Agape Chocolates is a small family owned and operated chocolatier in the Central Savannah River Area that makes chocolates the old fashion way (by hand). We strive to deliver our customers the best chocolates they have ever had.
We have always been adventurous chocoholics; constantly on the lookout for smooth, tasty, and the most flavorful chocolates. In fact, family and friends would send chocolates from all across the world for us to contemplate. Then in September 2010, while visiting family up north, I came up with the idea of starting a grassroots artisan chocolatier shoppe in Graniteville, South Carolina. At first, Amanda thought it was just another one of my harebrained ideas, but soon realized I was serious. Instead of convincing me not to pursue this latest adventure, she rolled up her sleeves and joined me in the kitchen creating different chocolate recipes. After making several different recipes, the chocolate creations were ready for taste testing.
Not sure what people would think, we did not tell them that we had made the chocolates ourselves. We waited to see what people thought, and it turns out we were on to something. Before we knew it, people were asking if they could place orders for the upcoming holidays in 2010. To add to all the excitement, we were expecting our third child around the time all the orders were due. Not ones to turn down a challenge, we forged ahead with taking orders. Boy did we underestimate the demand for our chocolates! After filling all the holiday orders, we contemplated taking some time off and creating additional chocolates to add to the seven chocolates we already made. This was a fleeting thought given that word and chocolates had spread. People were asking when they could place their orders for Valentine’s Day. In fact, a local florist asked if they could sell our chocolates with their Valentine’s Day flower arrangements. When the chocolate dust had settled, we more than doubled the orders we sold at Christmas time. Now, instead of our kitchen, we are in our “micro-factory” having fun creating new chocolates, putting our palettes to the test, and bringing smiles to our customers’ faces. From the beginning, we set out to adhere to what we call our three golden rules: unsurpassed product quality, amazing customer service, and creativity.
We choose the name Agape Chocolates because we believe it reflects our mission to “take a bite out of childhood hunger one bar at a time”. The word AGAPE is Greek for “selfless love”; love extended to ALL people (not to mention a nod to my Greek heritage)! In Latin, it translates to “caritas” which is where we get the word CHARITY. As you try our chocolates for the first time or the one-hundredth time, we hope each bite brings a smile to your face and warmth to your heart. We strive to make sure that our customers receive the freshest, highest quality and best artisan chocolates they have eaten.
We want you to enjoy eating our chocolates as much as we enjoy making them.
Bon Appetite!
James Stefanakos
Agape Chocolates