Since 1947, Kilwins has been a celebrated part of Americana, having earned a reputation for providing high-quality chocolates, ice cream, & confections combined with excellent service. Our heritage was built on the simple premise of creating our products from the finest ingredients and providing customers with great service. Today we continue the tradition by uniquely combining high-quality products with a warm, friendly customer experience, which is supported through a successful community of caring franchisees. We continue to offer the very best confections and ice cream that are made from premium ingredients and our original recipes.
Our values are simple: Treat others as you want to be treated, do your best, and have fun! These values translate directly to a culture of people who are driven to provide an exceptional confectionery experience. Coupled with our high-quality products, in-store craftsmanship, and genuinely friendly team members, we create an atmosphere that our customers want to visit again and again. From sight to taste, touch, smell, and sound, a visit to Kilwins provides an authentic sensory and taste experience like none other. Kilwins is where people celebrate, vacation, and share the experience of life, family, and gifting in a nostalgic Americana setting.
“Sweet in every Sense since 1947”®
Don and Katy Kilwin's desire was simple – to make the very best products that they possibly could. Today, we continue this American success story with the Kilwins tradition of producing the highest quality chocolates, Original Recipe Ice Cream and other confections, combined with people who care and strive to provide you with a premium experience.
Kilwins combines the best of our heritage of quality products with modern business practices which are shared with and supported by our family of franchisees.
Kilwins has traditionally appealed to all the senses with our chocolates and other products made here in our kitchen. To make sure customers get the best products and experience, we also make many products fresh in each store, where customers can watch.
In our high-temperature cooking area, we use whatever equipment we think makes the best candy so you will see some of our heritage equipment we’ve been using for decades as well as some newer equipment.
Kilwins controls all stages of making and delivering products. In order to ensure that our stores and you get the highest quality products possible, Kilwins has invested in special storage facilities and trucks that closely control temperature and humidity. We continually strive to make the best chocolates and confections. We use our original recipes and continue to develop and innovate new recipes and ideas over time.
Almost all products made in our cold room, like our Almond Toffee Crunch, have been made the same way by Kilwins for decades – by hand. There are easier, quicker, and less expensive ways to make them, but we still handcraft these products because the quality is better.
We have been expertly molding and enrobing (coating) chocolates with the same equipment and processes since 1965. Over the years, we’ve made some improvements and have added new chocolate milling equipment that allows us to create new and unique blends of chocolate.
A lot of effort and time goes into producing chocolate from cocoa beans - a long and complicated process which begins with expertly growing cocoa trees and ends with us expertly enrobing or molding high-quality chocolate in our chocolate kitchen.
Our entire Kilwins team is proud of our heritage. We love our products and have fun making them for you! At the end of the enrobing line, we give our products one last look before they are packaged, labeled and sent to our stores for you to enjoy.
The Kilwins Chocolate Kitchen retail store in Petoskey, MI is open, and we are excited about serving you. Our Chocolate Kitchen is operating, and you can stop in and watch us make our Kilwins Heritage Chocolate and delicious TUTTLE™ Nut Caramels, truffles & chocolates, caramel apples, caramel corn, brittle, and other confections right before your eyes through the glass in the retail store!
Kilwins is made up of over 160 Franchisees with stores in 28 states, and our team here at our Petoskey Kitchen. Our goal is to provide you with the best chocolates, made-in-store confections and Original Recipe Ice Cream, as well as a great experience every time you visit your local Kilwins store.
Kilwins is committed to responsible corporate citizenship. We strive to actively participate in local charitable opportunities with both tangible and intangible gifting. Our Core Purpose “To create enjoyment and make people happy” and Core Values of: “Treat others as you want to be treated, do your best, and have fun,” reflect the culture of our teams. Our Core Purpose and Values define and guide our daily behaviors and practices. It is this culture that brings our Core Values to life each day, extended to our customers and local communities.
