DE PERE Wis. — A northeastern chocolate institution is celebrating 125 years in business. 

Seroogy's started delighting Wisconsinites with its confections in 1899, nearly 50 years after Wisconsin became a state in 1848.

The love of chocolate runs deep for current Seroogy's owner Joe Seroogy. He’s a third-generation chocolatier.

What You Need To Know

  • Seroogy's Chocolates started delighting Wisconsinites with its homemade chocolate in 1899

  • Current Owner, Joe Seroogy said its first location was on Washington Street in Green Bay

  • Seroogys started as a restaurant and transitioned to a confection shop after fudge became the main attraction

  • Seroogy's Director of Marketing, Majorie Hitchcock said their best seller is the chocolate meltaways

Seroogy said more than a century ago his grandparents got into the chocolate business out of necessity.

“My family immigrated to the United States from Lebanon in 1895 and got as far as Chicago and ran out of money, so they had to find work somewhere. They decided to go north because they heard that the paper mills were looking for labor, and that’s how we wound up in the Fox River Valley,” Seroogy said.

Seroogy’s started as a restaurant. Joe said chocolate became the main attraction by way of a piece of good fortune. 

“Our first location was on Washington Street in Green Bay. Seroogys started as an ice cream parlor with burgers. My grandfather was one who always liked to experiment in the kitchen. So, one day, he made a batch of fudge and sold it for a nickel a piece. People came back the next day and wanted more of that fudge,” Seroogy said.

125 years later, customers still can’t get enough. Majorie Hitchcock is the director of marketing for Seroogys. She said their best seller is the chocolate meltaways. Hitchcock said she has her personal favorites, “That is our pecan snappers, which is a turtle type product. It’s layered with pieces of pecans, our homemade caramel and our chocolate. It’s outstanding. We have other very good chocolate. Our toffee is my favorite. The caramels are outstanding as well.”

Hitchcock has worked at Seroogy’s for 32 years and said the recipes haven’t changed. Real butter from Wisconsin goes into every confection. Hitchcock said what makes their chocolates special—the attention to detail.

“A lot of hands on. As you can see by looking around here, we make small batches so it’s always fresh,” Hitchcock said.

Although Joe comes from a long lineage of chocolatiers, he said his most precious ingredient is the people.

“We’re very much a family-oriented business, and we treat our employees like family, because they are. I mean, if it weren’t for our employees, we wouldn’t be here,” Seroogy said. Seroogys has two locations: one in De Pere and the other in Ashwaubenon.

Joe Seroogy also has a Hollywood connection. Helen Seroogy is his first cousin and mother of actor Tony Shalhoub.