"Celebrated Asheville, North Carolina, chocolate shop French Broad Chocolate is now open at Ponce City Market. And it sells more than just bonbons and chocolate bars, as it also serves both its popular sipping chocolate and salted caramel brownies. French Broad took over the former Batter Cookie Dough space on the first floor of the central food hall, located between LaRayia’s Bodega and Five Daughters Bakery. The shop features a retail section for purchasing chocolate gift sets, chocolate bars, and other chocolate sundries and a counter where people can order fresh-baked brownies, desserts like cookies and cream chocolate cheesecake jars, and sipping chocolate. This is the first location of French Broad Chocolate outside of Asheville, something co-owner Jael Skeffington calls a “huge milestone” for the company she founded in 2006 with Dan Rattigan. Skeffington and Rattigan spent two years visiting cacao farms and learning about Theobroma cacao in Costa Rica before launching French Broad Chocolate and eventually opening French Broad Chocolate Lounge in 2008 in downtown Asheville. The pair followed up on the success of the chocolate lounge with a small chocolate factory in 2012, expanding once again in 2018 into a new facility along the French Broad River. French Broad Chocolate joins a number of new food and drinks stalls at the Ponce City Market food hall." - Beth McKibben
