While considering topics for his college thesis, he met a professor who suggested he study a local business. Among the available options, he was interested in Dairyland Ice Cream and Pauline Johnson Candyfinally opting for the latter.
Sigvardsen quickly rose to sales manager at Pauline Johnsonthe company that began as his object of study and in which he eventually became a shareholder. He worked there for 18 years, until the president died. When the company was put up for sale, Charlie, who had reinvested his savings in the new owners, confronted them for wasting the money. His prediction turned out to be correct: the following year, the company went bankrupt.
Charlie lost all his savings and was forced to start over at age 40. “I lost everything and had to start over,” she later told Business in Vancouver.
Sigvardsen got a job at a box company that supplied Pauline, but he didn’t last long there. His friend Tony Grdina, owner of the National Bakery, offered him a partnership in the chocolate business.. Charlie accepted and began selling boxes and making chocolate with an investment of $200 a month.
With Tony, he learned about gastronomy, from make chocolate sauce until molding products. Until then, Charlie had only worked in marketing and sales.
Charlie Sigvardsen and the coincidences with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
Together, Tony and Charlie opened two Charlie’s Chocolate Factory locationsone next to Tony’s Bakery on Canada Way and another on Water Street, across from the Old Spaghetti Factory.
The company’s name was inspired by its proximity to the spaghetti factory. Initially, Charlie wanted to call it The Chocolate Factory, but the name was rejected as too common.
By 1971, Charlie had already founded his retail and supplier factory, which still operating at 3746 Canada Way in Burnaby. It sells sweets all year round and has the full attention of its president and owner.
The Charlie’s Chocolate Factory He imports the raw materials from Belgium, since Charlie believes that the best chocolate comes from Europe and not the United States.
Between four and five times a year, receive containers of 18 tons of chocolate in blocks of almost 25 kilos each. The molds, built by his son Blair, are stored behind the shop. His other son, Colin, runs the business and his granddaughter Ellen runs the office, retail and an online business.
Over time, Charlie’s Chocolate Factory grew and Charlie honed his craft. In 1990, in what he considers his greatest professional achievement, bought JS Chocolate Molds and developed a niche market for premium molds and chocolate.
In 2015, his friend Charles Flavelle of Purdy’s nominated him to enter the Candy Hall of Fame (CHOF, for its acronym in English), which came to fruition.
When students visit his company, Charlie tells them, “Don’t think about making a lot of money; just do what you like to do. They will be successful.”
