Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Co. to open warehouse

Move brings total footprint to 50,000 sq. ft.

The Abel family continues to grow its St. Louis-based chocolate business. Pictured, from left, are Dan Abel Jr., v.p. of operations; Christina Abel, co-founder; Dan Abel Sr., president and ceo; Rosalie Abel, v.p. of finance; and Christopher Abel, v.p. of production.

St. Louis-based Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Co. (CCC) is once more in need of space, space, space.

Dan Abel Jr., v.p. of operations, said the 37-year-old confectionery company plans to open a new warehouse and distribution center three doors down from its 30,000-sq.-ft. production facility on The Hill, an Italian neighborhood on St. Louis’ southwest side.

Work to make the new facility suitable for CCC’s needs will begin in May, and it’s expected to be complete just after July 4. Once the warehouse is in operation, it’ll bring CCC’s total footprint to roughly 50,000 sq. ft.

The new warehouse will have three docks and two-story cold storage, representing a total of 10,000 sq. ft. of storage space.

“With this new facility, we’re really planning on growing the company,” Abel said. “As we grow over the years, we make more product, hire more people and invest in more equipment.”

Abel noted once finished products and dry goods are moved to the new warehouse, CCC will turn the former warehousing space into a packaging department, with the goal of opening up the remainder of the production floor. CCC has already begun streamlining the production and packaging process.

“We don’t want anything to stop anymore,” Abel said.

CCC moved into its current facility in 2012, purchasing a 100-ft.-long Hilliard enrober with a 16-inch-wide belt — the largest unit Hilliard has ever made. They followed it with a W.C. Smith enrober in 2014 and two Knobel Alpha Compact depositors in 2016.

Alyse Thompson has held many positions with BNP Media, first serving as an intern at Candy Industry Magazine in summer 2012. She joined Candy Industry's staff full time as associate editor in August 2016 after a few years at newspapers in West-Central Illinois, becoming managing editor in March 2019. Alyse has also served as managing editor of Cannabis Products Magazine since March 2019. She has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from Western Illinois University.