Page 142 - Vacation Country Travel Guide

A Sweet Success: Inside the

Delicious World of Alaska Wildberry

When Dawee Lor was six, her parents handed sweet treats.
her a copy of the book “Charlie and the Chocolate Hazel and Kenneth Health started Alaska Wild
Factory”. In 1964, author Roald Dahl wrote this Berry in 1974. The Healths sold jams and jellies
beloved children’s classic that tells the tale of a produced in home-style cooking facilities. The
young boy’s visit to a magical chocolate factory. company changed hands several times until
Just as in the story, Lor’s parents were preparing Peter Eden bought it and added the incredibly
her for a visit to the Hershey Chocolate Factory. popular chocolate covered jellies enhanced
This dog-eared book now sits on a shelf in her with berries grown in Alaska. Lor began working
office and Lor owns her own chocolate company, at Alaska Wild Berry when she was 16. Wanting
and while she may not have a chocolate river or more knowledge of the business, she gained
employ Oompa Loompas, she does have a 20ft experience by working in every part of the
chocolate waterfall and she and her staff have factory, from taking phone orders to shipping
their own kind of magic in creating extraordinary to candy making. When Peter passed away in
2020, he left the business to Lor. “I really feel
like I was Charlie and Peter was Willy Wonka,”
says Lor in reference to the book. “Candy
making is the best business. I meet people from
all over the world and I get to be creative.”

Lor encourages every employee to come up
with flavors in their test kitchen. “We like it when
everyone is a part of our candy making process.
Whoever comes up with a great recipe, we
name the candy after them. Then they become
part of Alaska Wild Berry’s history. We have
Victoria’s Caramels, which is a caramel with a
peanut butter layer and chocolate, Brittney’s
Bacon, which is chocolate covered bacon and
Sylvia’s Sea Turtles, which is coconut, caramel,
chocolate and sea salt,” says Lor. Each year
Lor puts out a list of Alaskan berries for their
signature jelly center chocolates. Locals
scramble to the forest to pick the berries, wash
and freeze them, and deliver the produce to
the factory. Some berries gathered include
wild raspberries, blueberries, salmonberry,
rose hip, gooseberries and red currents. These
sweet and tart jelly chocolates are a nod to the
original jams sold by the Healths in 1974 and are
reminiscent of childhood berry-picking hikes
in the woods on long summer days. “When
you buy jellies in the supermarket, they have
been commercially processed from truckloads
of berries that couldn’t be sold in the produce
department. Our Alaskan berries are hand-
picked and delivered directly to our kitchens,
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