There's a new name coming to Main Street — Cocoa 40 is opening its first ever retail location there and for owner Stefania Pede it’s come sooner than she expected.
“It’s a fantastic location. I’ve always loved Main Street Newmarket and the community feel and so I always thought that would be the ideal spot to be in,” she said.
The 26-year-old started Cocoa 40 as an online store, shipping her handmade chocolate creations across the country in 2019. While she didn’t think she would be opening a retail store until at least five years in, she said it is a dream come true.
Growing up, food was all around Pede and was a staple of every social event she attended. While she originally thought she would go toward the savoury side of things, a stress reliever that became a passion changed her mind.
“In university I used to stress bake a lot,” she said. “It grew on me to the point where I decided to explore that after university and fell in love with it even more,” Pede said.
She went to George Brown College to study pastry and later ended up working in a restaurant in Toronto. It was there she first had the idea to get into chocolate.
“I started off the company on the side when I was working downtown as a pastry chef in a restaurant,” she said. “I really just wanted to do more chocolate work but the kitchen I was working in was way too hot, so it was impossible to do chocolate work in that restaurant.”
Pede began experimenting on the side and realized she could make a business out of it.
For her, the appeal of chocolate is the way it is both creative yet calculated.
“It’s a delicate balance of art and science coming together because chocolate has rules that you need to follow,” she said.
With chocolate you can’t agitate it too much, you have to temper it just right, and use high-quality ingredients for the best results.
“Funny enough, when we did chocolate in pastry school, I hated chocolate because I didn’t understand the science behind it, because it was so frustrating to me because it was so finicky,” Pede said. “The more you read about it, the more you work with something that challenges you like that, the better you are at it and you develop an appreciation for it.”
For the past four years she has been selling her products online and in various boutiques like The Maker’s Mark in Newmarket. She is currently working out of a commercial kitchen.
Her products include assorted boxes of chocolate, bars, and confections like chocolate-covered pretzels, nuts and other candies. Her website has separate sections for dairy-free/vegan, nut free, soy free and gluten free. She said that was important to her because there are so many dietary restrictions out there and she has received great feedback from customers on how clear her site is.
Also featured on her site are specially marked products that are part of the Chocolate4Change initiative.
“I started Chocolate4Change as a way to give back to the community and partner with local non-profits that need maybe a little extra funding or they need extra exposure," she said. "It’s a good way to give a gift to someone and also give back to the community. So you feel good because you’re giving chocolate to someone and you feel great because you’re eating chocolate and it also feels great because you know that money was donated to an organization that maybe they feel connected to.”
The campaign includes a slated caramel pecan bar in support of the Shining Through Centre, a rainbow-coloured bar in support of CAYR Community Connections, a box of chocolates tied up with a blue ribbon for 360kids and more. When one of these specially marked products is bought, Pede will donate a portion of the profits to the organization associated.
She said she hopes to expand this program as her business grows.
After looking for a retail spot of her own for about a year, 184 Main St. became available.
“I’ve been going to Main Street Newmarket for restaurants, pubs, whatever is going on in that area for years and I love it,” Pede said. “That’s the place to be in York Region. It’s always been full of excitement and energy. There’s always something to do, which is what we love.”
She lives in King herself and looked at various spots in other towns in York Region for her store, but ultimately decided on Newmarket.
Pede is currently waiting on permits from the town to complete the necessary renovations to transform the space into her store. As such, she doesn’t have an opening date in mind but looks forward to welcoming customers later this spring.
Until then, Cocoa 40 products will still be available online and in other select retailers.
