Who would have thought that a decision to buy a vacant trading post on Highway 17 some 22 years ago would turn into a North American enterprise of fudge that is still going strong and expanding today.
Chantelle Gorham and David Kurtis of Levack started the Northwest Fudge Factory in 2001 at the Espanola turn off.
Gorham was a police officer at the time when her mother alerted her to the sale advertisement in the paper for the trading post.
“We thought we would try ownership for a year and see where it would take us. All trading posts need fudge and the fudge production ended up taking over the store,” Gorham said.
Today, Gorham’s brother runs the Northwest Trading Company while she and her husband focus on fudge production at the 4,000-square-foot wholesale factory in Levack.
The Northwest Fudge Factory is the only Canadian manufacturer of pre-measured fudge ingredients. Retail customers can buy the fudge and make it in kettles or buy it pre-made.
“We are supplying stores coast to coast in Canada and the United States with flavourful fudge in a wide array of tastes,” Gorham said.
There are no down days at the fudge factory with the team pouring 140 pounds of fudge per hour. The couple even has a warehouse of sweet fudge in Michigan that services US customers.
Gorham said the ride wasn’t always easy. In her 20s at the time, she spent long hours perfecting her recipe and then towing fudge in a trailer all over the country doing craft shows, agricultural fairs, and the CNE in Toronto.
Gorham said customer favourites are dependent on region. Chocolate and maple flavours are favoured here. Death by Fudge is a combination of the two.
She said Newfoundland has its own “screetch fudge” using Jamaican rum and Newfoundland flag fudge with three different colours.
Gorham said her favourite is the chocolate amaretto fudge while her husband prefers the mint Oreo variety called “grasshopper” fudge.
The fudge can be found at the Northwest Trading Company, at Valley Organics and the Shell station at Point Au Baril. Some companies will label the fudge as their own and others leave the Northwest Fudge Factory label.
They also do lots of fundraising initiatives for sports teams and schools.
In 2010, they secured a Guinness world record for the world’s largest slab of fudge, a record that still stands today. That’s not the couple’s only Guinness record the family holds. In March, 2020, they set a Guinness record for the world’s largest Nanaimo bar, which weighed in at 2,608 kg (5,750 pounds) and is credited to the couple’s two children, Ella and Austin.
In 2016, they created what is believed to be the world largest peanut butter cup, which weighed in at 272 kg (600 pounds), though there doesn’t seem to be a certifie Guinness record for that particular feat.
Gorham remembers her grandmother making old-fashioned sucre à creme in her younger years. For many French-Canadian families, this particular form of fudge symbolizes the holidays in the form of bitesize bits on a platter of assorted homemade baked goods.
“It’s a feel good food that often brings people memories of their grandmother baking or festivals and fairs,” she said. “No one gets a block of fudge while heading to a funeral.”
A final statement that probably no one can disagree with at all.
The Northwest Fudge Factory can be found on Facebook or at NorthwestFudgeFactory.com.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
