In the only city in America outside of Hersey Pennsylvania known for its chocolate makers, San Francisco is losing one from the roster of local confectioners. Joseph Schmidt Truffles, with its factory in the SoMa district, and two stores in the bay area, is closing. In fact, the Hershey Company which bought the famed truffle maker four years ago is having a hand in ensuring that Hershey Pennsylvania remains America's chocolate city by reducing San Francisco's ranks by one.
The Hershey Company has decided to discontinue the brand, closing the factory as well as the two retail stores. While the chocolates had a distinctive small town charm about their stores and hand-made quality, they were world renowned and had a broad following as some of the best truffles on the planet. He store in the Castro neighborhood had over the years become something of an insider's tourist attraction with lines out the door. In fact, about the only people who could possibly find any satisfaction in the loss may well be the San Francisco tours bus drivers who were forever pestered to make the unscheduled stop on their routes so their passengers could offload into chocolate heaven.
