Delicious cupcakes, fantastic cake creations, wedding cakes, and corporate catering keep owner/operator Candice Mayne very busy – and she loves it.
“Before Cocoa, Tree my sister and I were making specialty cakes out of our basement and taking cupcakes to markets. Cocoa Tree began because we wanted to create a coffee shop/treat shop in the community. We chose the name ‘Cocoa Tree’ because we knew we wanted to do things naturally and expand to more items in the future, which we did slowly in the 14 years we’ve been open,” says Mayne. “Since we started in 2009, we’ve added gluten free, sugar free, and dairy free items as well as a wide variety of treats like croissants and cinnamon buns.”
Chocolate, mint, carrot, coconut – what’s your pleasure? Every product contains only the finest ingredients such as dark chocolate, real fruit, hand whipped cream, and real butter. Fair trade is also important to Mayne, as is baking without preservatives or additives. She says they are treats just like grandma used to make.
This holistic approach has been a hit with customers, keeping them flocking to Cocoa Tree even as Mayne started the tricky balance of starting a family while maintaining a full-time small business.
“I wear many hats!” she laughs. “It is rewarding though. I really enjoy hearing people’s comments on how much they enjoy our treats and how they drive from far away to come get a Cocoa Tree product!”
During the summer, it is even easier to get those sweet treats. Mayne explains, “We are open late for the summer on Thursday and Friday nights, and we have Canadian made hard ice cream from many different areas, including Pinocchio ice cream from Edmonton!”
A supporter of the community, Cocoa Tree is known to do custom cookie fundraisers where 50 per cent of sales go to a local charity. The biggest fundraiser to date was for the mental health and suicide awareness campaign, You Matter.
Mayne says thank you to her team and to the many patrons who frequent Cocoa Tree.
“I love their smiling faces when they come in the door and smell all the yummy baking aromas. To all my customers, they are all amazing and I couldn’t be open without their support. I’ve had many great staff that have come and gone; I feel so blessed for all of them! Thank you to my current team. You rock! I couldn’t do this without you girls!
With a business of the year award and with practically perfect ratings on Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Facebook, Mayne is poised to meet the current challenge of rising ingredient costs. The balance between costs and quality comes down to value, but as anyone who has had a treat from Cocoa Tree knows, it is worth the trip to this bakery every single time.
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