This month we’re highlighting the award-winning local chocolate company, Choco le’a! Since opening her hand crafted gourmet chocolate company in 2014, Erin Kanno Uehara has lived out a mission of "bringing peace to our world, one chocolate at a time." Choco le‘a specializes in creating artisan dark chocolate truffles with innovative flavors found nowhere else in the world. Flavors unique to Hawaii include rainbow shave ice, fresh mochi, peanut butter and guava jelly.
Choco le‘a began as a small operation in Erin's home and grew to a retail space of over 1,000-square feet, plus three additional storage units for packaging supplies and inventory.
Like many small businesses, the pandemic was devastating to her business and forced Erin to temporarily close her doors. Inspired by her customers, or “chocolate friends” as she calls them, Erin started making chocolates again. Since then, Erin has reopened her retail shop and they have increased their e-commerce sales, corporate and wholesale deliveries, and started a retail presence at pop-ups and local businesses.
Choco le‘a has generously donated to various local charities and organizations. During the pandemic in 2020, they donated over $5,000 in chocolates to front-line workers, and in 2021, they donated over $5,000 in cash and in-kind donations to various local charities.
In 2022, Erin was honored as Small Business Person of the year for the County of Honolulu by the Small Business Administration.
Information provided by Erin Kanno Uehara, Founder of Choco Le'a and Central Pacific Bank Business Banking.
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