The Chocolate Factory

We look at some local companies who are mastering the fine art of chocolate.

Its use dates back to the earliest civilizations, yet it remains one of the most popular and recognizable flavours in the world today. Despite chocolate’s long-standing role in culinary history, three local companies are still finding ways to make the sweet treat fresh and exciting.

“Chocolate is so classic and I love that about it,” says Constance Menzies, the woman behind Chocolatier Constance Popp.

Her Portage Avenue shop produces fresh, premium artisan chocolate, using many made-in-Manitoba ingredients, organic and fair trade products, and various kinds of Belgian chocolate. The award-winning chocolate has already found its way to the 2010 Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, CentrePlace Manitoba at the 2010 Olympic Games and the royal visit to Winnipeg this past summer.

“I felt I could make things that not only my friends and family would like, but that I could make things with my sense of aesthetic and my flavour combinations that would resonate at a commercial level,” says Menzies of the business she started at home without any culinary background—save for a penchant for making unique, interesting foods. She later attended a chocolate academy in her hometown of Montreal, garnering the title of expert chocolatier after the three-year course.

Menzies has become known for creating one-of-a-kind flavour combinations, such as tequila organic lime and hot pepper bon-bons, roasted pumpkin seed and sea salt chocolate bark, or bacon and Manitoba maple syrup chocolate bars. “I’m very much inspired by art, music and nature,” says Menzies. “The red beet truffle came from me visiting the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market and finding red beets and thinking, ‘I love red beets. I’m going to make a truffle out of this.’”

Menzies has also received accolades for her Manitobar, which is cut into the shape of the Province of Manitoba and uses local ingredients like Manitoba Harvest hemp seed and John Russell lemon honey.

“One of my strengths is marrying flavours together,” says Menzies, whose business is now entering its third year. “It has to be full-bodied, fresh, delicious, no matter what. You have to be able to taste all of the different flavours in it…but ultimately it’s the chocolate you’re tasting, especially if it’s the single-origin chocolate.” Indeed, her shop often uses single-origin and single-plantation chocolate, which refers to chocolate made from beans from one region or one farm, respectively.

“You can always improve on your technique and there’s always so many more ingredient combinations you can make,” she continues. “It’s infinite and I love that, because there’s always something new about it and yet it’s still the same chocolate shop—it’s still my chocolate shop.”

Leaning towards the more traditional side of the chocolate industry is city landmark Mordens' of Winnipeg, whose chocolate plant is located behind and above its iconic Sargent Avenue storefront.

“My dad started the company in 1959 and my grandfather came on board at the same time, and we’ve been going steady ever since,” says owner Fred Morden. “On this strip of Sargent Avenue alone, there were six or seven chocolatiers at the time— and we’re the last surviving chocolatier on the strip.”

Mordens' is most famous for its world-renowned Russian Mint, a chocolate with a creamy, mint flavoured centre. “In December alone, we sell 14,000 400-gram boxes of Russian Mints,” says Morden of the product that won a ribbon for best chocolate piece at the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans. “We produce so much chocolate out of this little manufacturing
place that people can’t believe it.”

Many of the company’s products have even caught on as national trends, like its chocolate-covered jujube and the chocolate-covered coffee bean. Some of its other bestsellers include chocolate almonds and peanuts, all of which are roasted and panned in-house. “We make a high-quality chocolate that’s affordable,” says Morden. “I make everything from scratch. If I didn’t make everything from scratch, I wouldn’t have survived as long as I have.”

Morden himself sees the creation of products from start to finish to ensure the quality is top-notch. “The best part is being able to make something new every day and being creative,” he says. “Taste-testing is also a big part of the business, and that’s not too bad either.”

When the company makes a new chocolate, they put it in the showcase and sample it out to customers, then introduce it into the Mordens' assorted box. From there, the product may take on its own personality or packaging. “Our customers tell us if it’s a good one or if it isn’t—nine times out of ten, it’s pretty good,” he laughs. “When customers come in, they always leave smiling, and that’s the key.”

Another company making its mark on the industry is South Osborne’s Chocolate Zen Bakery, which for the past three-and-a-half years has specialized in a modern European style of baking and featured a variety of decadent chocolate desserts. “Every place we’ve (worked) has always been so chaotic and stressful, so we wanted something zen, something calming,” says co-owner Douglas Krahn of the company’s name.

The cozy bakery, co-owned by Betty Lai and Danielle Correia, uses premium Callebaut chocolate in its products and “everything is done from scratch,” says Krahn, adding their signature dish would have to be the Chocolate Zen Torte, a chocolate cake finished with white chocolate curls and surrounded by dark chocolate ganache.

When coming up with new products, the trio looks to its customers for inspiration. “We make what people would like—and it definitely has to be appealing to the eye,” says Lai, who originally started as Krahn’s student and has now worked with him for the past 15 years. “We have to like it first before we put it in the showcase,” adds Krahn. “To see everybody else happy makes us happy.”

Though the three companies produce very different products, their goals are very much the same—to ensure their chocolate concoctions put a smile on customers’ faces. “One thing I love about chocolate is that it’s part of people’s good intentions. When people come to buy chocolate, it’s because it’s going to make them feel better or they’re going to give it as a gift and make someone else feel better,” says Menzies. “I get to be a part of those good intentions.”