Jeffray Gardner, Marsatta Fancy Chocolates

Our guest this morning is Jeffray Gardner.

A native of Canada and former hockey ref now living in Redondo Beach, Jeffray launched his business, Marsatta Fancy Chocolates, in 2004.

Jeffray is not a chocolatier; he is a chocolate maker - making the chocolate from the cacao bean.

In the beginning, he shared commercial kitchen space to make his chocolate. As the business grew and orders rolled in, he leased his own space.

Things were going well – Jeffray was producing over 1,000 pounds of chocolate each week for his clients, while Marsatta Fancy Chocolates were carried in local stores and farmers’ markets and sold online.

After some very bad luck - he lost his lease (and that’s a story in itself!) - and the premature birth of his son, Jeffray scrambled to keep up with orders for his chocolate.

The rest of the story involves a championship hockey team, a Kickstarter campaign, a seasonal job at Costco, an appearance on Fox Sports TV and a new retail space - so you’ll just have to stay tuned to hear the ending.

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