By Mark Squibb/February 17, 2022
Recent government funding will help chocolatier Darryl Pike continue churning out more tasty treats.
Pike’s Mount Pearl business JACOBEAN was approved for $36,490 in funding from the Business Development Support program (BDSP) at the end of January. The money will be put towards growing the company in Atlantic Canada, creating new chocolate molds and packaging, as well as upgrading the store’s website.
“The generous support from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador over the past three-plus years has provided a foundation for our successes to date,” said Pike. “This current round of investment will allow us to reach farther and wider with our marketing and product expansion initiatives. We look forward to the next phase in our company's growth."
Pike opened the bean-to-bar chocolate studio in 2018, and sources beans directly from farmers in Mexico and Peru. The beans are sorted, roasted, ground into chocolate liqueur, moulded, and wrapped onsite.
As reported previously by The Pearl, the company was awarded the Excellence in Craft Product Design Award from the Annual Atlantic Canada Craft Awards for Excellence in 2019.
