Made from memory. Named for legacy.
This story started
before the first pouch.
Charlie’s Chow is a modern snack built from family memory, a chef’s imagination, and the legacy of the man whose name appears on every bag.
Start at the beginning
Where it all started
One legendary cheesecake.
One lifelong curiosity.
At family gatherings, young Clayton Cottman became fascinated by Aunt Thelma’s legendary cheesecake—the dessert everybody seemed to know, but he was never allowed to taste. The mystery stuck. So did the idea that food could create anticipation, emotion, and memory before the first bite.
Years later, that curiosity became a chef’s instinct: take something people already love, then make it richer, more imaginative, and more worth remembering. Charlie’s Chow grew from that same impulse.
A name with history
The name on every pouch means something.
Uncle Charlie’s is named in honor of Dr. Charles A. Carter—Clayton’s great-uncle, a World War II Buffalo Soldier, frontline medic, and pioneering clinical psychologist.
To the family, Uncle Charlie represented the kind of life that leaves a standard behind: serve with courage, pursue excellence, and build something meaningful enough to outlast you. His name became a reminder that food can carry more than flavor. It can carry memory, meaning, and history.
Service
Make something that genuinely gives people joy.
Excellence
Never settle for ordinary when better is possible.
Legacy
Build with enough purpose that the story keeps moving.
Made in Fargo. Craved Everywhere.
Built one batch at a time.
Clayton began building Uncle Charlie’s Gourmet Snacks in Fargo, North Dakota, hand-making the earliest batches and refining the flavors one recipe at a time. The goal was never to invent nostalgia. It was to respect it enough to make it better.
What began as a small kitchen idea became Charlie’s Chow: premium chocolate crunch with big dessert flavor, a cleaner finish, and colorful pouches built to stand out.
Find Charlie’s Chow
Nostalgia, made bolder.
Familiar enough to feel like home.
Different enough to remember.
Richer from the start
Belgian chocolate gives every crispy rice square a more indulgent foundation.
Dessert with imagination
Brownie Truffle, Key Lime Pie, Cotton Candy, and more—nostalgia gets a bold new personality.
Made for real life
Serious chocolate flavor with a clean finish that leaves the messy residue behind.
What stays the same
Family is where the story begins.
Legacy is how it lives on.
Flavor is how we share it.
As featured in
Taste the story
Start with six.
Find your one.
Every pouch carries a little of where Charlie’s Chow came from—family, flavor, imagination, and the belief that a familiar snack can still surprise you.