Award-winning artisan chocolate shop St. Croix Chocolate Company has been sold.
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Founders Robyn Dochterman and Deidre Pope have sold the Marine on St. Croix business to Jason Moldan of St. Paul, who will take over as head chocolatier and owner in September.
“We had our pick of potential buyers, and we feel very confident Jason will continue St. Croix Chocolate Company’s 15-year legacy of excellence,” Dochterman said in a news release. “He has skills. He has vision. He has the right combination of genuine care for people, craft, and energy. In short, he’s a great match for the chocolate shop and our amazing community.”
Moldan is a retired sergeant major in the U.S. Army Reserve and former tech worker who discovered chocolate making during the COVID-19 pandemic. He established The Chocolate Lab, producing small-batch chocolates and teaching classes at Cooks of Crocus Hill.
“What began as a hobby quickly became an obsession,” Moldan said in the release. “I immersed myself in mastering techniques, sourcing the best ingredients and experimenting with flavors. I’m honored to carry forward the tradition Robyn and Deidre built, while bringing my own creativity to the shop.”
Dochterman, who was a journalist at the Star Tribune prior to establishing St. Croix Chocolate Company with Pope in 2010, has been struggling with arthritis and tendinitis in her hands for several years.
She and Pope, who runs the customer and sales side of the business, will plant and tend a chestnut orchard near their home in the St. Croix Valley.
Dochterman and Pope will be in the shop with Moldan for meet-and-greets from noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 6 and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 18. If you can’t make it, they’ve set up an online memory book on their website where you can share your stories about the shop.
St. Croix Chocolate Company: 261 Parker St., Marine on St. Croix; 651-433-1400; stcroixchocolateco.com
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