Cleveland's Iconic Severance Hall Captured In Chocolate: Learn How

CLEVELAND, OH — Have you ever wondered how a chocolate bar goes from delectable thought to foil-wrapped reality? Jeff Moreau, founder of Sweet Moses Soda Fountain & Treat Shop, detailed the process of taking a candy bar from concept to in-store product for Patch.

Sweet Moses recently announced it was partnering with the Cleveland Orchestra to create the custom Cleveland Orchestra Second Century Chocolate Bar, a Belgian-chocolate bar with an impression of Severance Hall molded into the face of the chocolate. The custom candy will celebrate the orchestra's 100th season, which runs from 2017-2018.

This is the second centennial candy bar that Sweet Moses has worked on for a local Cleveland establishment. In 2016, the Cleveland Museum of Art celebrated its 100th anniversary, and Sweet Moses created a custom chocolate bar with the CMA's iconic 1916 building molded on the face.

It was Sweet Moses' work on the CMA chocolate bar that got the company noticed by the orchestra. Seeing the custom CMA candy, the orchestra felt inspired to get its own iconic building, Severance Hall, memorialized in sweet, sweet chocolate.

"We did this project quickly," Moreau told Patch. "I’d say that we did it in probably two months. That was to develop a custom bar and then to create the chocolate bars. The only reason we were able to do that because of the CMA experience." The CMA candy bar development took four months, Moreau said.

Moreau said the orchestra also played at the Sweet Moses shop in Gordon Square during its community outreach programs.

“This wonderful sweet shop in Gordon Square has a special meaning for us, as it was one of the venues we performed at during our first ‘At Home Neighborhood Residency’ in 2013," said Ross Binnie, the orchestra's chief marketing officer, said in a statement. "Sweet Moses is a wonderful partner and what better way to celebrate our Second Century than by adding a fantastic chocolate.”

Creating Severance Hall In Chocolate

"You start with the best photograph that you can get. You want a straight-on shot that doesn’t have as many trees and other distractions in the foreground," Moreau said. "We worked with the marketing team at the orchestra to help identify a photo from their archives that we could start with."

Once a photograph has been selected, Sweet Moses sends the image to a molding company. That company turns the image into a black-and-white piece of art. Everything colored white ends up receded into the chocolate, and everything marked black is erased.

"That took some back and forth because you’re working with someone who doesn’t necessarily know the building like we do," Moreau said.

He noted that chocolate simply doesn't hold a building's details perfectly, so it's important to get the defining features of the building captured without worrying about details.

Sweet Moses also decided to use the orchestra's general logo on the candy bar, rather than the specially designed centennial logo. The Second Century logo will instead appear on the wrapper of the candy bar. Moreau said that gives his company more flexibility to sell the candy bar down the line, in non-centennial years.

The candy bar won't be available at Sweet Moses' shop in Cleveland until the candy bar is being sold at Severance Hall. The orchestra won't begin selling the bar to the public until the fall, when the centennial season begins.

Moreau said that he would be willing to do custom orders of the candy bar for interested parties. He said that when the CMA candy bar came out, he received a request for a custom batch from a wedding party being held at the museum. He happily ran the order. He said he may be open to similar requests for the Severance Hall candy.

Photo from Sweet Moses