The Hadhad family, operators of Antigonish-based Peace by Chocolate, have got their treats into Sobey’s stores across the Maritimes in time for the holidays. Next year, they intend to expand nationally and into the U.S. All of this comes less than 18 months after the Syrian chocolatiers began operating in Canada.

The Hadhads arrived in Nova Scotia as refugees from Syria and formed Peace by Chocolate in a small barn in Antigonish in August 2016. Success was immediate and accelerated when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised the chocolate in a speech he gave to the United Nations in the fall of that year. Trudeau’s praise precipitated so many orders the company was forced to shut down its website for a while.

The box of 15 chocolates now sold by Sobey’s features white, milk and dark chocolate. Ingredients include local fresh organic honey and pure juices.

“Our chocolate caters to Canadian and Syrian tastes. It includes traditional Syrian ingredients such as pistachio, cashews, almonds, hazelnut, coconut, orange, cherry and strawberry,” said Tareq Hadhad, the face of the company.

The family’s history makes their current success particularly heartwarming, and Canadians have embraced the family and their entrepreneurship.

In Syria, Tareq’s father Assam was a chocolatier, running his own thriving export business in Damascus for 20 years. Assam shipped chocolates to countries such as Yemen, Jordan and Lebanon. But the Hadhad chocolate factory was destroyed by bombs in 2013. The family fled to Lebanon where they lived for three years as refugees.

The family have jumped at the chance to start over and contribute to their new community. Peace by Chocolate’s popularity since opening in Antigonish has meant rapid expansion. The company recently moved from the barn into a large Sobeys-owned space and now employs 35 people.

Their treats were initially supposed to be on Sobey’s shelves in September, but were delayed by two months because of the time needed to perfect quality controls and adapt equipment imported from Europe.

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Tareq said that next year will see further expansion nationally and into the U.S., with new channels for distribution and enhanced online shopping. He said the family’s ambitions include becoming one of the top five chocolate companies in Canada within five years.

Tareq said the experience of building a chocolate company in Canada has offered new perspectives.

“Canada has provided our family with other deep meanings for chocolate, life and success,” he said.

“We feel honoured to have our product be our ambassador to Canadians and the world. . . . We weren’t focusing on the real value of Peace in our company in Syria. . . . By sharing our business and social values with millions of Canadians we are reflecting our traditions, and we feel proud for Peace by Chocolate to be a Syrian family tradition as well as made in Canada.”

Expounding on the theme of peace, the Hadhads have also designed their own peace logo T-shirts, introducing them on Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace. Like the chocolates, the T-shirts can be purchased from their website. Hadhad said they have plans to expand the clothing line.