If you go through Rockledge you have to stop at Grimaldi Candies, founded by Vincent Grimaldi, Melbourne's Candy Man. Grimaldi was a 10th-generation Italian confectioner. In 1961 while strolling the snack aisle in Miami he got the idea to cover potato chips in chocolate and the rest his history. Since 1969 Grimaldi's has been famous for their Chips N Chocolate, chocolate covered potato chips. They are also known for their Ghost Pepper Caramels and Key Lime Truffles. All of the treats are made with high quality ingredients and without additives or preservatives. Grimaldi sold his namesake business in 1999 when he retired. Jim and Trisha Frazier became the fourth owners of Grimaldi's when they purchased the business in 2014. Today, Grimaldi Candy Co. is one of the largest specialty chocolate manufacturers in the southeastern United States. This is the production plant and cute retail store on U.S. 1 in Rockledge and there is also a retail store at The Avenue Viera. You can book a factory tour for your visit here. For the longest time I have wanted to stop at Grimaldi's whenever I passed the exit but I was always in a rush to reach somewhere else. I finally got the chance to visit this summer and the experience did not disappoint. As soon as I came in I was warmly welcomed and offered a sampling tray of their classic treats including the Key Lime Truffle. They sell bark, the chocolate covered chips in milk and dark chocolate, caramels, fudge, truffles, dipped treats, and more. They even have sugar free options. They also have a little boutique area selling gift items like water bottles, wallets, hats, jewelry, and bath items. After serious deliberation I left with a box of Chips N' Chocolate, white and milk chocolate haystacks, Pecan Rum Bark, and coffee truffles. My haul will last me a long time. The white haystack was especially creamy and delicious. Grimaldi's chocolate is rich and you can taste the difference. If you want to be the most popular person at your next gathering, show up with a box of the Chips N' Chocolate. They are the the perfect addictive combination of salty sweet. You can't go wrong with any of the treats here. It is easy to see why they have stood the test of time. read more

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Rockledge? Why are we going to Rockledge? I asked my friend. "There's nothing in Rockledge." .... WRONG!!! There is Grimaldi Candies. The star of the show there is the chocolate covered chips which you can choose either milk, or dark. They're ridiculously good! I have to say though, my personal favorite from here is the dark chocolate covered pretzels with the ghost pepper chili; omg.. sooo good if you're a fan of spicy sweet items. I love how my lips are tingling afterwards! The absolute cure for when you're having a rough day ladies; do it! P.S. - They ship. Just call and make arrangements. read more

Grimaldi Candies - They're famous for their chocolate covered chips - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rockledge, Florida

For those who do no know what Grimaldi Candies are, they are a popular candy company known for their chocolate products, especially their chocolate covered chips. What is unique about the Grimaldi Candies located in Rockledge, Florida is the fact you can book a tour of the factory. Think of it as a mini (and less magical) version of a Willy Wonka tour. Starting with the tour, you will be fitted with a hairnet and apron and brought into a back room where you'll be able to dip treats into chocolate which will be saved for your goodie bag. You get to put on as much chocolate as you want on a pretzel, marshmallow, two cookies, and a couple of Oreos. I personally like an even amount of chocolate to the actual item used so I did not necessarily douse everything in melted chocolate. Afterwards, you are taken on the line. There are two parts of the line where you see where food is loaded and where food is packaged. On the load end, the worker loading the line explains how the chocolate coats everything that goes through the line. The worker will even show you all the chocolate blocks they have, how they melt them, and how they load it on line. The other end was simply picking up the finished product and filling containers. The last part of the actual tour was an exploration of the warehouse area showing the temperature controls and the storage. It was not that interesting per se but it did extend the tour out a bit. Maybe if the guide made it a bit more entertaining, this part of the tour wouldn't be so boring per se. The tour ends in the store where you can purchase chocolate covered chips at a specialty price. There are other things for sale there too such as local honey and chocolate treats in a glass case, but all in all, they are trying to push their chips. Overall, this was a nice tour but one you only need to take once. As for the store, the selection is far bigger but you can find what you really want or need at Grimaldi candy stores located in shopping districts and areas. read more

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What a great candy company. I called on a whim from Hawaii hoping to get chocolate covered Caramels delivered for a relatives birthday. Trisha was a gem and delivered them for me personally on her way home from work since they wouldn't have made it in time. I have heard nothing but raves as to how good they are. Your candy is exquisitely good but the hospitality is is over the top. Thank you Trisha for making my day and my family's day extra special. read more

Having a fat girl day, I wanted to try a local business and search out some locally made goodness. A co-worker asked if I had ever had chocolate covered potato chips. What the goose? No, ma'am, I haven't and she recommended Grimaldi's, I went on my hour long lunch break, this particular location was about a 10 minute drive from me. The store was empty, but as soon as I entered, a fellow popped out from the factory and welcomed me. I asked him to tell me about this place and he did. He gave me a tour of the factory, seeing where there the chocolates were made, and offered me so many free samples, but I declined, I told him what I came for and he presented me with two options, milk chocolate or dark chocolate. I sampled one of each, the milk chocolate was creamy and super sweet, the dark chocolate had the rich, bold semi-sweet flavor. I couldn't pick just one, I got a half pound of each. I will definitely have to come back and enjoy more their chocolaty confections when I am feeling indulgent. Also, this company donates a lot of their money to local non-profit organizations. Makes feeling like a fatty, oh so good for the soul. read more

Chocolate covered potato chips are among the BEST in the world!!!! Already get great service from the staff over the years, but love coming in and getting a box of the chips, makes me feel like home! read more

Love it! A must. We happened in on Valentine's day! Wonderful chocolates, nice folks!

Very disappointed in our first visit to Grimaldi's. The raspberry cream and the haystack appear to have been sitting on the shelf too long. Chocolate was crumbly and white when cut into and the raspberry filling was also dry. No prices are posted for the candy that isn't boxed up. The smaller pieces such as the cream are $1.49 each. Expected much better at that price. read more

Grimaldi Candies - Milk chocolate haystack - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rockledge, Florida

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I get Grimaldi candies about once per month. I give them a 3 star rating because they've got pros and cons. Pros: Super friendly staff. The ladies there always make you feel welcomed and are ready to help out. We always leave smiling from our interactions. They have pretty yummy chocolate as far as chocolate goes. Both the dark and milk are well-balanced. They also have other items like local honey which we really enjoy. Cons: The flavors and essences are overpowering. It destroys the taste of the chocolate for me. I only order the milder candies like coconut and buttercream, now. I'm no flavor hater, this is simply just an assault on the taste buds. I believe an older crowd or smokers may find the essences suitable. When I get chocolate, I want to taste the chocolate, too. I also dislike how dyed the items look like the key lime varieties. My favorites there that you prob can't go wrong with are the butter creams, the coconut creams if you like coconut, and the pecan rum bark is delicious and pretty flavorful. If you're debating on stopping by, I would. They have a little something for everyone, including sugar free candies, choc covered chips, honeys, barks, nuts, etc. read more

The chocolate is wonderful! The people are very nice. Limited selection though. Possible this is not their main store. Really don't know. Compared to our chocolate shop in upstate NY, it is expensive. Love the chocolate covered potatoe chips. Unusual for sure and delucious. Who doesn't love potatoe chips and then with chocolate...YUM! Will be calling tomorrow to see if they ship. read more

What a shame! PRIOR J. Frazier who purchased business last year....Grimaldi chocolate covered chips were drenched in their chocolate on both sides of the chip. Now when you look on other side of chip there's no chocolate..you just see the bare chip. No more Grimaldi's for us. read more

Not the same quality/taste as the original owner/founder. Vincent Grimaldi..70's 80's... but good. Had the best back then so that's the reason for review of 3 stars.... Haven't been there since it left Strawbridge Ave... First time at Rockledge shop. read more

Their Chocolate covered chips are sinfully good. Their profits also go to help local charities.

I was dissatisfied with the mix of chocolates in my dark chocolate box it did not match at all the mix I saw on line at their website. It had too many creams. I called and within an hour they told me to come an pick up another box. That is great service and I hope they get consistent with what they are filling their boxes with because if not they will loose customers. I'm glad I called instead of thinking that the mix was not good and never buying there again. I knew clearly I should not have 80% creams. read more

The first thing that happened when we came in was that the counter lady rushed out to offer us a sample tray filled with an assortment of items, so we started out with a good impression. That lasted until I asked which flavor truffle I was tasting, and was told that she didn't know. The truffles are all decorated uniquely in order to be distinguished from one another. So the staff ought to be able to remember that the round truffle striped with orange would be the orange truffle. I was disappointed with the texture of the truffle itself, expecting the soft creamy consistency of most truffles and getting rather hard crumbly texture instead. Hopefully it was older and not perfectly fresh, or that it had been cut in half for a few hours to get dried out. I hoped for another sample in order to determine that, but it seemed that she didn't want to offer more than the one half truffle And that's fine, you can't give away all your product and stay in business! I then asked one of the standard questions of an artisan chocolate shop: where the chocolate comes from. Unfortunately she did not have that information handy, but she could tell me that they had been in business for 47 years. I come from a part of the country that is full of artisan chocolate shops. Every little town has a hand crafted chocolate shop, run by folks who hand-dip small batches, who know what country or even what farm their chocolate comes from, and what variety of beans are used in the production... 47 years ago that was not the case. But this is 2017 and that is the direction the industry is moving. So we looked around at the case to see if there was something intriguing to take home. Several of the trays were missing labels, and there was some confusion when asking what they were. We did end up purchasing a few more things, and I was not expecting to be blown away by anything, so we limited ourselves. I got a couple of sea salt caramels, which were nothing like I expected. They seemed to be truffles made with caramel in place of cream, because they did have a slight caramel flavor, but were definitely not caramels, and I failed to detect a salty flavor either, other than the sprinkling on top. I got a dark chocolate truffle. This one was molded, so the center was creamy and soft, quite a contrast with the orange truffle. But it was a milk center, when I was expecting dark. The extra thick shell was dark. Hopefully someone mixed up the filling. Jellies were actually quite nice. And the sea foam had a good flavor and interesting texture that I had never encountered before... very structured, and I would love to know how that was achieved. But over all I was disappointed with the experience. They seem to want to present themselves as being an artisan chocolate shop, with truffles and creams, and salted caramels in their case, but we can look through the window at the machinery used in their production, so it is obviously not hand made. If you come in with the expectation of getting a lot of average quality chocolates for a good price, or if you stick with chocolate dipped chips, then you shouldn't be disappointed at all. Their pricing of 18.99 a pound is shockingly low, and probably a big draw for their customer base. I have never seen truffles priced that way; typically good quality truffles, even ones that use Guittard, Callebuat or some other standard industry chocolate, are going to be at least 2.00 each at approximately a half ounce, (or even smaller, down to about a quarter ounce) and up to 2.75 or more in some locations. So, that works out to over 60.oo a pound, and I have been happy to pay over 100.oo a pound for really excellent truffles. So the price is right for what they are doing. But quite frankly, Lindor truffles at the grocery store are going to be a better bet for something that comes off a factory line. It seems that they sell mostly chocolate dipped potato chips. Stick with them and you'll be happy here. read more

Love the chocolate covered potato chips! Very convenient new location on US1. Great holiday gifts for family and friends!

I have been going to Grimaldi Candies my whole life! They are by far the best chocolate covered potato chips in the world! They are great people and make great candy!! read more