It’s not always easy being chief chocolate officer but Brent Smith has proven he’s the right man for the job.

Five years ago he was working in the charitable sector and making chocolate in his basement as a hobby. By 2009, he’d perfected his all-natural artisan recipes, quit his day job and began working full-time as a chocolatier. Not that there weren’t some raised eyebrows and naysayers when he announced his plans, but he didn’t let that stop him.

Things went so well that by the end of 2010, Smith, along with his wife, Christina Dove, were opening the Newfoundland Chocolate Company on Duckworth Street in St. John’s. It’s the only store in Newfoundland, possibly all of Atlantic Canada, where chocolate drips from the ceiling and shoppers are transported to an ethereal world where the rich aromas of delicious …sweet creamy chocolate invade your body like slow burning embers, passionately awakening your senses, inhabiting your soul… um, sorry, the chocoholic in me digresses. He now has a staff of 20 to 25 people – 30 during the Christmas season, to help meet demand.

One of the most appealing features of Smith’s chocolate is that every aspect of the process is done by hand and many ingredients are local to Newfoundland and Labrador, including the wild berries he uses.

The Newfoundland Chocolate Company imports Belgian, Swiss and French gourmet couverture chocolate made from the best cocoa beans available and Smith strives to find complementary blends of chocolate with natural ingredients. Since everything is done manually, each piece of chocolate in every box is unique, like a small piece of mouth-watering art.

Smith prefers to do things the old fashioned way, instead of attempting to make things move faster through technology and he thinks that is something small business owners and entrepreneurs should keep in mind. People seem to embrace technology, only to discover that automation wasn’t worth the investment or is simply complicating the process, he says.

By Cathi Stevenson