George , original owner of the Crookston store and grandfather of Dan , Carol , and George III , is credited with creating the family ’ s best-selling product , the “ Chipper ,” a potato chip handdipped in milk chocolate . The Chipper is offered in all three stores and to call it delicious is an understatement . The family members share new product ideas , but each Widman creates unique chocolate items . Dan ’ s nephew Shawn , who assists in the Grand Forks store commented , “ A lot of experimenting goes on here but not every item
ABOVE : Gift baskets are a popular holiday item at Widman ’ s Candy Store in Grand Forks , ND . TOP RIGHT : Sisters Emma and Jordan Gardner are experienced chocolate ‘ dippers .’ Their grandmother worked at Widman ’ s for over 30 years .
is successful .” After sampling a “ Chipper ,” Dan and Shawn offered a few of their more unusual varieties including hand-dipped chocolate-covered dill pickle chips , green olives , and jalapenos . The latter brought forth tears of joy .
Joking that the store ’ s amazing assortment of hand-dipped chocolates covered everything from A to Z , Dan presented a sheet listing 83 varieties of chocolates that ranged from Almond Bark to Zummies ( consisting of caramel and chocolate fudge ). Full disclosure : No variety started with Q or X . One particularly unusual item was the Gourmet Taco consisting of a flat-bottomed taco shell dipped in chocolate and filled with a variety of chocolate-dipped candies .
Several days later we visited with Carol Widman Kennedy and husband , David , at the Fargo store . Discussing the family business with Carol we discovered yet more unusual chocolate-covered varieties including Baby Spuds ( peanut butter , marshmallow crème and crushed potato chips ), Snow on
MAY 2023 | TiftonScene 37