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There is no source of happiness quite like the kind chocolate provides. Luckily for folks in Pictou County, there’s a local chocolatier making life a little sweeter.
Chapel Cove Chocolate, located close to Pictou County’s Melmerby Beach Provincial Park, is a small batch chocolatier, who produces gourmet Cultivate Better Cocoa™ chocolate products. There are chocolate bars, chocolate covered candy, and special holiday chocolates. With vegan, no sugar added, dark and white chocolate options, their product menu has something delicious for everyone.
What sets Chapel Cove Chocolate products apart from other chocolate you’ve tasted is their dedication to using fairly supplied cocoa products, aligning with the businesses beliefs in sustainability, especially within the cocoa sector. “We’re chocolatiers. We purchase high quality couverture chocolate and tweak it into something interesting and tasty,” said Allan Keefe, owner and chocolatier at Chapel Cove Chocolate.
“I think no one goes out of a chocolate shop unhappy,” he said, “and making people happy, that’s kind of why we do it.”
In 2012, missing Nova Scotia, Allan and his wife Jan returned home, to the property where Jan grew up. Allan brought a chocolate machine with him, hoping to continue to use it as a hobby.
That hobby turned into making chocolate bunnies for Mikes Harbour Market for Easter in 2014. When the local celiac community discovered the products were gluten free, they sold out.
Shortly after, they started selling chocolate at the New Glasgow Farmers Market. “We’ve never missed a market since, even through those pandemic days, where it was all online, no-contact sales” Allan shared.
Their chocolate is sourced from California, from a supplier Allan used in B.C; a 5th generation chocolate maker. In their first year operating, they purchased 500 pounds of chocolate. Since then, they have increased purchasing every year. “We’re pushing three tons this year,” he said.
Chapel Cove Chocolate started with the one 5 kilo machine, followed by a second. They then sourced a 20-kilogram machine from a store that was closing in Halifax. “That multiplied what we could do substantially,” said Allan. They we’re gaining momentum, and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.
Like all businesses, Chapel Cove Chocolate had to find their footing throughout the pandemic. “That Easter we did a lot of delivering to customers back doorsteps,” said Allan. “We just kept going, people supported us, and we’re still going.”
This year, they acquired another machine, allowing them to create with white, milk, and dark chocolate at the same time.
The business has now grown to the point of needing more hands. Last Christmas, Chapel Cove Chocolate doubled their sales from the previous year, with new distribution through Sobeys and Superstores. Other holidays and celebrations like Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Halloween are becoming busier now too. Chapel Cove is now partnering with Summer Street Industries as a co-packer. “They are a wonderful group to deal with,” Allan said. “They allow us to produce, and they take care of the packaging of some of our products for sale.”
They are always working on new products for people and businesses within Pictou County, and around the province in Mahone Bay, Kejimkujik, Yarmouth, Masstown, Truro, and around the Maritimes in Moncton, to across the globe in England.
“I see us moving more into the wholesale market,” said Allan. “We need growth, so we need distribution. Pictou County has supported us and shown us that there is a market for quality chocolate. Just in this county last year, we sold 10,000 chocolate bars. “With growth there is a need for staffing and space, and there’s no room to physically grow at this current location … we need to look at a bigger location to do that. Having a street side storefront; that’s always in the back of my mind.”
“It’s fun coming up with an idea and seeing it play out. It’s nice to have this creative outlet,” he said. But with endless opportunities for creativity comes the overwhelmed feeling of possibilities. They used to make over 30 varieties of chocolate bars but found that it wasn’t a sustainable model for their business. “You have to know when to trim it,” said Allan. “When only 2 people love your Hot Chili chocolate bar, that’s when you have to say that perhaps it’s just not going to work.”
Being in business and carrying that business forward throughout the years is a journey consisting of hurdles and success, good days and challenges. This year, the challenge was to deal with the price of cacao going up 400% on the world market. Cacao went from $2500 a tonne to $10,000, due to drought and an infestation of the cacao trees in West Africa. A shipment of chocolate which used to be $6000 became $12000, and is still going higher.
Being an entrepreneur requires grit and determination, and passion for what you’re doing. “I think it’s a process,” shared Allan. “You might stumble, but you’ve still got to keep going. If one thing doesn’t work, re-group, and start again.”
The process is challenging and takes time to get right, but when you’re like Allan and possess that trifecta of traits, you can turn a hobby into a thriving business that continues to grow and put smiles on faces near and far.