Although Clairesquares officially opened for business in 2006, Claire first began making her delectable treats at age 12. Growing up in County Cork, Ireland, Claire took inspiration from her mother’s recipe books and set out experimenting with fudge, butterscotch, toffee, and caramel. Her best-loved endeavor was the caramel square, a mouthwatering combination of shortbread, caramel and chocolate. A budding entrepreneur, Claire tried her hand selling the squares at school. Before long, her classmates were addicted and she sold out every week.

Years later and miles away in San Francisco, Claire felt homesick for her native Ireland and turned to the stove. She whipped up a batch of those same buttery, Irish treats for her friends. Much to Claire’s delight, they elicited the same wondrous reaction as years past. Itching for a career change from environmental science and encouraged by her friends’ enthusiasm (and constant harassment for just one more square), Claire decided to sell her Irish treats in the States, and Clairesquares was born!

Clairesquares collaborated with Häagen-Dazs in 2015 to create one of 6 new Artisan Collection Ice Creams.

La Cocina

We are lucky to be a member of La Cocina which is a ground-breaking busi­ness incu­ba­tor designed to reduce the obsta­cles that often pre­vent entre­pre­neurs from cre­at­ing suc­cess­ful and sus­tain­able small busi­nesses. By pro­vid­ing shared resources and an array of industry-specific ser­vices, La Cocina has helped ensure small busi­nesses like ours can succeed.

www.lacocinasf.org

Food Banks

We are just as committed to our local community as we are to the environment; through our donation program, we have assisted several charitable nonprofit organizations and local food banks like Food Runners, who’s mission is to help alleviate hunger in San Francisco.

www.foodrunners.org