Karen Munson

Owner

Munson’s Chocolates

Karen Munson is the owner of Munson’s Chocolates and a third generation chocolatier. Founded in 1946, Munson’s Chocolates is headquartered in Bolton Connecticut and is Connecticut largest retail chocolate manufacturer. Munson’s employs more than 200 people and operates 10 privately held locations. Munson’s multichannel sales model includes fund raising, wholesale, corporate gift giving and shipping their product globally thru their on line store.

Karen is creative director of product development for Munson’s. She has been responsible for the incorporating locally sourced ingredients to their product line and co-branding with local suppliers on seasonal creations. Karen creates and oversees the implementation of the company’s visual merchandising philosophy, tools, language, & plan-o-grams resulting in store consistency & visual impact resulting in measurable increases in sales across all retail channels. Under her leadership, Karen has lead the rebranding of the companies nearly 70 year old image; successfully translating the company’s historical identity into new packaging, store designs and marketing plans. Karen is passionate about spotting, developing, & leveraging talent resulting in teams and individuals who are capable of maximum contributions and developing a culture that shares the company’s unwavering commitment to excellence in its manufacturing facility and throughout its retail stores.

Karen received her BA from the University of Connecticut and her MA from the University of New Haven. Karen is very involved in her community and an advocate for her industry. Karen has been a guest speaker for multiple University Of Connecticut events and Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) conferences. She was a corporator for Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) a member of the Retail Confectioner’s International and a lobbies on behalf of the National Confectioner’s Association.