The Los Angeles Chocolate Salon & Festival is coming back to the Pasadena Center on Sunday, October 4, running from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with chocolate tastings, live demonstrations, and chef and author talks packed into the day. It marks the 18th annual edition of what organizers call the original artisan chocolate show in Southern California, filling the Pasadena Center Conference Building at 300 E. Green St. with participating chocolatiers and confectioners, wine and spirits pours for guests over 21, and ongoing interviews recorded for TasteTV's Chocolate Television program.
According to Pasadena Now, tickets are sold through Eventbrite, with limited-quantity adult door tickets priced at $25 and advance adult tickets at $22.50. Children ages 6 to 12 pay $10 for admission, kids under 6 get in free for up to two per adult, and any additional child under 6 costs $10. Ticket holders must bring their confirmation and a photo ID to will call, and refunds are available up to seven days before the event.
The event is produced by the International Chocolate Salon, which has run chocolate awards and live tasting events since 2007. The organization traces back to TasteTV and TCB Cafe Publishing and Media, which created the first Chocolate Salon event in San Francisco in 2007 before expanding into artisan chocolate festivals in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Seattle, according to TasteTV. The event also features participating chocolatiers and confectioners.
A Recurring Fixture at the Pasadena Center
This is not the salon's first stop in Pasadena — the event was also held at the Pasadena Center on October 5, 2025, and on October 6, 2024, per the same Pasadena Now report. Past participants have included a wide mix of local and regional names: Goufrais Southern California, Mignon Chocolate, Blue Canary Sweets, PRP Wine International, and Coba The Coffee Bar, along with Albert's Petite Sweets, Mission Chocolate, By Three Bears, Gourmet Blends, and Grumpy Chocolatier. Other past exhibitors have included P.O.P. Candy Co., Truffles n Toffee, Venecacao Chocolateria, New Orleans Bill, Rayluca Chocolate, Farm Fresh To You, and Polar Beverages, the outlet's report notes.
Among the artisan chocolatiers with deep local roots is Mignon Chocolate, whose family history includes migration from Armenia to Ukraine between 1910 and 1915. Terpoghossian's grandmother moved to Iran in 1933, and Hovsep joined the family six years later, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles. The third-generation family business specializes in handcrafted, chemical-free truffles and confections. Mignon Chocolate has stores in Pasadena and Glendale, and Joe Terpoghossian took over the business in 2002. Also part of the broader LA artisan scene is LetterPress Chocolate, established in 2014 by former DreamWorks visual effects artist David Menkes and his wife Corey as the first bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in Los Angeles, according to StarChefs. The company was formed by Menkes and Corey.
A Green-Certified Venue With a $150 Million Makeover
The Pasadena Center itself carries some notable civic history. The convention center campus underwent a $150 million renovation and expansion completed in April 2009, adding a 25,000-square-foot grand ballroom and bringing exhibit space to 80,000 square feet, according to the Los Angeles Times. The expansion replaced a 1970s-era subterranean center. The campus also holds LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, with eco-friendly features including energy-efficient systems and gray mesh auditorium seating built from recycled car parts, per BizBash.
Sweet Demand Meets a Bitter Cocoa Market
The salon's return lands amid unusual turbulence in the global cocoa supply chain. Raw cocoa bean prices hit historic highs above $11,000 to $12,000 per metric ton in late 2024, driven by severe weather, black pod disease, and swollen shoot virus across West Africa, which produces roughly 70% of the world's cocoa supply, according to reporting cited by Materia Rinnovabile. Those commodity shocks have since worked their way into store shelves: U.S. retail chocolate prices rose 14.4% year-over-year in early 2026, per CoBank.
Yet premium and single-origin chocolate remain prominent parts of the market. Consumers seek higher cocoa content and ethically sourced ingredients, while single-origin chocolates and locally sourced ingredients remain part of the market. Dark and vegan options are also driving new product launches.
That tension between rising raw material costs and steady consumer appetite for small-batch chocolate is likely to hover in the background as vendors set up their tables at the Pasadena Center next month. For now, organizers are promoting the day around its tastings, demonstrations, and chef and author talks, giving Southern California chocolate fans another chance to sample the region's artisan makers face to face.
