I have the good fortune to live near an incredible handmade artisan chocolatier, Harbor Sweets.
I’m not sure how I discovered Harbor Sweets, started in 1973 and located in historic Salem MA in a neighborhood not far from where my Great-Aunt Ida used to live many years ago. I have visited Harbors Sweets headquarters several times. They always greet me (and anyone else who visits) at the door with a tray of chocolates from which I can choose a sample or two. Yum! And I love that you can see the workers hand making the chocolates as you peruse their offerings.
For the first several years after I started my market research business, PeopleTalk Qualitative Research, I used to send Harbor Sweets chocolates to all my clients as a thank you on my business anniversary. In addition to selling their chocolates in gorgeous as well as fun packaging (think lighthouses, Christmas trees, snowflakes, bunnies, Easter egg shaped boxes), Harbor Sweets sells bulk packages that I would buy in a variety of flavors and repackage in my own “PeopleTalk” branded gift bags. I always got a great response every time I sent Harbor Sweets chocolates.
New Gather Chocolates to Help the Honeybees
To date, Harbor Sweets year round chocolates have come in locally-themed collections: sea shells, sailboats, horses, but now they are branching out. Their new small-batch collection, Gather, was inspired by the plight of honeybees. In fact, a portion of the sales of Gather chocolates will be donated to the Pollinator Partnership, a 501c3 NGO that educates and advocates for best beekeeping practices. You can check them out at www.pollinators.org. Things are getting very dire for honeybees. During the year 2015-16, there was a loss of 44% in honeybee colonization. I know even in my flower and flowering tree/shrub-filled yard, I see fewer honeybees. Pesticides and parasites are definitely taking a toll. We can’t get along without honeybees.
Harbor Sweets sent me two boxes of new Gather chocolates. And they thoughtfully included a seed packet of wildflowers to help attract bees to my yard. If it weren’t so late in the season, I’d plant them right now. But I will plant them next spring!
Now, on to the new Gather chocolates! Each piece is infused with local wildflower honey and enrobed in dark chocolate. The hexagon-shaped golden honey-colored boxes that are reminiscent of a honeycomb contain either 6 or 12 chocolates priced at $12.50 and $18.50 respectively. Like a flight of fine wine for tasting, each piece is exquisitely handmade and beyond delicious! In fact, they’re a fabulous accompaniment to a glass of red wine!
Let me tell you a little bit about the chocolates that I got to taste. The flavors were Caramelized Honey, Pomegranate Molasses and Sour Cherry truffles and Cashew Caramel, Coconut Cluster and Sesame Crunch. OMG, they were so luscious! It was very nice of me to share the chocolates with Jeff. I think my favorites were Sour Cherry truffle and the Sesame Crunch. Sesame Crunch reminded me of the butter crunch that’s inside the iconic Sweet Sloops, the sailboat shaped chocolates that Harbor Sweets is best known for. The Sour Cherry truffle, filled with a just slightly sweet cherry surrounded by syrup, was truly sublime! Next time, I will try the 12 piece box because they are just too good 😀
The new Gather collection is launching on September 6. Although Harbor Sweets is located in Massachusetts where their chocolates are sold at the Peabody Essex Museum giftshop and at fine grocers and gift shops in the area, you can buy them through the Harbor Sweets website or even by phone at 800-243-2115. They ship worldwide!
I encourage you to take a look at this short video to hear a little more about the new collection and its mission. Just seeing the chocolates being crafted will make you salivate!
Giveaway!
I was lucky to get to try Gather, the new artisan chocolate collection from Harbor Sweets to honor and help the honeybees, and I’m thrilled to be able to host a giveaway so one lucky NSDB reader can win her/his own box of 6 Gather chocolates!
The giveaway is limited to U.S. residents, age 18+, where permitted by law, open to all US NSDB readers. The giveaway will run till Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 12:00AM EDT, so the last full day is Monday, September 12.
Hopefully by now, you know the drill. You MUST LEAVE A COMMENT on this blogpost about why you want to win the Gather chocolates from Harbor Sweets. One entry per household. The comment is mandatory. And you must record that you did it on the Rafflecopter widget below. Extras that you can do to earn more points are:
subscribe to Never Say Die Beauty
follow Never Say Die Beauty on Twitter
follow Never Say Die Beauty on Bloglovin’
follow Never Say Die Beauty on Instagram
follow Never Say Die Beauty on Google+
follow Never Say Die Beauty on Pinterest
visit Never Say Die Beauty and Harbor Sweets on Facebook (and like ’em if you want!)
If you do any of the above extras, you are entitled to more points. But YOU MUST CLICK OFF THOSE OPTIONS on the Rafflecopter widget.
If you don’t already subscribe to Never Say Die Beauty via email and you want to and plan to stick around for more than just the length of the giveaway, the signup is on the homepage of the blog in the upper right hand side. 🙂
To recap, this giveaway is open to US residents age 18 or older. Void in states where prohibited. The winner will be selected by a random drawing via the Rafflecopter widget when the giveaway ends on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 12:00AM EDT (so the last full day is Monday, September 12), and the winner will be notified by me via email. You have 48 hours to get back to me (by midnight September 15), if not a new winner will be selected. The winner will provide me with her/his mailing address, and Harbor Sweets will mail your prize to you as soon as possible. Harbor Sweets and I are not responsible for loss or damage in shipping. In other words, if it’s lost or damaged in shipping, we will be sad, but there is no replacement.
Thank you for entering the giveaway and good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I would be thrilled to win these delicious chocolates because I love bees AND chocolate LOL. I hope I can find that Rafflecopter Widget….
Thank you for entering, Sybille! Were you able to use the Rafflecopter Widget….coz that’s the thing that chooses the winner. It’s the box above the comment section. You enter with your email address or with Facebook login and then just follow the instructions.
Yes, I found it and signed in with Facebook. Thank you, Allison ?
Thank you for doing it, Sybille! Rafflecopter is actually pretty cool and easy to use in case you decide to do a giveaway on your website!
Great idea! I’ll check with you on doing that once my English novels are translated and on the website. It will be a great draw for American readers.
Yay, that’s what I was thinking too. I think it would generate excitement about the novels!
I love chocolate! I would have to take a picture of them before I ate them. I bet they taste as good as they look.
That’s so cute, Faye! I took several photos and then they were gone in a flash. Thank you for entering the giveaway and good luck!
I’d like to try them because they sound delicious! The are almost too pretty to eat.
Thank you for the review and giveaway!
They are…almost, Jackie! So delicious. Thank you for entering and good luck 🙂
Chocolate is a form of medicine for me. Seriously. lol
LOL! That’s the best answer yet, Laura! Good luck 🙂
Besides the fact that I’m a chocolate freakkkkkkkkk the honeybee decor is my fave!
Brooke @ Blushing Noir recently posted…Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Vintage Capsule Collection Swatches + Review // Holiday 2016
You would love these chocolates! They’re divine!
I love Chocolates and the bees are very, VERY important to the food chain!! I can’t wait to win these chocolates! 🙂
Ursula
http://www.blueridgebeautyblogger.com
I’ve got my fingers crossed for you, Ursula! Thank you for entering and good luck!
Would love to win as I would give them to my lovely boyfriend for his birthday xx
Sarah, I noticed that your website is in the UK. Do you have a US mailing address? Unfortunately this is a US only giveaway because of the cost of overseas shipping and the fact that the chocolates would take so long to get there. Thank you for your comment.
I love chocolate and these look really good! Need I say more?
No, Bethany, you’ve said it all! I know you’d love these chocolates. Thanks for entering and good luck!
I would love to win and give them to my mom! She loves chocolates and totally deserves them 🙂
That’s so sweet, Amanda. I wish you good luck in the giveaway!!
I can’t even sufficiently express the extent to which I LOVE fine chocolate! I am drooling!
Lola Seicento recently posted…SPACE NK Autumn Beauty Edit Event & Gift | September 7-8
I hope you entered, Helen xoxo These are perfect for pairing with red wine. Yummy!
I wish people were more educated about bees
I agree, Courtney. Things are getting pretty dire in terms of saving the bees. Thank you for your comment, and for entering. Good luck!
I’m entering to win because I am a chocolate lover and would also love to support the bees! Xoxo
Yay!!!! You would love these, Marah! They go great with a glass of red wine. So happy you entered and good luck!!! See you soon xoxo
WOW! Those look and sound AMAZING!!
They are so delicious, Eugenia!
These choccies look and sound gorgeous and it’s wonderful that they go to support such a good cause, too. 😀
Erika recently posted…Just Another Mani Monday Featuring OPI and China Glaze
Yes, I’m glad that Harbor Sweets hooked up with the pollinators.org. Honeybees are getting less prevalent around here, boo hoo
yum! thank you!
Phyrra recently posted…Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Capsule Collection
Do I really need to tell you why? It’s chocolate, lol!! It’s really good chocolate!! I don’t know if I could go a day without chocolate, you know?
You hit the nail on the head, Tamra!! These are so yummy!! Thank you for entering and good luck!
Oh yum! Allison, someday I’ll come visit you! We’ll go to the beach, and visit this beautiful chocolate shop!
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I would love that, Amber!! xoxo
OMG these look so delicious. Of course I want to win even though I’d have to share with my DH. We both are choco-holics.
I shared them with Jeff, Marcia, but it was difficult 😉 These are lovely with a glass of red wine. But they’re great on their own too. Thank you for entering and good luck!!
I want to try them because they look and sound amazing especially the Sour Cherry truffles and the sesame crunch. It was very nice of you to share, looking at the picture I’m not sure if I would be so nice.
LOL! I love those two most, too, Annamaria! These are so yummy with a glass of red wine. Thank you for entering and good luck 🙂
YUM! I am a chocolate addict, and these look so good!
Julie recently posted…What’s in my August Glossybox!
They are so good, Julie! Hope you entered 🙂
You just made me crave chocolate!! Those sound absolutely DELISH, especially the Sour Cherry truffles<3
Kelly Walker recently posted…Best red-orange lipstick, Raven Opaque Rouge by Hourglass Cosmetics
The Sour Cherry truffle was my fave, too, Kelly! Hope you entered the giveaway!
These are so elegant, great giveaway
Cindy (Prime Beauty) recently posted…Jet Set Your Way to Beautiful Hair with ColorProof Hair Care
They are elegant, Cindy, and they go so well with a glass of red wine! Hope you entered!
I’m a chocoholic 🙂
LOL, I hear ya, Ruya! Thanks for entering and good luck!
Ohhhh Gimmie!
Lisa Heath recently posted…Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat
LOL, Lisa! Hope you entered 🙂
I’d love to win because I love chocolate! 😉
Edye recently posted…Scriptures For When You’re Anxious.
Yay, me too! Chocolate lovers unite! Thanks for entering, Edye, and good luck!
I would love to win these to share with my soul mate/BFF,love of my life, husband Todd. Our wedding anniversary is late Sept. too, so would be perfect timing to share with my sweet honey!.
Also, love the unique and delicious sounding flavors!
Finally, we both LOVE and care about the bees…I even have a pic of when our oldest son was in elementary school he found an injured bee that couldn’t fly, so I let him keep it inside the house to handfeed it and keep it safe until it could finally fly again a week later and he set it free. Awww! I have a FUNNY snapchat 10 sec video of me as a bee and about how we were hoping to make bees in our yard happy with the flowers we got this year.
I love your stories, Yvonne! You are certainly bee-involved in a unique and very positive way. I’m so glad you entered the giveaway, and I wish you very good luck!!
Tee Hee thank you, Allison! I really enjoy your blog, reviews and giveaways. Thanks for all that you do!
Oh, thank you, Yvonne! I really appreciate it xoxo
I’m here salivating, unfortunately I can’t eat chocolate because it gives me migraine
Kath Thefabzilla recently posted…Must-Try: Jan Marini Skincare
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Not fair!!
Those look and sound incredible! I love how cute they are in their box.
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They did a great job designing this new collection, for sure!
Oh yeah! I love chocolate and these look gorgeous as well as tasty!!
I think Harbor Sweets did such a nice job with the packaging and the entire concept of the Gather chocolates. I love these with a glass of red wine, yum!
I would love to win because I have never met a piece of chocolate I did not like!
LOL, I feel the same way, Holly! Thank you so much for entering and good luck 🙂
I’m drooling here… as these look fabulous and delish. I don’t eat chocolate often but I can’t resist a great artisan one.
These are just bites, but each one is exquisite!
I want to win the chocolates because these look delicious! I love chocolate!
Good reason, Julie! They are yummy. Love ’em with red wine. thanks for entering and good luck!
I would love to win this for my boyfriend – he loves really good chocolates, and I think these would be a hit.
I know he’d like them! Thank you for entering and good luck!
I love chocolate and I like the cute designs in each chocolate.
They are really pretty, and yummy too. I know you’d like ’em, LaTanya. Thank you for entering and good luck!
Oh my goodness, these sound so delectable and they are almost too pretty to eat!
Kristina recently posted…Revlon Eyes, Cheeks + Lips Palette | Berry In Love
They really are yummy, Kristina. Feel free to enter if you haven’t done so 🙂
I want to win because the flavors sound unique.
I agree, Lauren. They are a little different – sort of classics with a twist. Thank you for entering and good luck!!
Being an avid gardener, I know how important the bees are for our food supply and support anything to do with bees! Plus I have to admit to liking chocolate.
I’m a gardener too, Ellen, so I’m with you on how important the bees are. I’ve seen a lot of bumble bees in my garden this summer but very few honeybees. 🙁 So I’m glad for anything that attempts to help. Plus the Gather chocolates are deeeelicious. Thank you for entering the giveaway and good luck!
I Love chocolate and this one looks so delicious!
They are delicious chocolates, Chickie! And they help the honeybees 🙂 Thank you for entering and good luck!
We are both honeybee (my fiance has hives) and chocolate fans. I love the idea of doing something I love (chocolate is an activity now) and helping something so important!
I want to win because I love Dark Chocolate and these flavors sound so different then any I’ve ever had.
The Gather chocolates are definitely a little bit different, but really yummy! Thank you for entering, Lynne Marie, and good luck!
It looks yummy!
I definitely think they’re yummy, Sandy. Great with a glass of red wine, if you drink wine. Thanks for entering and good luck!
I would like to try these because I love dark chocolate and honey. I am also from New England, the cashew caramel and sour cherry truffles sound great
The sour cherry truffle is my fave. Had you heard of Harbor Sweets, Austin? Thanks for entering and good luck!
Sounds pretty good I would like to try these.
I would love to try these, but they are so pretty! Almost, to pretty to eat! They do look absolutely delicious though! Thanks!
I agree, Renee! The chocolates are so pretty. I almost had trouble biting into several of them coz they looked so nice. Thank you for entering and good luck!
I would like to try these because what ever combination than honey and chocolate and the flavors Harbor Sweets comes up with are never a miss!
Have you tried Harbor Sweets before, Marcia? I am such a fan, and new Gather is a great addition to their lineup! Thank you for entering and good luck!
I love chocolate! I love to treat myself when the kids are at school..haha. I would share with them though!
Because of the dark chocolate, I think these are grown-ups chocolate so you could eat them while the kids are at school and not feel guilty, Michelle! Thank you for entering and good luck 🙂
These look delicious & I love the bees
They are delicious chocolates and pair so well with a glass of red wine, Lesley. Thank you for entering and good luck!
What can you do to help honeybees? Buy local honey
Local honey will be prepared by local beekeepers. This keeps food miles down and helps the beekeeper to cover the costs of beekeeping. Local honey complies with all food standards requirements but is not mistreated to give it a long shelf life. It tastes quite different to supermarket honey and has a flavor that reflects local flora.
I agree with you, Cindy. A friend of ours has several hives at their vacation home in Maine, and I think the honey from his hives is the most delicious I’ve ever eaten. There’s something about the territory that his honeybees roam that makes the most amazing honey. Thank you for entering the giveaway, and good luck!
I’m a chocolate lover! That says it all.
OMG, I love good dark chocolates! It is one of my goals in life to try as many kinds as possible, LOL!
They would look like they would taste amazing.
Any chocolate is amazing.
True enough, Mona. Mona, I believe that I stated in the blogpost “only one entry per household”. I noticed that there are 4 different LeFevres entered. Which one of you will be the key entrant?
I have always heard good things about Harbor Sweets.
Are you from New England, Teryn? I always hope that Harbor Sweets becomes known outside of this area!
Dark chocolate is simply amazing.
Yes, it is, Tim!
I would love to win this! Love chocolate
Chocolate can be hard to resist, and these are delish, Steph. Thank you for entering and good luck 🙂
I want to win because I’m a chocoholic!
Haha, great reason to enter, Jennifer! Good luck 🙂
These chocolates look so good! I want to win to eat all of them.
And you could easily polish them off in one sitting, Veronica. I pretty much did. Thank you for entering, and good luck!
Would love this as dark chocolate is my favorite kind of chocolate! 🙂
You’d like these then, Sara! Glad you entered. Good luck 🙂
My 6 year old daughter and I love good chocolate.
Does your 6 year old like dark chocolate, Candace? These are yummy, actually terrific with a glass of red wine, lol. Thanks for entering and good luck!
because it involves chocolate
Right! A great reason to enter, Julie! Good luck 🙂
We love chocolate!
Sounds to me like a good reason to enter, Al! Thanks for entering and good luck!
I would love to win these because they look absolutely amazing yummmm
And they taste good too, Lonnie! thanks for entering and good luck!
I want to win the chocolate because I’m pregnant and chocolate is necessary.
LOL, great reason to enter, Tiffany! Good luck 🙂
I switched over to dark chocolate a few year ago and have been searching for great tasting dark chocolate.
I’ve been trying to switch to dark chocolate full time, but I still like milk and white chocolate from time to time. But dark chocolates like these and a glass of red wine are a fabulous healthy snack! Thank you for entering and good luck!
I’ve been worried about honeybees for a while, so I’m very glad to see that an artisan who will be affected by the scarcity of honey in the future is trying to do something.
You’re absolutely right, Amy. I know that Harbor Sweets needs the honey so I’m glad they’re giving back to help the honeybees stick around. Thank you for entering and subscribing. Good luck 🙂
I want to win because I love chocolate and these look so yummy!
Good reasons, Kristin! they’re so yummy! thanks for entering and good luck!
Almost too pretty to eat!
xxLK
http://www.ellekae.com
I feel that way too, Lauren! But it must be done 😉 Thank you for entering and good luck!
We-worry-about-the-honeybees!…They-are-dying-off-in-tragic-high-numbers….Sad&Scary!
It’s true, Yvonne. The story about the bees dying in response to the Zika spraying in Florida was very upsetting too. Thank you for entering the giveaway and good luck!
I want to win the Gather chocolates from Harbor Sweets for my mom becuse she loves dark chocolate and I love to make her smile.
That is so sweet, Shannon. I know your mom would love these chocolates! Thanks for entering and good luck!
I would love to sit down and share these with my mom!
That’s so née of you, Katie! Thanks for entering and good luck 🙂
I have never tried this brand and it would make a great gift for my hubby.
It’s a New England artisinal brand, DJ, but it ships nationwide as well as internationally, I think. Their chocolates are delish. I know your husband would enjoy them. Thanks for entering and good luck!
These chocolates look and sound amazing! I think it is so awesome they donate a portion of their sales to help bees.
I agree, Dana! Thank you for entering and good luck!
I would like to win these because they look great and I’ve never tried them before. I’d have to hide them from my husband.
They’re worth hiding from your husband, Heather! Thank you for entering the giveaway and good luck!
Chocolate is 1 of the great things in life. I have lots of good memories of eating chocolate.
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I agree, Maren, and one of the ways to undpress yourself too. Thanks for entering the giveaway and good luck!
I would LOVE to be able to try REAL chocolates not bought at Walmart or store. Like from a choc shoe. It has to be the BEST. I love chocolate.
These are definitely from a chocolate store, Joyce. In fact, I’ve gone to their little “factory” a number of times where I could watch the women (and a few men) craft the chocolates by hand. You’d love these. Thanks for entering the giveaway and good luck!
These chocolates sound super delicious and that it helps the honeybees is a major plus.
I agree, Sarah. I know you’d enjoy these chocolates 🙂 Thank you for entering and good luck in the giveaway tonight!
My husband loves dark chocolate so I would want to surprise him with these
They’d make a good surprise. Great idea, Liz! Thanks for entering the giveaway and good luck!
I’d love to win because I LOVE chocolate and these look AMAZING! My sweet tooth hurts just looking at these picutres!!!!
Haha, Melanie! They’re perfect for a sweet tooth. I could eat them all in one sitting, but I try not to, lol. Thanks for entering and good luck in the drawing tonight!
I would love to win, because I looove chocolate and this looks amazing.
They’re really yummy, Jaime! Thanks for entering the giveaway and good luck 🙂
I would love to win these for my husband. He loves raw honey and would love to try these!
Such a thoughtful idea, Cheryl! I know he’d love them. Good luck in the drawing tonight 🙂
I would love to win this giveaway because my best friend just go engaged and asked me to be her maid of honor! I would love to share the chocolates with her!
Thank you so much for the opprotunity!!
Oh, we just had a wedding in our family this weekend. That’s great that you’re chosen to be maid of honor. What a love treat this would be to enjoy with the bride! Good luck in the drawing tonight 🙂
I love chocolate and so does my family! We would be fighting over this!
You would be, J! I know you’d all enjoy this little taste treat! Thanks for entering the giveaway and good luck!
Honeybees are so fascinating! I haven’t tried these chocolates and they sound and look delicious!!
Yes, they are! I wish I got to see more honeybees in my garden, but they seem to be disappearing from my area. The chocolates are delish. You’d love ’em! Thanks for entering the giveaway and good luck!
These look super yummy. I love dark chocolate and my husband doesn’t so I wouldn’t even need to share 🙂
Hahaha, Lisa! You’d be lucky to not have to share. Thanks for entering and good luck in the drawing tonight
I want to win because I love, love love chocolates!
I think you’d love, love, love these, Jennifer 😀 Thanks for entering and good luck in the drawing!
I want to win for my wife and daughter.
So nice, John! Thanks for entering and good luck in the drawing tonight!
I would love to win these for my mom! She loves chocolate and she’s my mama and it would make her day!
Lovely, Holly! Thanks for entering and good luck!
chocolate? honey? need any more reasons?