8. Chocolatier resumes business with community support
After 30 years of operating a chocolate factory in Damascus, Isam Hadhad had to close its doors and flee his country with his family in 2013. After their application to relocate to Canada was approved, Hadhad’s son Tareq was the first to arrive in Antigonish, N.S. in 2015. Soon the rest of the family followed. Less than a year later, with the help of their community, Peace by Chocolate was born in August 2016.
A month later, the family-run business received an international shout-out in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s speech to the Leaders Summit on Refugees at the UN in New York. Two months later, Trudeau tasted the chocolates and met the father and son during a trip to Sydney, N.S.
Prime Minister Trudeau and MP Sean Casey meet with the Hadhad family, newly arrived Syrian refugees who have opened up a chocolate shop in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. November 10, 2016. (PMO Photo by Adam Scotti)