Sweet Bella Chocolates began as a passion project for founder Kevin Conniff. He started out selling small batches of chocolate at Calgary’s seasonal markets, where local shoppers gave him the support to keep experimenting.
Conniff focuses on bars made with Ecuadorian chocolate and paired with flavours like Earl Grey tea, Moroccan mint and more. Each recipe begins with test runs that he shares with friends and family before moving into larger production.
Before creating new flavours, Conniff plays around with each chocolate to get a sense of texture and personality. “We’ll look at the characteristics of the chocolate. We’ll taste it. We’ll melt it, we’ll play around with it to see how fluid it is, see what type of notes it has, whether it’s nutty or fruity, and different things. And then we’ll figure out what we’re going to pair it with,” Conniff says.
The chocolate bars come in a variety of flavours including salted caramel, cranberry almond, smoky maple, Kashmiri chai, cayenne sesame and lavender.
As Sweet Bella has grown from seasonal markets to being carried in shops around Canada and the U.S., Conniff says seeing his bars on shelves never gets old.
“A lot of people, a lot of my friends, have done it when they go travelling. They go buy a bar, they take a picture, they send it to me, and it’s just like, wow, that is so cool. Super rewarding that it brings a smile to people’s faces,” Conniff says.
Available at select local retailers and online at sweetbella.ca
