Harbor Sweets

My husband gets me the Valentines Assortment every year as a special treat and I enjoy unwrapping a chocolate before bed. Sadly the quality went downhill and when my husband told me how much the price has gone up I said nope…get me something different! I love Harbor Sweets and will order other items but this item needs some quality control. Photo 1: 2025 Photo 2: 2026

I placed an order for Christmas and accidentally doubled the product. I immediately responded to the customer service email address in the order confirmation asking to correct my error since it was after business hours. No acknowledgement of my message was ever received. Even if they couldn't fix my error, they could have simply replied informing me of that. Acknowledging a customer inquiry should be a normal part of any business, and would have been acceptable.

We popped in to see where Harbor Sweets is based. The store is in an old building that looks a bit shabby and there is not a lot of street parking nearby. They have a variety of prepackaged chocolates and a small case of items for custom packing. The chocolates we tried were very good.

Update: The president spoke to me and reassured me that this is not reflective of their values. No excuses were made, I received an apology, and the situation will be addressed with the employees. Really great customer service. OG post: Microaggression. White customer went to pay with visa card, but the machine didn't work. White customer is asked to pay in cash. Im a hispanic woman, I go up next to pay with visa, card reader still does not work, and lady asked if my visa was a "gift card." I say no. She asked me to pay cash. I take out a 100 dollar bill and she said they had "no change" but my total was 60 dollars. They thought my 100 was fake. I paid in exact change for my safety and left. It was frustrating but thats the culture this store permitted as all the staff saw this and allowed it to happen.

You can watch the chocolates being made at this glass walled chocolatier. The staff when I visited was lacking in experience and product knowledge, and I was charged $2 each for items labeled $1 each in the case, but still I like the chocolates and the set up

the best sweets in salem, seriously!!! the chocolate sloops are adorable, delicious, and I won't be able to find those shapes and balance of flavors without visiting again :) which would be a delight. so many options, all fantastic!

Tucked away in a quiet corner, this place was a pleasant surprise on our list of candy stores to visit in Salem. I highly recommend the Sloops! You can see the candy being made behind the checkout counter while you wait for the kind staff to bag your purchases.

We toured harbor sweets and it was SO much fun! The chocolates are so delicious and the caramel is the best I’ve ever had. Loved this experience!

Although I live in Salem, this was probably only my 3rd time in the shop. The lady that told me she was a fairly new employee, was very pleasant and informative. The other lady not so much, and I believe she was there my previous visits and gave me the same standoffish vibe. Anyhow, it's a nice shop but, on the pricey side. My friend purchased a few gifts. I got 4 single pieces of sloops candies, it was $8. Oh well, they were very good. I was just taken back at $2 per piece each for a small piece of candy. Display case is amazing with many to choose from.

Such a sweet generous human was working when we came into the Beverly, MA this evening. She may be the owner but was very gracious and humble. The ice cream (did a scoop of black raspberry and vanilla) was super creamy and top notch! Great place for an after dinner treat or interesting chocolate gifts. Thanks Harbor Sweets for a great experience!

We were in the Salem area and was told about this place from a friend. So glad we stopped in as this was off the main road. You can see a working chocolate factory in progress. The candy was so fresh and tasty. The staff was friendly. I'll definitely be back

I discovered the wonder of Harbor Sweets' Sweet Sloops back when I was in Maine. I don't use the word wonder lightly because these Sloops are made of toffee, white chocolate, and nuts...none of which I ever like in my chocolate. My impression of chocolate, toffee, and nuts have been from Almond Roca, which feel hard enough to break teeth. However, these bite-sized, individually-wrapped Sloops are my weakness so I was excited to visit their factory store, which is right by the water in Salem. They have a little parking lot for convenient free parking! The two ladies working there were so nice and I even got to try a couple of samples. Their chocolates are a little expensive but are perfect for gifts-- they're handmade, local, and all delicious! They also have some chocolates in a display case you can purchase individually for $1.95, which is a great way to try everything. We bought a box of 36 sloops ($28.50 after a flash 20% sale) and have gone through a third of of it in an evening. I already know what I'm going to buy next time I visit. (The Gather line of chocolates has a fantastic coconut cluster. I might also be eyeing their line of hot chocolate...)

Pandemic Review I received a beautiful box of chocolates from Harbor Sweets in Salem, MA as a small gift of appreciation. Yes, I felt appreciated. It was a beautiful box and the chocolates inside were tasty too! The foil wrapped medallions made it to me whole, and in a variety of flavors in both dark and milk chocolate.

I've been coming here every october for around 20 years. I'm not sure why I haven't left a review. Harbor Sweets it a tradition and it never fails to delight. I've had most everything that they have for sale. This year I found somethings that I haven't tried, The Gather Collection which has honey in them and the hot chocolate which looks pretty interesting. Of course you can never go wrong with the classic Sweet Sloops and one of my favorites, The Harbor Lights. It is all made by hand and when you come to the shop you can see the people creating the luscious chocolates. Also come in and say hi, the person in the front will give you a free chocolate and tell you some history about Harbor Sweets. If you are nice she will give you two

The nicest, most welcoming people work here-- and there are free samples! Who doesn't love a free sample? The store is a feast for the eyes too: so many pretty packages. The sloops are their signature, most famous offering for a reason, but if toffee isn't your thing, there's something for everyone.

Placed a large order with multiple of the same item. Only received a qty of 1 of each item instead of 3. Their onsite shop packers forgot or stole the rest of our order. Now, I am out $200 of product and customer service is too busy to respond.

I grew up in nearby Marblehead and until recently, was not aware of this place (granted, I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for about 20 years). On a recent trip home, I was looking for something unique to bring back for my coworkers and opted for the Sweet Sloops (of course!) and the Marblehead Mints (gotta show some hometown pride!). Wow, both of these candies were so yummy! I definitely gained points with my coworkers. Got tons of compliments on the Sweet Sloops in particular-almost wished I bought a bigger box! When we stopped in to get the candy, we saw workers making and packaging candy and were even treated to some yummy samples. If you're in the Salem area, you need to drop by and get some of this candy.

Great chocolates. They make a great holiday gift. I love that they are local! Too bad their website is so bad to place orders!

We got to. Is it one of our favorite chocolate shops while visiting Salem last weekend. We dropped in for special Easter treats and were not disappointed! It was well stocked and the women who were working were very pleasant! Not only did they offer me a chocolate, they let me take one for my husband who was waiting in the car. Thank you so much!

I work for a law firm in California and yesterday we received a festive package of Sweet Sloops from Harbor Sweets via UPS. We were pleasantly surprised to find 12 chocolates inside an Autumn-themed bag - What a SWEET Thanksgiving treat. The foil unwrapped to reveal handmade chocolate sailboats with an almond butter crunch filling. They were delicious and went quickly (our staff knows how to make chocolate disappear!) These are a great gift idea and the Harbor Sweet website says they're only $10.50. Less than $1 each seemed like a pretty fair price for specialty chocolate - and they were designed cuter than your typical piece of chocolate. Very thoughtful gift - chocolate was delicious!

The Assorted Easter Bunny is my fav Easter candy everererer. Yum. The Sloops are good too. This place is in the ghetto, so there's that. But. YUM.

MMMmmmmmm! These are delicious! My mom and I stumbled by accident across these while in Marblehead. Our Inn was putting two Harbor Sweets (mint) on our nightstand and we loved them! While browsing a local shop we saw them on the shelf and bought an assortment. I brought a larger box home to my husband who is now addicted. They are very expensive but very delicious. I am a fan bc most of their sweets appear to be made with dark chocolate, my favorite. We tried to visit while in Salem but they close at 5pm and we had just missed closing time.

Currently during Covid-19 crisis, their website is open for business/shipping out, and there is also curbside pick up. Not sure about their other retail outlets. Background: Wonderful local business, hand dipped/crafted chocolates, several different lines mostly nautical themes but they also have a line of "equine" or horse theme chocolates as well. They no longer have sugar free chocolates, but a line made with local honey called "Gather." There is also some information on the website about what chocolates are gluten free and which are not. There is also a line called Salt and Ayre with truffles and caramels, all very unusual and delicious. They are famous for the sweet sloops, the crunch triangle mimicking a sailboat, dipped in white chocolate "sail." The Gather/honey line donates a portion to a nonprofit trying to help/save honey bees, they have special line of chocolates benefiting the Children's Hospital Society and at Easter try the "moon bunnies," based on a design at the Peabody Essex Museum. They also have the Cocoa Sante line with different flavor including the very cute/aptly named "nor'easter."

What happened to my Advent Calendar order? Placed order online well in advance; specified Dec. 1 delivery; it didn't show up - spoke with customer service each day for 4 days; promised to 'look into it' & call me back - she didn't; promised the Calendar would be sent overnight, it wasn't; they couldn't find a tracking number...on and on. Now Dec. 15 & my daughter still hasn't received the calendar. Most disappointing. Way too much time & effort. Would have appreciated a straight answer. The customer service ladies are either sloppy and poorly trained

Great chocolate. Weird location. It's a real New England tradition: straightforward candies in only a few varieties with non-glitzy packaging. But the quality is high, and they make a great souvenir, assuming you restrain yourself and don't tear into the "gifts" on the way home. The store is really their factory, so you can only walk around the outer edge to pick out your purchases. We were there on a weekend, and unfortunately there was no candy making to see. The shop is in the middle of nowhere, so they clearly don't need/want too much walk-in traffic. But we were offered a sample from a giant platter, which is nice. The semi-industrial neighborhood looks sketchy, but we walked through in both directions, and the locals were perfectly friendly.

Harbor Sweets is a good place if you like decadent chocolate, since they make some delicious treats with a hefty price tag. However, it's completely worth it for special occasions. While visiting Salem recently, I had the pleasure of stopping by this shop, and although it is undergoing some construction now, the chocolate was still top notch. A friendly woman approached our group with a giant tray of chocolate to sample, but unfortunately we were only allowed one sample, which made it hard to decide what we wanted to buy. There signature sweet is something they call a sloop, which is an almond butter crunch shaped like a sail boat and covered in chocolate. While it was good, it certainly wasn't my favorite. They offer a lot of chocolate with extra fillings, such as caramel, nuts, raspberry, etc., but I was surprised to find out that I liked their plain chocolate best. My favorite was the dark chocolate, which had just the right amount of bitter and sweet to really satisfy a chocolate craving.

Consider this an after the fact review, as I'm in my mid 20's and have been going to Harbor Sweets reasonably often with my family for roughly 20 years now, and I make a point of going there every time I come back now that I don't live in Salem anymore. Their products make me happy. Every. Single. Time. I don't know what consistency is worth to you, but my favorite chocolates are the Sweet Shells and the Sea Biscuits and I've been enjoying them since Elementary School, and they taste just as fantastically good to bitter, jaded 20-something me as they did to youthful, optimistic, things-are-going-to-be-great 10-year old me. I don't consider it formally Christmas until I pull their Sweet Sloop ice cream topping out of my stocking. Their stuff is great, the people who run it are all very nice and the shop is a delightful little space.

While planning a daytrip to Salem recently, I stumbled upon Harbor Sweets' website and I'm never one to turn down a trip to a chocolate store. The location is a little weird and apparently the shop is undergoing some sort of construction or renovation because we had to go in through the back. Ended up in the warehouse section of the building and there didn't seem to be a huge selection available to us. The free samples were nice, though, and made up for the confusion we must have exhibited as we stood in the factory waiting for someone to appear. Just a little strange to not have a sign or something saying they're doing some work on the main shop area. But the chocolates themselves are delicious. Picked up some of the milk and butter crunch chocolates, dark chocolate with raspberry, and little boxes of salted caramel and their sweet sloops to bring home.

My only experience with Harbor Sweets is by mail order. I love their chocolates and only have one suggestion and that is to offer periodic shipping deals like so many other places do. I just spoke with the ordering clerk and she said they sometimes have specials and these are noted on the catalogues they send out. Unfortunately, I have never seen any such offers and I would buy more candies if the shipping was reduced or eliminated after a certain amount was spent.

Great selection of handmade chocolates, and a wonderful tour from the very nice girl behind the counter. Made my daughter and I feel very welcome. A must see when in Salem! Try the Sweet Sloops!

Definitely a place to satisfy your chocolate cravings. The chocolates are made in house and you can see their creations in process. The flavor of their chocolate is too sweet for my liking and the bitterness is not as pleasant as I'd like (I tried the dark, milk, white chocolates.) Either way it's still a cute shop to visit while in Salem.

Harbor sweets is my all time favorite candy shop in the world. Don't just buy their candies when you see them in a store, get off your butt and get in your car and go to Salem and check out their factory (they have Samples!). And get yourself some of their candies you'll LOVE them!

I usually make a trip to Harbor Sweets in or around a holiday. Sometimes it's Valentine's Day and sometimes it's Christmas. On occasion I've purchased a box of mixed chocolates, but more often than not I end up with at least one box of Sweet Sloops. A friend or relative must have introduced me to this awesome chocolate 15 or 20 years ago. It's truly a great experience when you give a box of sloops to someone who knows what they are. No less than 100% of the time their eyes will light up and they will burst into a smile. The only thing better than giving some is getting some. You just about can't go wrong with giving (or getting) a box of Sweet Sloops.

I remember visiting this shop on a field trip when I was a Salem resident, going to Middle School East - over 15 years ago. Was in the area recently and had to get myself a box of those incredible sweet sloops!! Also got me some lovely sweet shells, the chocolate orange crunch is rather divine.

Great Customer Service! My sister sent me a box of Harbor Sweets chocolates for my birthday. Unfortunately, the delivery person left the box in the hot sun and they were ruined by the time I got home from work. I called the company and a new box was sent out. A week later, I hadn't received the new box so I called again. The woman who answered the phone said she would find the details of my order and call me back after she tracked the package. Within 30 minutes she called back and said my chocolates would arrive today. An hour later UPS was at my door. The chocolates were packed in insulation this time. No problems and they are delicious!

You've got to love a store where they greet you at the door with a tray of gourmet chocolates, made right on the premises. These chocolates are wonderful. You need them. Really.

I've been going to Harbor Sweets for 20 plus years. While the choc is very good I've had trouble with delivery and follow up with the staff. I also, noticed a coupon the last time I was in the store. When I asked about it I was told it was a mailing. Since I'm on the mailing list this seemed odd. Followed up with a phone call was told it was mailed to Salem residents. I live in the next town over same postage, and I'm on all the mailing lists. I guess if you don't live in Salem you don't count? Suffice it to say, having experienced some poorly thought out business practices by Harbor sweets I will probably shop there less.

been buying this chocolate off and on for 20 years.. their quality has dropped in recent years. bought a home box, and was quite disappointed because these were obviously seconds tho all one is told is that you are not getting a fancy box. 75% of the chocolates were defective- 1/2 smashed and leaking, 1/4 bloomed (choc. is cloudy). Considering their price, I expect perfection! i was intimidated when i complained, they making me feel i was a rat if i wanted a replacement ( i believe they do guarantee, hem...). been to the shop a couple of times, help has been downright rude. have given up on them. see's is just fine for me.

Excellent Customer service! My company places a lot of orders through this company, and once in a while we will need to cancel an order, or there may be an error in an address. They are always more than happy to assist with these circumstances, and respond immediately! Also, their chocolates are fantastic :)

Definitely found this year's Sweet Sloops to be pretty stale. We have been ordering from Harbor Sweets for many years after living in MA and discovering these great candies. Not so good this time around. For the price and shipping expense, we will be looking elsewhere next year.