About Us

At Clasen Quality Chocolate, we are guided by our mission and values to serve the industry with excellence.

CQC Mission Statement

Be the preferred supplier of safe, high quality chocolate and confectionery coatings through operational excellence. Leverage our highly skilled organization to drive superior customer service, flexibility, and innovative new products that will generate profitable, sustainable growth.

CQC Values

INTEGRITY

With every decision made, we want to ensure we are always “doing the right thing”. We maintain a strict adherence to honesty, ethics, and equality.

COMMITMENT

We are driven by our commitment to our customers, our employees, and the community. We have committed to meeting and surpassing our customers’ expectations to develop a partnership based on trust.

RESPECT

We value the relationships with our customers, suppliers, and employees and hold them in the highest regard. Our goal is to always act in the same way that we would want to be treated.

FLEXIBILITY

We foster a culture that supports nimbleness and timely decision making to meet our customers’ ever-changing demands. We learn from our mistakes to support continuous improvement.

The CQC team is made up of the best and brightest in the food manufacturing industry. Years of experience and ongoing training initiatives for each employee result in a highly skilled team working together to take an innovative and flexible approach to meeting our customers’ needs.

Service Promise

CQC promises you outstanding service from your first interaction with us until product reaches your customers. What exactly does that mean? See for yourself!

WE PROMISE TO SERVE YOU WITH INTEGRITY

When working with CQC, you can be confident that we will never jeopardize your product’s quality or the integrity of either of our businesses.

WE PROMISE TO SERVE YOU WITH COMMITMENT

We consistently receive customer referrals due to our commitment to meeting and surpassing expectations. We work hard to develop a partnership based on trust.

WE PROMISE TO SERVE YOU WITH RESPECT

We respect our relationship with you and treat you as a valuable extension of our team. Our goal is to act in the same way that we’d want to be treated.

WE PROMISE TO SERVE YOU WITH FLEXIBILITY

We know your business initiatives and priorities are constantly changing. Therefore, we foster a culture that supports nimbleness and timely decision making. We have the freedom to adapt and quickly develop solutions to meet your needs.

History

In 1959, recent German immigrants, the Clasen brothers, opened a European bakery in Madison, Wisconsin and marketed on a small scale to friends and local neighbors. The business expanded and became the Clasen Candy Company in 1966. Four years later, the brothers began to produce and market their own confectioner’s coating and changed the name to Clasen Quality Coatings, Inc. to reflect the company’s new focus.
In 1998, Ralph Clasen sold the company to a private entrepreneur and current owner with the intent of maintaining the philosophy and tradition that made Clasen successful. Since this transfer of ownership, CQC has transitioned from a small, regional compound coating manufacturer to a major supplier of both standard and customized formulations and value-added, confectionery ingredients across North America. Physical expansion yielded additional facilities in Middleton and Watertown, with Corporate Offices and the CQC Innovation Center in Madison.
In 2009, the company produced its first Standard of Identity chocolate and a year later, opened its own private trucking fleet to minimize transportation time.

In 2018, CQC expanded to the West Coast and built our third manufacturing facility in Spanish Springs, NV.