Peace by Chocolate shop in Antigonish is worth the visit!

I was lucky enough to visit the little tiny Antigonish, Nova Scotia chocolate factory and store, Peace by Chocolate, owned by the Hadhads, who started out as Syrian refugees in early 2016 and are now running a profitable business. They even sent support to the Fort McMurray fire refugees and efforts. And goodness, is that chocolate good!

**Please note that there is an update from below that they have moved locations since my visit to a larger factory on Cloverville Rd and they supply their chocolate to a local retail store as well. Thanks for the comment Laurie and I’ve added a few links**

I had the privilege of meeting Isaam Hadhad briefly when I purchased my coveted chocolate I was about to bring back to BC! I also chatted with Tareq briefly about this post. 

There are too many things that I want to say about this

Do I start about chocolate and how it is amazing? That I loved seeing the tiny chocolate factory and store all in one? Do I explain their story or do I assume you’ve already heard about them because of all of their media attention? Do I start with how I love that this story brings everyone together around food? …because as CBC so well states “chocolate is a language everyone understands.” How do I truly explain that this is a perfect example where food security has been achieved in a few short paragraphs with my long-winded excitedness?

Here is some of the chocolate I ended up buying (that I still have as a treat.. so this isn’t a “fresh” picture so you can see how good it still looks!)

The story about the Hadhads has been well covered. Here is a quick update:

The Hadhads owned a chocolate factory which employed 30 people in Syria, lived in Lebanon for 3 years and 8 months and finally made it to Antigonish, Nova Scotia Canada. With the support of the town, they were able to achieve their dream of having another chocolate shop including the building of the chocolate and factory shop! (photo below). Peace by Chocolate was so successful the first attempt for online sales had so many requests they had to wait and then reopen their online shop here.

For more detail on their story click here.
Syrian chocolatier opens factory in Antigonish (Aug 2016 by CBC)
Sweet success: How the Hadhads went from refugees to employers in 1 year (Jan 2017 by CBC)
Justin Trudeau shares Antigonish refugee family’s success story in UN speech (He spoke Sept 2016)
Ministry Ahmed Hussen at the House of Commons! Feb 2017
Win National Newcomer Award Oct 20 2017 

Antigonish is a special community. I enjoyed my University years there, and have a second home in so many ways in Nova Scotia. The University as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau states, doubles the size of the town. This means that the University has worked hard to find ways to give back to the community and provide ample opportunities for students to get involved. This is a perfect opportunity for the success of the Hadhads and I am happy to hear that they were properly included in the town community. The town community is very special and I remember how happy I felt once I was finally accepted by the Antigonish locals when I chose to stay one summer between school years.

Sooo….onwards to chocolate buying  I was spending the day with my dear friend Christine, in October 2016 and I had it on my list that I wanted to go, visit and support this chocolate shop. I love the fact that the Hadhads have added incredible value to the Antigonish community with their chocolate shop.

First of all, if you don’t know what you are looking for you might walk right past Peace by Chocolate. It is between two different houses on the Main st but what would be considered “out of downtown” even though it is maybe a 15 min walk from the other side of downtown Antigonish.

There was nobody there when we first came, but Issam Hadhad soon came out to greet us. We had a lovely exchange with very few English words, some gestures and a few smiles – enough to get what I came for – the chocolate.

It was amazing to see how much you could do in the small space to create the chocolate. Here is a double boiler to melt the chocolate.

And I loved seeing the chocolate wheel!

The chocolate does actually tastes quite different to me than standard commercial chocolate. I’m still learning how to describe and distinguish tastes – However, I found the chocolate texture is quite smooth, but also feels denser, almost harder than a lot of other chocolates. It takes longer to melt in your mouth – so you can enjoy the rich flavour for longer.. if you can wait and not bite into it. If you are ready to try it either head to Antigonish or – check out their online shop here

Since all of their success – Peace by Chocolate has some big dreams. I’ll let Tareq and Issam Hadhad speak for themselves through this video. They are looking to expand and could use your support.

I am Canadian and proud, just like many others, of the multiculturalism our nation has. My family, just like many others, immigrated here for a better life and so immigration is an important piece of my heritage. The more we can do to recognize that we won’t fully ever understand someone’s journey but to be curious and take an interest in other people’s different ways of living and different ways of knowing – the better. I thoroughly enjoyed leaving little chocolate presents for my friends – and the stunning bride which is why I got to come back to Nova Scotia.

Peace by Chocolate produces great chocolate. The Hadhads story has several takeaways for me. It reminds us to never give up on our dreams. It can remind us that the simple things that matter that bring us all together and crosses all barriers (including language) – like sharing food.