To BC Or Bust: the Story of ChocolaTas : Saul Good Gift Co.

Their family thought they were insane.

Moving to Canada and starting a chocolate business? Abandoning their careers and uprooting their family for something completely unknown?

For Veve and Wim Tas’s family — it didn’t make sense. Little did they know Veve and Wim had been dreaming about this move since 1996. Looking back at this time of transition, Veve notes, “not many of our family members were supportive. Now, they all want to visit and be a part of what we’re doing.”

That’s because Veve and Wim Tas’s business, Chocolatas, has been successfully creating fine chocolate out of their store in Abbotsford for nearly twenty years. Wim has won multiple awards and competitions in the international stage (including gold, silver, and bronze at the International Chocolate Awards Canada), and Veve continues to bring passion and creativity to running the business and building a tight-knit team.

We recently caught up with Veve to find out more about making the biggest move of her life, and why, even after all the hardships of opening and growing a small business, she wouldn’t change a thing.

What inspired you to start Chocolatas?

Back in 1996, my partner, Wim, wasn’t happy with his job. He sold auto parts and people were always grumpy because if they saw Wim, it meant their car was broken. He was looking for a change in his career, and he needed something that could make people happy. We settled on chocolate — it makes everybody happy!

Wim trained at Maison Wittamer — Belgium’s most respected chocolate house, and exclusive suppliers to Belgian royalty. As he honed his craft, we also started thinking about where we wanted to take our business. We saw a TV program about Belgian expats living and working outside of the country and that piqued our interest. Little by little, the seed was planted and started to grow. In 2000 we started the immigration process to come to Canada, and in 2002, we arrived.

It must have been difficult, starting over from scratch somewhere new and with young children? Can you tell me a bit more about your transition?

It was very hard in the beginning — we came here with no contacts, no support system, and my whole family thought we were insane. For all of the challenges we’ve had, would I do it over again? Absolutely. It taught me a lot about who I am and gave my children an opportunity to grow up in a bigger world than I had. They knew they could go anywhere. They were not defined by the place they come from. We were very fortunate to have this opportunity because not everybody has that.

While starting a business in a new country (while raising small children) was difficult, we had an overwhelmingly positive experience being accepted by Canadians. The openness was amazing. I was really worried in the beginning that people might not like us, or that we would be treated poorly. We don’t have the most welcoming attitude towards immigrants in Belgium, and I was afraid this would be the attitude in Canada too. But I am so grateful to say that I was entirely wrong.

Now, my daughter is away studying at university in Belgium and she’s always telling me “Mom, people have a very different attitude here. I miss Canada so much!”

What’s been your greatest accomplishment with Chocolatas?

I’m proud of the reputation we have for customer service. We love our customers, and we take pride in taking good care of them. We know we have a great product, but if people can’t count on you then it’s over. But if I shake your hand and take your order, you will get the order — at whatever cost. That’s one of our core values — people can depend on us and I have an amazing team that I can also count on. We’ve been in business since 2002 — I think we’ve had maybe 5 customer complaints ever. We are very proud of that.

What’s the best feedback you’ve ever had? How did it make you feel?

This is actually a funny story. I got a voicemail one day from a man who sounded very serious, and used a saying in English I wasn’t familiar with to describe our chocolate. I played it over and over trying to figure out if he was mad at us, or if he loved our chocolate — he sounded so serious! Eventually, I had to ask my team, “is this man upset?”, and played the recording for them.

The phrase he was using was “your chocolate rocks my world.” Now I know that was a compliment!

What makes you excited to go to work every day?

When I can sell something that makes people happy and makes a difference in their day, it just warms my heart. We get to be a part of people’s lives in a small way. We’ve had customers who used to bring their toddlers into our store when we first opened, and now these toddlers are all grown up and coming in to buy chocolate for their friends and family. Many of our regular customers tell us, “We could not imagine a Christmas or Valentine’s day without your chocolates”. We’ve become a part of their traditions. It makes me so happy. When I think about every person that wakes up on Christmas morning and eats or shares one of our chocolates … that’s what gets me up in the morning.

What are people most surprised about when you tell them about your work?

Being a chocolatier is not a common job — so we get a lot of questions. People are always surprised about the chocolate making process — from sourcing the chocolate to learning about the different kinds of chocolate, to the manufacturing process. I love showing people around our facility and explaining how things are made.

We often have people taste different origin chocolates and they’re shocked that 71% cacao from one region can taste so different than 71% cacao from a different region. We use about 19 different chocolates here for filling, enrobing, etc. You don’t just whip something up and use all the same things — you have to do your research in terms of balancing the flavour and melding ingredients. It’s almost like wine — each brand, grape, process, etc. influences the flavour. Giving people that education helps them understand the uniqueness of what we make.

What’s next for Chocolatas?

Our goal is to continue growing our company in a healthy, sustainable way. We want to keep making people happy with chocolate. Continue to make amazing products every single day and make wise business decisions. We want to be an example for our community and support our local economy. I came here as an immigrant and I’m so proud to employ people and create jobs with unique skills in our community.

What would you tell other people who want to start their own business?

You’ve got to work really hard. It doesn’t happen overnight — you’ve got to have your own drive and belief in what you do. It’s not easy.

I want to instill the belief in young people that it is possible to start your own business and be successful, but it is not a 9–5 job and you have to work hard. We have dealt with moments of disappointment, moments where we had no money — where we weren’t sure if next month the business was going to happen. But you continue to push on because it’s what you want to do, and makes you feel whole.

Originally published at https://www.itsaulgood.com.