How did Catherine’s Chocolates get started?

Well, you might say it runs in the family. It is probably better if I start by introducing myself. I'm Matthew, grandson of Catherine and great-great nephew of Emile. It was Catherine’s uncle Emile who opened our first homemade chocolate store back in the 1920’s and expanded to seven shops in and around New York City.

As Catherine grew up watching her uncle, she learned to hand-dip chocolates and pack gift boxes of sweet confections. More than 50 years ago my grandparents moved to the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts with their daughters Carol and Kathleen. The recipes Catherine learned from her uncle are the same ones we use today.

So far, Kathy has the record for drawing people into the chocolate factory. She started with her husband, Joe, in 1978. That good-looking man you see is dad stirring up a batch of Butterkrunch.

Then, before they knew it, there were three boys running wild through the store. I was first, and then came my brothers, Sean and Christopher.

My wife, Amy, and I have been blessed with a daughter, Anna Catherine, who, like her dad, likes milk chocolate. Sean tried to get away from the business by marrying Simone and moving to her hometown in Germany, where they live with their two daughters Zoe and Josephine. Zoe developed a fondness for dark chocolate at the tender age of four months and Josephine is more of a gummy bear kind of girl. My other brother Christopher is in Taiwan teaching English as a second language. We’re trying to convince him and his wife, Chloe, to move back to the States.

When you’re in the Berkshires stop by our store in Great Barrington and say hello and you’ll taste for yourself why we think our chocolates are the best around.