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Every box of Coblentz Chocolate comes down to the last piece — the piece that leaves the sweetest memories — and every piece of Coblentz Chocolate starts at the center.

“It definitely starts with cooking or mixing the centers,” said Jason Coblentz, president of Coblentz Chocolate Co. “We can trace every ingredient back to the source, and we’re careful to select only fresh, quality ingredients.”

From there, an enrobing line carries the chocolate cluster or truffle, the peanut butter or jelly, or anything else the heart desires through a continuous curtain of chocolate. The confection is then cooled and hardens.

“Yesterday I was in the kitchen as fresh marshmallows came down the enrober, and, wow, the soft white marshmallow and the rich milk chocolate brought back a lot of memories,” Coblentz said.

Memories like those from the snap of a sea-salt caramel to the pull of a peanut cluster have endured for more than 30 years. Many of the recipes are still the same that Coblentz, his wife, Mary, and his brother, Mark, used when they founded the company.

“Sometimes I think the only thing that’s changed is the batch size,” Coblentz said.

Coblentz Chocolate has grown from three employees to 80, and now over 100 varieties of candy bear the name. Last April the company took the wrapper off a new 25,000-square-foot state-of-the-art factory that allows the chocolatier to fine-tune the temperature and humidity for bigger and better batches.

While Coblentz Chocolate brings out the perennial favorites at the start of each change in season, the company also introduces new products and decorates the store to the delight of visitors. Coblentz Chocolate is about making new memories.

“We’ve done it for the last 30 years,” Coblentz said. “It gets easier, but it also gets more challenging because we want to do something special — something different from last year.”

In Amish Country, fall is always a special time of year. The countryside’s changing foliage provides a spectacular backdrop to enjoy the waning days before winter weather rushes in and the holiday season is in full swing. For many, it’s a chance to collect a cornucopia of Coblentz candy to set out for Thanksgiving guests and take the time to enjoy a pleasant fall day with a Coblentz caramel apple.

“We cook our own caramel, and while it’s warm and fresh, dip the apple so that it’s covered completely and the caramel forms throughout. Often we’ll add chocolate or nuts,” Coblentz said. “The apples are cooled and packaged right in the store, and they’re quite popular. We make them once a week, through September and October.”

Over the years, a box of Coblentz Chocolate has come to mean something.

“It does me well to know that somebody trusts our product to give as a gift and that our quality and brand recognition are highly accepted,” Coblentz said.

Visit Coblentz Chocolate Co. at 4917 Walnut St. in Walnut Creek, Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The phone number is 1-800-338-9341, and the web address is CoblentzChocolates.com.