Judy Haist says the best thing about her family-run operation is that nobody leaves a chocolate shop angry.
J&J’s Chocolate Sensations has been producing, selling, and shipping their superior-quality treats all over Renfrew County and beyond since her late husband Jeff took a chance on bringing fine Belgian chocolate to the Ottawa Valley after losing his job in 2008.
Jeff would pass away two years later, but Haist and family continue his dream of spending long hours in the kitchen of their downtown Renfrew storefront perfecting new, decadent combinations of chocolate with caramels, chocolate centres, truffles, and creams that they try to keep as natural and local as possible.
Working together with international cacao growers and wholesaler partners from Pembroke to Renfrew, Haist explains that they can melt, temper, shape, dip, and ship more than 130 pounds of high-quality chocolate to stores and marketplaces across the region in just a day during their peak season.
