A Chocolate Lover’s Dream in Ogunquit

By Jim Kanak
Staff Columnist
OGUNQUIT—
There’s a buzz of activity at Harbor Candy Shop in Ogunquit these days. As Valentine’s Day approaches, owner Jean Foss and her staff are hard at work, preparing nearly 100 varieties of chocolate that have satisfied customers from near and far for over three decades.
“I started it because I wanted to live in Maine,” Foss said. “My parents had operated it as a seasonal business, open a few weeks a year. My father was very gifted when it came to making anything.”
The original seasonal shop was located near the Main Beach parking area, in the building that houses Huckleberry’s today. Foss moved it to its current Route 1 location.
“I put my mind to owning the real estate,” she said. “It grew gradually and now is open year round.”
Most people are familiar with the retail end of the operation, the shop that is a few doors north of the Village Food Market. What many people don’t know, however, is that the shop contains a veritable chocolate factory as well, where the staff creates by hand the turtles, truffles, fudge and other chocolate delights that have a national following.
“The store is known outside the state, maybe more than inside,” Foss said. “We have a mail order business from customers we pick up in the summer. 85 percent of our business is from the shop. That leads to the 10 to 15 percent of mail order and that sustains us in the winter.”
Foss said the key to producing excellent candy is a combination of things. “The recipe is important, but the ‘feel’ is watching the process as you go along,” she said. “It’s about trouble shooting. Once in a while you might notice that something might not be right, maybe the temperature or the humidity. Very few people know about chocolate. (Making it) is more complex than something like baking.”
Another key is freshness. “The shelf life varies by product,” Foss said. “Some kinds are good for two weeks, some for three, and some less. We make everything fresh. We try to keep freshness in mind all the time. Why sell something that’s really nice and then destroy it by virtue of your timing?”
The popularity of a particular variety varies by the time of year. “In the summer, people like classic, simple fudge,” Foss said. “Turtles are one of our best varieties. We make them all from scratch. There are no short cuts. That’s what brings people back.”
For Valentine’s Day, truffles take center stage. “They are the item,” said Foss. “Thirty years ago, we headed off to France to learn the basics of what a true truffle is. It must be fresh and kept cool. We throw them away after two weeks.”
Another characteristic of Harbor Candy is its ability to produce some of its chocolate without depending on traditional dairy products. That has earned the shop an award from the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “We have a number of products that were already vegan, with no dairy or anything,” Foss said. “We developed a truffle by making it with soy milk. We have a milk chocolate made with rice milk. It is good for health reasons, for people who can’t use diary products.”
They key, though, is the care that Foss and the staff take to create their hand-made delicacies. “We’re small, not big and showy,” said Foss. “That’s how nice chocolate works.”
Photo caption: Harbor Candy Shop owner Jean Foss with a sampling of the nearly 100 varieties of chocolate the shop produces. (Jim Kanak photo)

Guarded Optimism at Dover Chamber Economic Forum

DOVER—
“Technically, the recession is over.”
Those were the words of local economist Brian Gottlob of PolEcon Research at a recent Economic Forum hosted by the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce. The 2010 Economic Forecast was the first in a four-part Forum Series presented by Federal Savings Bank, with additional events scheduled for May, September and November of 2010.
Gottlob acknowledged that to those who continue to feel the pinch of the recession, his words may be difficult to believe. However, several times during his presentation to a crowd of more than 50 local residents, business owners and political representatives at the Hampton Inn in Dover, he re-iterated his strong belief that the New Hampshire seacoast – and Dover in particular – was poised for a strong rebound in the months and years to come. Gottlob’s optimism is not merely speculation or wishful thinking, but the result of years of experience and many hours of recent research, which he carefully outlined in a series of informative graphs and charts.
The other panelists at the Forum, Federal Savings Bank President and CEO Jay O’Neill, and Maria Simos of e-Forecasting.com, both agreed that recent trends indicate that better days are on the near horizon. Chamber Executive Director Kirt Schuman summed up the overall tone of the presentations with the term “guarded optimism,” and congratulated the many business owners in the audience on having successfully weathered the storm.
“The news of a recovery couldn’t come at a better time,” noted Schuman, “and although we’re not completely out of the woods yet, I think everyone found it refreshing to receive some information that was more positive than the economic doom and gloom we’ve been inundated with for so long.”
Though markedly optimistic, the trio of presenters was careful to sprinkle doses of caution into their words. Simos pointed to 2011 as being the more likely period of economic growth, with 2010 serving as more of a stabilization period. Gottlob cautioned Dover residents and elected officials against “shooting themselves in the foot” by slowing progress as a result of looking to recapture the past, and O’Neill noted that increased government regulation of banks could also be damaging to the economic recovery process.
Nevertheless, the audience left with a much more upbeat feeling about the prospects of recovery – a welcome and long-awaited breath of fresh air.
The 2010 Economic Forecast is the first installment in a four-part Forum Series presented by Federal Savings Bank, in partnership with the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce. Each morning session covers a different topic, and includes a full breakfast. In May, the annual “State of the City” Forum will be held at the Cochecho Country Club, followed by a segment on local Advertising and Public Relations in September, and an analysis of the Creative Economy in November.
Residents may register for any of the Federal Savings Bank Forum Series events by visiting the Dover Chamber’s online Calendar at www.dovernh.org.
Photo caption: Jay O’Neill of Federal Savings Bank, Brian Gottlob of PolEcon Research and Maria Simos of e-forecasting.com comprised the panel at the Dover Chamber’s recent Economic Forum, which was held before a crowd of over 50 residents, business owners and political leaders at the Hampton Inn in Dover. (Courtesy photo)