I was shocked when I learned that both Ghirardelli Chocolate and Guittard Chocolate come from my adopted hometown of San Francisco.
Ghirardelli is obvious. You need only look to Ghirardelli Square and then Ghirardelli stores all over the city (not to mention the copious amounts of Ghirardelli chocolate in the souvenir stands at SFO) to know that they are a major presence in the city.
Guittard flies a bit under the radar, but they’re also a fantastic San Francisco-based chocolate option.
Amazingly, both of these iconic chocolate brands have been in the Bay Area for over a century.
Here’s a breakdown of the differences based on my own tasting and baking experiences.
A long, long chocolate legacy
Both Ghirardelli and Guittard were founded by immigrants in the 1800s. Ghirardelli came first in 1852, just a few short years after the start of the Gold Rush.
I guess all those miners had to do something to add a little self-care to their otherwise packed mining days!
Guittard was founded by a French immigrant in 1868. Although it’s a newer company, it’s all relative. Both of these iconic chocolate companies have been around long enough to survive two earthquakes, the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, the hippie movement, and the emergence of avocado toast.
The differences in the two chocolates
Personally, I find that Ghirardelli and Guittard have markedly different tasting profiles.
I think of Guittard as sweet and creamy, with a strong cocoa flavor that’s meltingly delicious. It’s very chocolatey, but not as intense as Ghirardelli.
Ghirardelli, on the other hand, has an intense flavor with strong, pronounced background notes that are almost vegetal. It makes me think a little bit of the peppery undertones in a good bottle of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
Guittard is the kind of chocolate you could easily give to a kid. Ghirardelli is a bit more of an adult taste, maybe even an acquired taste for some.
Best for baking: Guittard
Because it’s fairly sweet and melts well, Guittard chocolate is great for baking and making sweets.
It’s perhaps no surprise that Guittard is the official chocolate used in Williams Sonoma’s uber-popular peppermint bark each year around the holidays.
Of course, you can use it at home for chocolate chip cookies, chocolate candies, and the like.
Best for eating: Ghirardelli
Ghirardelli’s intensity and complexity of flavor make it perfect as a snacking chocolate. Again, it’s probably not so much for kids. There’s Nestlé’s Toll House for that!
But for adults who want a chocolate square or chocolate bar to munch on, Ghirardelli is a great bet.
Personally, I eat a little bowl of Ghirardelli chocolate chips every night for dessert 🙂
Ghirardelli also makes a wide variety of chocolate products like baking chocolate, hot chocolate, chocolate sauce, and more.
Again, that makes it great for day-to-day snacking. A nice mug of Ghirardelli hot chocolate is perfect on a chilly San Francisco day.
Two sides of the same coin
Ultimately, you really can’t go wrong with either of these chocolates. Both are reflective of San Francisco’s rich heritage, its legacy of excellent food, and innovative chocolate-making processes like conching, which many artisan chocolate makers in San Francisco use today.
For my money, I go with Guittard for baking chocolate and Ghirardelli for snacking chocolate.
