To Constance Popp, purchasing local and ethical just makes sense. “We’ve become quite known for making and using local ingredients. We’ve been doing it for years.”
Walking into the Chocolatier Constance Popp shop, you’re greeted with a smile and offered samples of the latest chocolate creations. The minimalist décor, clean white walls, and shelves perfectly lined with truffles, bark, and bars make it clear that you’re entering an exquisite, upscale chocolate universe.
“We spend a lot of money on our chocolate, so why would we mask it with sugar, or artificial flavours? Here we only use premium-grade chocolate and only whole foods,” says Popp.
A master’s degree from the U of M’s natural resources institute and a job working for the City of Winnipeg’s waste minimization project helped shape Popp’s passion for ethical consumption.
Her award-winning Manitobar is the epitome of locally sourced ingredients, containing sunflower seeds, honey, flaxseed, and Manitoba Harvest hemp hearts.
Even though many of Popp’s chocolates are chock-full of nutrients, she doesn’t like to advertise so, “Because then people will think it’s a health bar and think it won’t taste good.”
Popp need not worry, because the palm-sized Manitoba-shaped bar tastes sinfully decadent – far from what might be conventionally considered “healthy.” The bottom layer is crunchy, sweet, and salty all at once. The treat is topped with a soft layer of gianduja chocolate and praline paste, and dipped in a honey and rich dark chocolate ganache.
Wendell Estate honey, which has appeared on the CBC television show Dragon’s Den, shows up in many of the chocolates, as well as birch syrup tapped from an area just north of The Pas, Man.
“For 16 litres of birch syrup it costs me a thousand dollars, and that was the wholesale price. So I knew that I had to make something special with that; I couldn’t just put it in a truffle, because it would be buried. I want it to be featured.”
And featured it is. Take a close look at the Birch Bark Bar and you’ll notice the gnarled impressions of an actual piece of birch bark, used to create the mould.
The Spicy Edamame Bar is deceiving at first glance. The squares look like they’re broken off of your average chocolate bar, but the bottom is studded with tiny pieces of roasted local edamame beans.
On first bite, the chocolate begins to melt in your mouth as the beans provide a nice little crunch, and all of a sudden, it hits you – the hot spicy pepper tantalizes your taste buds and lingers afterward, leaving you wanting more.
“It’s spicy, it’s rich, it’s nutty. It’s just a good, honest chocolate, I think.”
Don’t be fooled by the pretty, see-through, cellophane-type packaging that encases all the chocolates – it’s compostable. Ethical packaging has come a long way since scratchy cardboard boxes.
Popp is full of ideas as she chats about the many directions her business may go in the future. She’s working on a new chocolate bar, too, but it’s top secret and she’s “not going to talk about it yet.” You’ll have to wait and see.
