Sometimes a chocolate bar is more than just a chocolate bar. For instance, a chocolate bar can mean coming home.
Around the time BJ Howard was developing the idea and formula that would bloom into Wild West Chocolate, she was, she says, “going through a personal journey of coming back home” to her native Western Montana, “reconnecting with my roots, which is really cowboy culture, with Montana, and getting back to nature, back to how I grew up.”
“For me, it was about getting back to basics,” BJ says, “which made me think about westward movement, ‘out into the wild,’ going back to simpler times.”
In addition to returning home, a chocolate bar can also mean simplicity.
For Wild West Chocolate, this “getting back to basics” means eschewing the additives and processes that have come to define modern food production in place of the deliberation and slowness characteristic of food from a simpler time, often at the expense of the quality of what we eat.
“There was a major void, for people who wanted to have a guilt-free indulgence,” BJ says, “but weren’t willing to sacrifice on the health aspect of the item, or the taste.”
“I really feel like we’re revolutionizing this category,” she continues, “because until we came along, the only options out there were the full-fledged indulgence, the Hershey’s bars, the Snickers, all that stuff. But even when you’re looking at a premium chocolate bar, the ingredients may be good, but it’s got refined sugar; it tastes great but there’s nothing better for you about it.”
Pick up any of Wild West’s products and you will be greeted with a veritable kitchen sink of certifications: organic, plant-based, gluten free, fair trade, non-GMO. All of this is in addition to what is probably their most impressive (and delicious) feat: Wild West’s chocolate is produced with no added sugars but with a one-of-a-kind mixture of pure cacao along with Wild West’s unique blend of four fruits (mango, mulberry, date, and peach). And the amazing thing is their bars actually taste like you expect chocolate to taste; the fruit does not overpower the exquisite flavor.
“It’s fun to challenge people to pick up our packaging and look at the ingredient panel,” BJ says, “because we really have nothing to hide. It’s totally transparent: simple, pronounceable, easy, real ingredients, and it still tastes like this indulgent, creamy, delicious chocolate bar. It’s ‘having your chocolate and eating it, too.’”
Even with all the effort and time that went into cultivating Wild West’s signature chocolate formula, they’ve placed as much energy into their branding. This is yet another area where Wild West Chocolate stands apart from the ever-expanding field of premium organic snacks: their aesthetic commitment to embracing and celebrating the American West. This shows up in Wild West’s distinctive packaging and flavors, all of which are “based on people, animals, and places you would find in the pre-industrial past,” BJ says.
“We wanted to make sure the flavors we were launching were not only appealing to what consumers were looking for but were also different and unique enough to fit with the whole Wild West spirit and ethos,” she continues. “Developing a Peruvian ground cherry chocolate bar doesn’t really fit with ‘Wild West’, you know? But a huckleberry makes sense. And then we asked, ‘how can we make it fun and tie the flavors to the packaging to the names?’ So, it’s not just ‘Wild West almonds and sea salt,’ but we called the almonds and sea salt flavor ‘Most Wanted’ and had the fun ‘Most Wanted’ poster, and we did that because that’s the ‘most wanted’ flavor. And ‘Cowboy Coffee’ is the one with espresso beans, so that’s very ‘Wild West’.”
Sometimes, a chocolate bar means a clear-flowing river.
“You can’t have good ingredients without clean water,” BJ says. “I’ve grown up on rivers, super lucky to be able to have so many awesome river adventures. Growing up fishing with my dad, floating with my grandpa. My husband and I raft a lot, and we live on Grant Creek. I’m very much into preserving rivers.”
This passion for river preservation has led BJ and Wild West Chocolate to a partnership with the nonprofit River Management Society, a nationwide organization whose mission is to support land managers, scientists, outfitters, and river stewards via workshops and education, in the service of expanding conservation literacy surrounding America’s waterways.
Sometimes, a chocolate bar means pride in your place, and Wild West Chocolate’s place is firmly in Missoula.
“The soul of Missoula, I think, is very much on point with what I consider the soul of Wild West to be,” BJ says. “I’m very proud of the fact that Wild West bears the Montana stamp. I had us add to our packaging and all of our materials ‘established in Missoula, Montana, 2024’, because I think we should be proud and sing our heritage loudly.”
“I’ve been all over the world,” she says. “There’s no place I’ve ever been, no matter how amazing it is, that I would love more than here.”
“The soul of Missoula, I think, is very much on point with what I consider the soul of Wild West to be. I’m very proud of the fact that Wild West bears the Montana stamp. I had us add to our packaging and all of our materials ‘established in Missoula, Montana, 2024’, because I think we should be proud and sing our heritage loudly.”
“For me, it was about getting back to basics, which made me think about westward movement, ‘out into the wild,’ going back to simpler times.”