The Latest Installment of the Chocolate Saga!
San Diego, Calif. (July 15, 2024)—With four new flavors, the San Diego Convention Center announces the 2024 suite of limited-edition chocolate bars to be sold during this summer’s world-renowned Comic-Con International: San Diego (Comic-Con) event. 10,000 handcrafted bars, 2,500 of each flavor, will be sold during Comic-Con from July 25-28, 2024.
Sodexo Live! Executive Chef Sufi Karaien and Pastry Chef Kristianna Zabala teamed up to develop creative flavors that honor the fun and whimsy of the convention. Their culinary team makes 100 chocolate bars every 90 minutes inside the onsite kitchen, hand-crafting each one with care during the weeks leading up to the major popular arts event. Each bar is then locally wrapped to be exclusively sold to Comic-Con attendees at a booth in Lobby 20.
"Through the limited-edition chocolates, attendees can share a piece of their convention experience with loved ones or bring home their own souvenir of their time here in San Diego,” Karaien said. “We love to build on this tradition, year after year, and hear from attendees about their favorite flavors and designs. This level of creativity and ingenuity embodies the value we provide to the convention center and each event that we have the pleasure of hosting"
First Look at the 2024 Flavors
- An early-bird s’more from out of this world! The First in Line bar draws the most dedicated Hall H fans from across the stars with milk chocolate, puffed rice, Cinnamon Toast Crunch™, coffee, and marshmallows.
- So, you thought you followed the map, but you got yourself marooned. You’ll need a mighty concoction to survive on this island! The Pirate Potion bar with white chocolate, dried pineapple, lime, coconut, and key lime zest ought to do the trick.
- Recapture the magic of weekends with the Sunday Sundae bar, a nostalgic blend of milk chocolate, caramel, bananas, strawberries, cherries, vanilla, and peanuts.
- Sweet serenity sails through the night on this tasty adventure to discover extraordinary flavors in the Moonlight Voyage bar. White chocolate mixed with dried miso, black sesame, and dried strawberries will fuel the nocturnal explorer in you.
After the chefs develop the concepts, the Convention Center's communications team tastes the chocolates for inspiration while developing names and themes. The creative trio of Hailey Adams, Grayson Van Loon, and Dylan James then bring the bars to life through designs and animations.
The craft chocolates will be priced at $10 each. In 2023, the Convention Center’s food and beverage team offered more than 5,000 chocolate bars over four days, selling out every day of the convention. This tradition started in 2016 as an exclusive offering for event attendees.
Golden tickets will be hidden inside four of the chocolate bars. Each golden ticket can be redeemed for a $100 Starbucks gift card.
Concessions available during the event include Starbucks, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, California burritos, and additional grab-and-go options throughout the building. This year's additional options include Sumo Dog—offering Japanese twists on the classic hot dog—and a signature cookie from The Cravory, a San Diego-based cookie company. This year, Hall “C” is for comics and cookies!
With a robust program of speakers, exhibits, films, and games, Comic-Con attracts more than 135,000 attendees, creating a regional economic impact of more than $160 million and tax revenues of more than $3 million to the City of San Diego.
For information about Comic-Con, see Comic-Con.org.
About the San Diego Convention Center
The San Diego Convention Center is the region’s premier gathering place, hosting conventions that create economic benefits and jobs for the San Diego region, paid for by outside visitors to the destination. The San Diego Convention Center Corporation is a public benefit corporation created by the City of San Diego to exclusively manage, market, and operate the 2.6 million sq. ft. waterfront facility.
About Sodexo Live!
Sodexo Live! manages prestigious conference, cultural, and sporting venues and major events all over the world. With 40,000 employees and 500 sites, Sodexo Live! offers clients a range of bespoke catering, sales, and event management services, helping to transform the consumer experience into unforgettable memories. As strategic and responsible partners, Sodexo Live! commits to unlocking customers’ full potential while favoring local communities. Sodexo Live! contributes to the success of prestigious events such as Royal Ascot, the Tour de France, the Rugby World Cup and soon the Paris 2024 Games, and showcases exceptional venues such as the Eiffel Tower Restaurants, the Hard Rock Stadium, Bateaux Parisiens, Yachts de Paris, the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Prado museum in Madrid, and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
