Vosges Haut-Chocolat at Chicago O’Hare

Most airports have chocolate shops these days, its one of the fastest growing travel retail categories. Aside from Brussels and to some degree Zurich though, I haven’t found many airport chocolate shops which really impressed me – which stood out as something unique or special.  Vosges Haut-Chocolat at O’Hare (T1 B Concourse) changed that, with a designer chocolate offer which was not only seriously yummy but also carries a unique travel theme plus its local to Chicago and not an imported chocolate offer.

The store actually opened last Christmas and they have city stores in NYC & Vegas in addition to Chicago. It was started by two travel junkie women who were inspired by the flavors of the world and decided to create chocolate which reflected this.

I picked up a “Mo’s Bacon Bar” on a trip a little while back. Its available in dark or milk chocolate with applewood smoke bacon pieces and alderwood salt. They also have Bacon Bar Pancake Mix too – a wonderful example of add-on selling and shifting outside the conventional chocolate bar/piece range.  They also sell an extensive range of cocoa mixes which I find perfect when travelling because not only does it do double duty for a late night treat in a lonely hotel, but its also terrific to bring back as a gift and its less susceptible to either melting (or being eaten through my concern that it might melt 🙂 )

Some of their truffle flavours include:

• Tlan Nacu: “Mexican vanilla bean + Venezuelan dark chocolate. Meaning “good heart”, Tlan Nacu is the name of a small vanilla bean plantation in the town of Papantla on the Gulf Coast of Mexico.”
• Black Pearl: “Ginger + wasabi + dark chocolate + black sesame seeds. The initially sharp, quickly dispersing fire of real wasabi and ginger are traditionally linked to Japanese cuisine.”
• Woolloomooloo: “Australian macadamia nut + coconut + deep milk chocolate. Macadamia nuts, native to Australia, were harvested by the Aboriginal people who occupied the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range.”  That’s their description I should add and being an Aussie I have to admit the false impression it created put me off even trying this flavour.
• Naga: “Sweet Indian curry powder + coconut + milk chocolate. Inspired by the tribes of Northeast India and the fertile landscapes.”
• Rasta: “Jamaican sorrel + fresh ginger + nutmeg + mango + white chocolate + hibiscus flower” as an exploration of Jamaican culture

From a retail perspective one of the things which most impressed me about this store and particularly its fit with travel retail, is its capacity to “accessorize” the chocolates to not only increase the size of sales but also to make it difficult to anyone to not find an excuse to indulge.  They have organic chocolates, vegan chocolates, vegetarian, gluten free, pancake mixes, drinking chocolates, cocoa mixes, caramels, chocolate coated nuts & chilli’s, ice creams and even chocolate scents. And the flavours were all so unique that as a traveller I knew I wasn’t going to strike many of these again for a long while – so I just had to buy boxes of the stuff – well that’s my excuse anyway!.