Adapted from The Vancouver Courier
Level 3
Fernie is famous for skiing.
The city calls itself a mountain town.
In the winter there is plenty of snow.
The Rocky Mountains are on all sides of Fernie.
Fernie is in southeastern B.C.
Beanpod Chocolate makes its home in Fernie.
Maybe now, Fernie will be famous for chocolate.
Visit the link:
The chocolate company
Beanpod Chocolate says it is one of 15 companies in North America
that makes chocolate from cocoa beans.
Beanpod imports small amounts or batches
of cocoa beans from farmers.
They say they “shake the hands” of
the farmers, on their farms.
Beanpod’s owner
Mary Heavey is a Master Chocolatier and Chocolate Maker.
She owns Beanpod Chocolate in Fernie.
Mary has an old 1948 “melangeur”.
She grinds the cocoa beans with this machine.
The machine weighs 6,200 pounds.
Beanpod chocolate products
It takes about five days to make
a batch of chocolate the traditional way.
Beanpod says the flavour is best this way.
The company has some interesting names
for its chocolate bars.
The “Fernie Bear Bar” has honeycomb
covered in milk chocolate.
The “Fernie Stocking Bar” is made of
candy cane and milk chocolate.
Beanpod goes to London
Seven Canadian chocolate companies
went to London for the 2012
International Chocolate Awards.
They all won the Canadian competition in Vancouver first.
Beanpod Chocolate of Fernie
was one of the seven.
Beanpod’s Fernie Lavender Bar was the only
dark chocolate from Canada to be a world finalist.
The bar is flavoured with lavender from Saltspring Island.
The Fernie Lavender Bar competed for
the title of Best Flavoured Dark Bar.
Ecuador was the final winner in London.
The Fernie Lavender Bar is now one of the top
13 dark chocolate flavoured bars in the world.
Vancouver, a chocolate city
Four companies from Vancouver went to London
for the International Chocolate Awards.
Wendy Boys Chocolates, Gem Chocolates
and Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France
from Vancouver won awards in Vancouver.
In London
BETA5 Chocolates was the only Vancouver company
to get a medal in London.
They won with a chocolate that had
a kind of beer-flavoured filling.
Adam Chandler, chocolatier at BETA5,
said he tried 25 to 30 beers.
At last, he used one from California.
And this was the winner.
Chandler said, “Of all our chocolates,
it took the most work to develop….”
And he was most happy with that one.
BETA5 products
BETA5 makes chocolate “Pebbles”.
The word pebbles means “small rocks”.
BETA5 Pebbles are different kinds
of dried fruits and nuts.
These are covered in chocolate.
For example, you can get strawberry, cherry
or blueberry Pebbles.
Or almond or pistachio Pebbles.
They also make chocolates called “Rocks”.
Vancouver is known for world-class Chinese food and seafood.
The city’s chocolate is becoming famous, too.