Creo Chocolate, the Portland craft chocolate maker, opens its first shop outside Portland on Thursday, Sept. 10, at Cedar Hills Crossing in Beaverton.

The family-owned company's fourth location is at 2855 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Suite 110. A free grand opening celebration runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a ribbon cutting at 9:45 a.m. hosted by the Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce, according to the Cedar Hills Crossing event listing.

Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty is scheduled to speak at the ribbon cutting, along with Creo's owners. U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici is also scheduled to attend.

Father-and-son team Tim and Kevin Straub founded Creo in 2014. The company sources its cacao beans directly from Hacienda Victoria, a single family farm in Ecuador, and turns them into chocolate at its Portland factory in a three-day process.

Kevin Straub said in a press release that the family started with a raspberry farm in Ridgefield, Wash. "While running the farm, we started making chocolate for family and friends, and things got a little out of control," he said. "Next thing you know, we're opening up our fourth chocolate shop."

The Beaverton storefront will carry truffles, chocolate-covered products and seasonal items. The grand opening includes chocolate fountains, free samples, a prize wheel and a Golden Ticket giveaway for early customers with hundreds of dollars in prizes.

The expansion comes with recognition behind it. Creo earned four Good Food Awards in 2023 and honors from the Academy of Chocolate and the International Chocolate Awards. Food & Wine named the company one of the 50 best chocolate makers and shops in the United States in 2021.

Creo is hiring a full-time shop keeper for the Cedar Hills location at $20 per hour, according to the company's careers page. Regular store hours have not been announced.

The opening also carries a local giving angle. Creo chose the Beaverton Education Foundation as its grand opening partner and will donate 10% of sales from the new shop's first week to the foundation, according to a BEF social media post.