaskan guests and for our locals.”
Upon walking into Alaska Wild Berry Products, one of the first things you’ll come across is the massive 20-foot-tall chocolate fountain. Once you take a closer look, you’ll come to find out that this chocolate fountain contains about 3,400 pounds of melted milk chocolate! This fountain was added to the facility in 1994 (the year this location opened) by Eden with the help of a local engineer from Homer. The chocolate typically stays heated anywhere from 90°F to 100°F at all times, and the copper kettles and lights underneath the fountain aid in keeping the chocolate at those warm temperatures. Interestingly enough, the chocolate doesn’t evaporate like you’d expect water to, but it does like to cling to surfaces (i.e. the copper kettles), which then allows for volume loss. Over the years, a little bit of chocolate has been added to the fountain to fill it back up, but the only time it needed to be added was in the early 2000s. Another interesting fact about this chocolate fountain is that even with the past few massive earthquakes we’ve had in the last few years, the fountain remained intact with no pipes bursting, no damage or breakage, and no large chocolate spills. Please note here that the liquid chocolate in the chocolate fountain is NOT EDIBLE!!! Despite how fun it is to imagine the thought of eating/drinking from a chocolate fountain, you should not follow through with these thoughts for the safety of yourself and others.
Another unique factor in this sweet treat-producing location is the ability to see what the workers in the candy kitchens are making. Don’t you find it fascinating to see how certain treats are made? If so, this is another reason to go and check out Alaska Wild Berry. If you’re lucky enough to be around during another large milestone for Alaska Wild Berry Products, such as the 70th anniversary of the opening of this establishment in 2016, you may have the chance to go into the kitchens and see the whole process up close!
Some other friendly faces you’d expect to come across when first visiting the Alaska Wild Berry Products here in town are a huge stuffed animal brown bear and moose, a real stuffed polar bear standing on its hind legs (which is perfect for taking pictures with), and of course, the lovely and enthusiastic staff working there.
Moving on, some of the items you’d expect to see when you wish to purchase something at this location are clothes items like t-shirts, sweaters, hats, and socks, in addition to intricate glass works, and a variety of other trinkets, typically relating to Alaska. There’s also a little spot dedicated to stuffed animals which is wonderful for anyone interested in a snuggable friend or two. Another highlight in Alaska Wild Berry is the little rock cart that contains a diverse amount of rocks that can be picked through and you can fill as much as you can into a small cloth bag if desired. Adding on to this, there are also a variety of edible goodies such as jams, jellies, smoked salmon, meats, cheeses, Alaskan-themed ice cream, and of course a plethora of sweets and delicious chocolates, the main attraction of today’s location. If you were to ask the current owner of Alaska Wild Berry, Dawee Lor, what her favorite sweets are, she’d likely reply by saying the chocolate turtles (clusters of caramel and pecans that are dipped in chocolate), sea salt caramels, and/or anything with coconut.
Did you know that Alaska Wild Berry can typically go through around 5 to 7 pounds of chocolate samples each day? As you may have guessed, this number greatly increases into the hundreds range in the summer with the number of tourists and locals alike coming in to sample these tasty treats. Another thing you might not have known about the samples is that “… Any kind of boo-boos (the chocolatiers) have in the kitchen end up on the samples tray.” according to Lor. So if the chocolatiers’ pristine chocolate designs aren’t up to the Alaska Wild Berry standards, they’re more than likely to become happy samples for even happier customers to treat their pallet to.
Believe it or not, according to Lor, some of the most bought items here are the jams and jellies (which are in fact made from locally picked berries), along with the chocolates that contain jelly in the middle. Lor even goes on to inform us that they “sell over a thousand pounds of the jelly centers in a year!”
All in all, Alaska Wild Berry Products is a charming place to visit on any given day, so if you ever need some local treats and/or goodies, be sure to stop by!
