Chocolate Care & Storage

How to Keep Your Chocolates Fresh, Beautiful, and Delicious

Premium chocolate is sensitive to temperature, humidity, and light. To keep every piece tasting its best, proper handling and storage are essential. Below is a simple guide to help you maintain product quality from the moment it arrives to the moment it’s enjoyed.

Ideal Chocolate Storage Conditions

Chocolate stays freshest when stored at 68°F with 50–55 percent relative humidity. These conditions protect texture, flavor, and appearance while preserving maximum shelf life.

  • Keep chocolate away from direct sunlight or heat sources.
  • Maintain consistent temperatures to avoid melting or surface damage.
  • Store packaged chocolates at normal room temperature (68–72°F). Refrigeration is not required and can cause bloom if mishandled.

How to Handle Bulk Chocolate

Proper rotation and handling keep your chocolate looking flawless:

  • Rotate trays when restocking to maintain freshness.
  • During warmer months, remove shipping ice and let product stabilize for 24 hours before handling.
  • Mark received dates on cases so product is always rotated correctly.

Caring for Refrigerated Display Cases

If your store uses a refrigerated chocolate case, routine maintenance ensures both sanitation and product integrity:

  • Vacuum inside and underneath the case regularly, focusing on corners and crevices.
  • Keep trays with exposed nuts on lower shelves to avoid crumbs falling into other varieties.
  • Once per quarter, empty the case and clean with a mild bleach-and-water solution.
  • Spray the mixture into air grills and let the case run empty to sanitize hard-to-reach areas.
  • A box of baking soda placed at the bottom of the case helps absorb residual odors after cleaning.

Understanding Chocolate Bloom

Bloom is a natural visual change that occurs when chocolate is exposed to heat, moisture, or temperature swings. It affects appearance but not safety.

Fat Bloom

A grayish, sometimes greasy film caused by warm storage or improper tempering. It wipes off easily and does not make the chocolate unsafe to eat.

Sugar Bloom

A rough, crystalline film caused by moisture or condensation. Unlike fat bloom, it does not wipe away easily. Moderate to severe sugar bloom can affect quality and may require discarding the product.

Shelf Life Guidelines

When properly stored, chocolate maintains its best flavor and texture for the following timeframes:

  • 21 Days: Apples
  • 3 Months: Cherries, sugar-free items
  • 6 Months: Toffee, popcorn, pretzels, clusters, bars, pralines, items with exposed nuts, soft truffles
  • 9 Months: Peanut-butter enrobed products, sugar-free sandwich cookies, peppermint bark
  • 12 Months: Nut-free truffles, caramels, mints, candy bars, Oreos, Annaclairs, mint sticks
  • Your products should arrive with at least 2–3 months of shelf life remaining.

How to Read Julian Date Codes

Each product includes a code that tells you exactly when it was produced. Example:

  • 42740050

  • 4 = Year (2014)

  • 274 = Julian day (October 1, 2014)

  • 0050 = Internal lot tracking