OLD: Chocolate classics
ESTABLISHED: 1983
WHO: Dave Walker and Jennifer Walker Smith
WHAT: Walker’s Chocolates
WHERE: Corporate head office and factory, 4,391 Harvester Rd., Burlington
EMPLOYEES: 35
THE BUSINESS CASE: When you grow up in the world of chocolate, it’s hard not to get hooked. At least that was the case for Dave Walker, 33, whose parents started the local miniempire Walker’s Chocolates back in 1983. He and his sister started working at the business about a decade ago and officially took over from their parents, Harry and Anne Walker, when they retired in 2013. Some things have changed over the company’s more than 30-year run, including efforts to expand online sales, but many of the flavours and customers remain the same. Mint meltaways are still the most popular offering, making up about 60 per cent of their sales, but caramel escargots, butter crunch chocolates and salted caramels are big hits, too. “We have a lot of the same customers from when we started, and it kind of goes down through the family,” says Dave. “If they grew up getting mint meltaways at Christmas, the kids kind of seem to keep the tradition going.”
WHY IT’S GOOD NEWS: With locations in Hamilton, Burlington and Oakville, Walker’s Chocolates gets many requests for donations to various local charities. “We like to give our chocolate for place settings and loot bags and things like that,” Dave says.