Founded in 1879, Thompson Chocolate is one of America’s first chocolate companies. William H. Thompson had a desire to learn the confection trade and started his dream in Meriden, Connecticut. Today, we remain dedicated to his tradition of making delicious, foil wrapped chocolate specialties in our chocolate factory and retail store, just blocks from where Mr. Thompson first started.

In 1871, Thompson traveled from Connecticut to Philadelphia to learn the confectionery trade from Stephan Whitman, of Whitman Candies. During his time in Philadelphia, he became an acquaintance of Milton Hershey. Not long thereafter, Mr. Thompson opened his first candy store, the W.H. Thompson Company, here in Meriden, in 1879. After decades of hard work and passing the business to his son Charles, Thompson Candy Company was founded in 1934.

As the demand for chocolate grew, the ability to hand-mold and hand-foil chocolate novelties became challenging. Automated molding machines were first introduced to our business in the 1960’s, assisting with the production of chocolate marbles and eggs.

Thompson Candy Co. moved to its current site in 1973, allowing for year-round production of chocolate in a factory that was fully air conditioned. Thompson Chocolate currently has 90 employees that work to produce more than 2 million pounds of chocolate annually.

Mr. Thompson was known for the quality of his work and attention to detail, using only the finest ingredients in his hand-molded chocolates—just as we do now. Throughout all of our advancements, many of his traditions are proudly continued today.