With Father’s Day on the horizon, Colleen’s Chocolates, founded by Colleen Heidecker, is gearing up for another successful holiday after a busy year of community support.
“We just started slowly building, so it’s taken us three years. Then 2020 happened, and our business went through the roof,” Heidecker said.
As the online shop continues to flourish, Heidecker has been finding new ways for her chocolates to reach her customers through networking with other Edmonton businesses.
Heidecker, a Master Chocolatier, started her journey in entrepreneurship after discovering that there was a market outside of her friends and family. She’s created a mentality for herself and her business that allows for growth and success as she continues to aim high with her brand.
“There’s [1.3] million people in Edmonton [and] the surrounding area. If you’re doing food, you can’t feed them all. You can’t make clothes for them all. The other people in your industry, they’re not your competition. There are people that do the same thing, but they don’t do it the same way that you do,” said Heidecker.
Colleen’s Chocolates continued to grow in the online market when they started holding weekly virtual chocolate tastings for financial companies looking for ways to celebrate staff events from home.
“The tasting events have been really fun, and it’s given us the chance to reach a completely different audience. When everything started last year, all our markets were canceled. We’re like, what the heck are we going to do?” said Heidecker.
Colleen’s Chocolates started a delivery service to deliver to the customers who would usually pre-order and pick up chocolates at trade shows. Now, they continue to use that service around Edmonton and they ship internationally.
“We’ve got another chocolate bar collab coming up, and it’s with a company that we’ve loved for so long. They were like, do you want to do something together? Yes, yes we do. When we get to do those really fun things, I love it because we get to be creative together, and then we test back and forth,” said Heidecker.
Heidecker is passionate about using superfoods creatively as well as using fresh and unique ingredients in her chocolates, especially if they’re local.
“We try and use as many local products [as possible]. Our friend owns Herbologie, so it’s spices and herbs and stuff. We get products from her, and then my other friend is a part of New Earth Organics. So, for our Forest and Forage Collection, we’re going to use all his mushrooms,”
Colleen’s Chocolates will also be collaborating with Seachange Brewery and MD Distillery for a boozy Father’s Day 2021 collection. Starting in June, Heidecker will be selling her chocolates in the flesh at the 124 Sunday Market and 104 Saturday Al Fresco Market. To keep up to date on upcoming collections and events, follow Colleen’s Chocolates on social media or check out their online shop.
