Chocolatiers
of the Kawarthas
Millbrook Valley Chocolates
By Gina Jones Chocolate Lover
I met up with Steve and Jackie Flamminio, owners of Millbrook Valley Chocolates and the winners of the 2020 Readers Choice Award for Best Chocolate Shop. I had so much fun chatting with them! Their demeanor is warm and welcoming, and we laughed – a lot! Jackie’s first husband passed away 18 years ago and at the time, she had four young kids with one still in diapers. So you can see where she gets her amazing strength. Jackie’s love of movies led her to work at a local video store where, four years later, she met Steve. “He came in for a video and it was love at first sight,” Jackie laughs. They moved in together, along with Jackie’s four kids. Between the two of them, they have six kids. When they introduced their children together, ironically they all knew each other since they all went to the same school. And now they are grown and have moved out. “We are empty nesters, baby!” She laughs. Opening the chocolate business was an unexpected career for either of them. Steve worked in a steel plant. “So the only shift I don’t work now is midnights”, he laughs. “Except when we are super busy at Easter and Christmas,” Jackie laughs. So why chocolate? “It’s an exciting experience! Customers love coming and we need all the happiness in our lives as we can get,” says Jackie. They didn’t know much about chocolate. “I thought I knew a bit, because I used to bake all the time. What I knew was absolutely nothing,” she laughs. They spent time visiting other Chocolate shops but Jackie, being the ultimate optimist, said she could do better. Some of the top end shops don’t actually make the chocolate themselves. “It’s an integrity thing. We are a chocolate shop, we are the Chocolatiers and we can vouch for our products.” Why Millbrook? “In the fall of 2015 we went for a drive and the trees were beautiful with the autumn colours. We came up over the crest of the 12
hill into Millbrook and I said, Oh My God this is so beautiful! We parked downtown to walk around, and Joe the Barber’s music was playing outside his shop. We walked by, saw this store was for rent, and took it right away.”
