More than 40 craft chocolate makers and artisan food vendors are set to fill Portland's historic Olympic Mills Building from October 2 through October 4, as the Portland Craft Chocolate Festival returns for its second year with tastings, chocolate-making demonstrations and a brand-new cookie competition judged in part by the city's mayor.
The festival is the creation of George Domurot, who founded Ranger Chocolate Co. and previewed the 2026 event and its new baking showdown in an appearance on AM Extra's Foodie Friday, according to KOIN. The three-day gathering includes artisan chocolate samples alongside live demonstrations showing how bars go from bean to finished product, and it once again lands at 107 SE Washington Street, the century-old building that now serves as Ranger's manufacturing home.
After debuting in October 2025, the festival expanded its footprint for 2026, growing to showcase more than 40 craft chocolate and artisan food exhibitors alongside expanded educational panels, according to a company blog post cited by PR Newswire. Organizers say the added space was meant to make tasting sessions and workshops more interactive and accessible for attendees moving between stations.
A Mayor Joins the Cookie Judging Panel
New this year is the C4 Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition, with final judging set for October 3 and a panel that includes Portland Mayor Keith Wilson alongside local bakery owners and food industry representatives, per the same PR Newswire announcement. The contest was established with free entry across youth, home and professional baking divisions, giving amateur bakers and working chefs a shot at the same title.
The cookie showdown adds a civic flourish to a festival still finding its footing, but it also reflects how quickly the event has grown since its 2025 launch. Domurot founded both Ranger Chocolate Co. and the festival itself, building the gathering around the company's Central Eastside manufacturing base.
A Historic Mill Turned Chocolate Hub
Ranger Chocolate Co. moved its manufacturing operations into the Olympic Mills Building in March 2025, a relocation that more than doubled its production capacity, according to a report from The Chocolate Professor. The added space allowed the company to begin hosting public factory tours and ultimately launch the annual festival itself.
The building has its own layered history. Constructed in 1906 as the Olympic Cereal Mill, the 172,000-square-foot structure is a designated Portland Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, converted into a creative hub in 2004 that now houses roughly 100 business tenants and light manufacturers, according to Wikipedia. Ranger Chocolate Co., founded in Portland in 2013 by Domurot and David Beanland, operates as a bean-to-bar artisan maker using organic, ethically sourced cacao inspired by early sourcing trips to Peru, crafting its chocolate from scratch and hand-wrapping bars on site.
Awards and a Widening Regional Scene
The company enters this year's festival with fresh recognition, having been named one of 15 Makers & Manufacturers of the Year by the Portland Business Journal and earning two bronze medals at the International Chocolate Awards Americas Bean-to-Bar competition, including honors for its Aguada dark chocolate bar and Root Beer Bonbon.
Portland's festival isn't the only chocolate gathering in the state. The 22nd annual Oregon Chocolate Festival, Oregon's longest-running statewide chocolate event, took place in Ashland from March 6 to March 8, hosting more than 40 vendors under the theme From Bean to Boss, as reported by the Rogue Valley Times. That Southern Oregon event leans heavily on West Coast chocolatiers, wine pairings and women industry leaders, giving Oregon two distinct chocolate showcases within the same year.
Craft Chocolate's Growth Amid Rising Cacao Costs
The Portland festival's expansion tracks with a broader surge in demand for small-batch chocolate. The global craft chocolate market was valued at $14.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $31.2 billion by 2034, growing at an annual rate of 8.8% as consumers seek out single-origin cacao, according to data from Dataintelo.
That growth comes even as raw cacao costs have swung wildly. Global cocoa bean commodity prices experienced extreme volatility between 2024 and 2026, peaking above $12,000 per metric ton on the Intercontinental Exchange because of West African harvest disruptions and climate impacts, per Grand View Research. Craft producers have responded by leaning harder on direct-trade relationships with farms to stabilize supply.
Festival organizers have described Portland's craft chocolate scene as following a path similar to the city's craft beer, specialty coffee and spirits industries, according to an October 2025 interview on Oregon Public Broadcasting's Think Out Loud. They emphasized that pairing consumer tastings with business-education panels helps strengthen small local producers navigating that same collaborative model. Ranger Chocolate Co. has also popped up beyond its own festival, appearing as a featured vendor at Stumptown's revived Starland Theater café opening.
