SMART entrepreuners Constance Popp recreates Winnipeg


iconography in chocolate The local chocolatier has some interesting and familiar chocolate molds to add to her menu


By Tania Moffat


through the front door you are transported into a choco- late fantasy world. A crisp white interior and dark wood floors provide the


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background for rich chocolate temptations. Stunning three-dimensional chocolate creations peek from behind packaged delicacies in mouth-watering flavours. If you have never been to Constance Popp’s shop, you should go – and if you don’t already love chocolate, you will. Believe it or not, Constance began her affair with choco-


late seven years ago as a second career. When asked what made her make the change from an environmental man- ager for Palliser Furniture, she says she can’t even explain it. “Chocolate was not even remotely on my radar. I guess a lot of things led me in that direction, but I’m not sure what pushed it over the edge, to make chocolate the choice.” She recalls writing and directing a play at the Winni-


peg Fringe Festival called Shout. At the end of the play, someone asks the main character what she is going to do next and she replies, ‘I don’t know, maybe I’ll open a chocolate shop.’ “I think it was kind of like that for me, just an idea that


took shape,” she says. “My kitchen was always the centre of my world. I cooked


all the time; I think my obsession started before I even re- alized it. If it wasn’t chocolate it would have been cheese, bread or maybe wine.” She learned that her hometown of Montreal was the


epicentre for the chocolate industry in Canada, and her determination, persistence and talent helped her meet the requirements to enter the Barry Callebaut Chocolate Academy near Montreal where she trained. A true artisan, Constance, along with her small team,


create mouth-watering delicacies that reflect their use of whole ingredients. “We buy premium grade chocolate, including single


origin and single plantation chocolate,” explains Con- stance. “We use all natural, whole ingredients in eve- rything we make. I don’t think that is special; that’s just the way it is. We use real food and we make it all here. We make our own gels, marshmallows and caramels. We grind whole foods like mint or lemons to make our own flavourings.” While you can find some exotic flavour pairings, Con-


stance doesn’t consider her chocolates elitist. “I consider us accessible, comfort chocolate. We basically go with what people want. We want to make super cool chocolate that just happens to be made in Saint Boniface, Winnipeg, and I want people in other centres of the world to know we exist and seek us out. “(But) we are making chocolates with Manitoba ingre-


dients that are representative of Canada.” Teaming up with various organizations across the city,


her chocolates can be found in some interesting locales. She is currently working with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, designing a three-dimensional rendition of the building that will be available in its gift shop as well as her location.


he sign on Provencher Boulevard reads “Choco- latier Constance Popp.” It’s simple and elegant just like the white brick exterior, but as you step


On the menu Prairie Cow Pies


made with Valrhona chocolate, Constance’s own caramel, Manitoba honey and pecans


Manitoba Bar


made with local sunflower seeds, honey, flaxseed and Manitoba Harvest hemp hearts


Birch Bark Bar


made with pure birch syrup from The Pas, Manitoba


Spicy Mexican Bar made with Manitoba-grown edamame beans Popp-ing up


• at the Oscars and Golden Globe gift lounges in Los Angeles


• at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics • at the 2014 Junos • on Royal visits


• at the Premiers’ Conference


Truly one of a kind. The Canadian Museum of Human Rights as immortalized in chocolate. The Manitoba legislative building will offer three-


dimensional Golden Boys and another exclusive item designed specifically for its gift shop by Constance; and she has created a chocolate bar for the Winnipeg Art Gal- lery to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Never wanting to become stale, she is constantly taking


part in new projects and adding new flavours to add to the 20 to 30 core chocolates.


A new signature chocolate mold has been created to


further build the brand and create tons of new flavours. Spoiler alert: look out for an orange and coffee-flavoured breakfast bar. Of all the places to open up a chocolate shop – why


Winnipeg? “Winnipeg is big enough to attract interest- ing things to it but small enough to still give you access to them,” says Constance. How true.


 Skip creates opportunities for the top-tier graduates Continued from page 1 “So it’s an opportunity for these stu-


up new territories to add to its empire, and in established markets like Winnipeg, new restaurants approach Skip weekly. Te rapid growth makes it an exciting


and unusually fast-paced place to work. “It’s not realistic for a company to grow


20 per cent month-by-month, and we’ve been doing that repeatedly,” says Simair. “So people that join Skip the Dishes, join it for the experience. “Tey get five years of experience in


one year of work. And they get to try sales, try marketing, try support, try an IT implementation. All of these different pieces that maybe you do once a year in a different company, but we do it every month.” One of the most exciting things about


the company is that it provides an opportunity to keep some of the top- performing, tech-savvy graduates right here in Winnipeg. “We hire a lot of U of M, U of W and Red River students and new graduates. So we’re a very young team. “Te A++ students from Asper normally


The fleet of bikes from the young workforce at Skip the Dishes' headquarters.


August 2014


would go to New York or London or Van- couver, and now we’re able to offer them a job that’s very challenging,” says Simair.


dents to actually have a high-perfor- mance, meaningful job right here in Winnipeg.” Touring Skip’s headquarters at the


Manitoba Technology Accelerator build- ing, one can quickly pick up on Skip’s youthful, tech-heavy atmosphere. Skip is absorbing the most real estate


on the fifth floor on McDermot Avenue, with fixed-gear bikes lining the outskirts of its designated area and a ping pong table doubles as a workspace for people on laptops in the centre of the room. Each workstation has up to four moni-


tors, and the median age appears to be about 26. “We just say deep twenties. It makes us sound older to investors,” jokes Simair. Te company uses recycled computers,


monitors, and office chairs, and it pinches every last penny by drinking bad coffee in its low-rent location in the Exchange District. “It’s very low cost of business here,” says Simair. “Cheap rent gives you a licence to be creative “Being a new Winnipegger, I under- stand. I like a deal too,” laughs Simair.


www.smartcareers.ca


Skip the Dishes facts


• Each restaurant gets a tailored ar- rangement depending on its volume of orders.


• Users pay a delivery fee to food couri- ers, who get to keep 100 per cent of the delivery fee and any tips.


• Restaurants cover the cost of Skip’s service through the extra orders they gain through the service.


• Skip was co-founded by a band of broth- ers: Josh Simair’s brothers are software engineers – one of his brothers financed the company and the other works for Skip full-time.


• Skip now offers delivery in Calgary, Winnipeg, Brandon, Saskatoon, Re- gina, Edmonton, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Red Deer and Airdrie, with more expansions in the works.


• Futurpreneur MB introduced Skip the Dishes to the Manitoba Technology Ac- celerator, who set them up with space and support in the building and put Simair in touch with YES! Winnipeg. All of these resources helped secure Skip’s headquarters in Winnipeg.


SMART TAB 13


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