Ragged Coast Chocolates: Fresh, Local, Grounded in Maine’s Mid-Coast

Though I have worked in the food industry for about 20 years as a recipe developer and cookbook author, I’ve always had this Willy Wonka fantasy of working in a fine chocolate factory. And the fantasy had gone unfulfilled. Then last fall, Kate Shaffer, who with her husband Steve operates Ragged Coast, a small, high-end, award-winning artisanal chocolate company in Westbrook named for Maine’s raggedy coastline, told me that they needed seasonal help.

I jumped at the chance, of course. But let’s back up.

Kate and Steve weren’t always in the chocolate business. Or in Maine. Back in 2002 Steve sold his San Francisco-based computer business, and after a few months of traveling, the couple settled in Maine. For a while Kate ran the kitchen of the Keepers House Inn on Isle au Haut, a small, rustic island off the Blue Hill peninsula. She connected with local farmers and farms; along with the inn’s vegetable garden and egg-laying chickens, these farms were the source of the food she would cook daily. 

Craving something sweet one day, Kate tried a recipe for chocolate truffles. She got hooked by act of creating something small, potent, and delicious, and she began to experiment with ingredients and flavors. In 2007, after five years at the inn, she and Steve founded Dinah Chocolates (after Black Dina Mountain in Isle au Haut). 

Most people who try them consider Ragged Coast’s chocolates exquisite to eat and to look at. But they’re sublime for more than tastes and looks: They use fresh cream and butter sourced from local farms and produce bought and traded from Maine farmers and gardeners. Even the coffee they use is roasted right here in Maine. 

When Kate and Steve moved to Westbrook in 2015, they made a concerted effort to keep their local supplier relationships intact. “We still get our blueberries from Blue Hill, our apples and our cranberries from Red Bog, apples and pumpkins from Snell Family Farm and Dandelion Spring Farm,” Kate told me. “The lavender we use comes from mid coast, the maple syrup comes from Strawberry Hill Farm, the cream comes from Baker Brook Farm, and the butter from Casco Bay Creamery.”

And Ragged Coast uses ethical business practices, such as single-origin, sustainably grown chocolate from producers in Latin America.

When Kate and Steve began to research where to source their chocolate, they eventually found a family-owned company called Republica Del Cacao in Ecuador. Republica Del Cacao sells their chocolate in little boutiques around Ecuador and Peru, but the company was looking to also distribute to chocolate makers. In 2019, Kate was invited to Ecuador to visit the Republica Del Cacao factory and see how they make and source their product, a trip that confirmed her and Steve’s choice to use them as Ragged Coast’s supplier. 

When it came down to actually making fine chocolates, I learned that it is all about getting the small details right. Steve started me off with a simple task — packaging the different varieties of chocolate bark properly. He showed me how to seal the bars, fold the paper boxes, and place the stickers. But there was also gold-dusting, gold-leafing, slicing transfers, cutting centers, and properly storing the freshly made confections.

Once I got the hang of this process, he led me into the cutting, spraying, and enrobing room, where the air was perfumed with a delightful rich chocolate aroma. The enrobing machines are long conveyor belts connected to devices that coat the bottoms and tops of Ragged Coast’s signature truffles and caramels in a glistening layer of perfectly tempered chocolate. (Tempering is the process confectioners use to stabilize chocolate for room temperature and give it a shiny finish.) 

I started first coating the tops, then the bottoms, then “leapfrogging” the machine with Amber, Kate and Steve’s only other full-time associate. “Leapfrogging” means moving back and forth from one end to the center to the other end of the enrobing machine, a method that helps maintain a steady flow of production. This whole process has a learning curve, and at first my focus was squarely on trying to avoid falling behind and winding up with undecorated truffles on the floor. But as I got the feel for it over the weeks, I found that working the machine had a meditative and rhythmic quality that I came to look forward to.

Once properly enrobed, the centers get their signature Ragged Coast top design, which, depending on the chocolate in question, may be a chocolate transfer, small slice of dried fruit, nut, nibs, crumble, salt, or piped chocolate design.The confections then go for a slow, steady ride down the long cooling tunnel and finally out the other end to be placed in candy cup papers. The whole thing reminded me of the famous I Love Lucy episode in which Lucy and Ethel fail miserably working the chocolate conveyer belt, stuffing chocolates into their uniforms (and mouths) to keep up with the pace. This was not lost on Kate and Steve, who have a small poster on their factory wall featuring a photo from that iconic scene. Once I got my turn, I somehow managed to avoid any catastrophic, sitcom-style meltdowns: Instead, I learned to gently lift each truffle off the belt, and place it into its candy cup. 

Within a few weeks, more and more orders came in and the holiday slam was in full swing. Kate and Steve worked through the weekends and late into the nights, and each employee focused on his or her respective role. Steve primarily worked behind the scenes, doing everything from packaging, office management, ordering, financials, and shipping. As the company’s creative force and head chocolatier, Kate split her time between preparing centers with Amber, and designing, spray painting, and filling the molded chocolates. And my fellow seasonal, part-time employees and I jumped in and did whatever was needed as fast and accurately as we could. 

As quickly as the season started, it came to an end. My Willy Wonka dreams went beyond what I’d even hoped for.  “We have this product that people really [associate] with super precious chocolate,” Kate said to me about Ragged Coast Chocolates. “But what we are really doing is making an earthy, handmade, slightly freeform, fresh, and local product. Flavors grounded in my locale.”

Find Ragged Coast Chocolates in our Marketplace. The Ragged Coast Chocolates storefront and factory is located in Westbrook, Maine. You can also find their chocolates online at raggedcoastchocolates.com