Sue grew up on the outskirts of London, and she’ll tell you exactly who started it all: her grandmother.
“She taught me how to bake and gave me my first cookbook on baking, which I still have in my collection,” Sue says. That book sparked a lifelong love of sweets, cake decorating, and eventually chocolate. Years later, after raising two daughters and earning a gold medal at the prestigious Salon Culinaire in London, Sue would carry that same passion across an ocean and into the heart of BC’s farmers’ market community.
But the Belgian chocolate chapter came first.
A European Love Affair
Long before Sue emigrated to Canada, Belgian chocolate was everywhere in the UK.
“It was considered high quality and part of our European culture,” she says. That reputation pulled her in. She completed courses in Manchester, learning to temper and work with couverture chocolate, mastering the techniques that separate good chocolate from unforgettable chocolate. She started incorporating Belgian chocolate pieces into her custom cakes, and something clicked.
When she and her family arrived in Abbotsford in 2007, she brought all of it with her: the skills, the standards, and a deep belief that chocolate made properly is worth the time it takes.
Something Chocolate Is Born
While working in Lower Mainland bakeries, Sue met Kim, another chocolate enthusiast, and the two started experimenting together.
“I taught her how to temper couverture chocolate, and we started working on creating products,” Sue recalls. What began as home parties turned into farmers’ markets and craft fairs. They named the business Something Chocolate, deliberately open-ended.
“We wanted to be free to create anything with chocolate,” she says.
They landed on Callebaut Belgian Chocolate as their base, a high-quality couverture known for its silky smooth finish. From there they developed their own recipes: original caramels built around Kim’s cornerstone recipe, flavour combinations designed to keep people coming back. Their logo, cartoon characters of the two of them drawn by Kim’s son, became part of the story.
The Craft Behind the Chocolate
Small-scale chocolate production is labour intensive, and Sue knows it.
“It is very time consuming, but I love doing it because it is an inbred passion,” she says. “I want people to carry on enjoying the taste of good chocolate.”
She doesn’t do it alone. Her daughter Danielle has recently joined the business, attending the Mission City Farmers’ Market and bringing a fresh perspective to the brand. The craft is being passed down, just like it was passed to Sue all those years ago by her grandmother.
For Sue, the farmers’ market isn’t just a sales channel. It’s where the real reward shows up.
“Being part of the farmers’ market gives me a very strong feeling of community,” she says. “People love to support small businesses, these people end up being regulars and some become friends. For me it’s not just about selling my product, it’s about connecting with my customers, hearing their stories and having fun doing what I love most.”
Where to Find Something Chocolate
You can find Something Chocolate at the Mission City Farmers’ Market in the Lower Mainland, and at farmers’ markets across the North Island including the Port McNeill Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market and the Port Hardy Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market.
Find them on Facebook, or reach out at chocaholic.sue@hotmail.com to place a custom order. Business chocolates, wedding favours, and personalised chocolate cards are all part of the menu.