Purdys is a staple to Canadians. We grew up with Purdys and we pass down the tradition of shopping at Purdys for any occasion. Purdys Chocolatiers have an interesting history. In this feature we hope to capture some of the special moments that make Purdys our much loved institution.
For over a century, Purdys have been crafting chocolates that Canadians love. Since 1907, proudly made exceptional chocolates with quality ingredients, while staying true to a proud Canadian heritage.
Today, we may think of “Purdys” as synonymous with “chocolates” or “treats”, but in the 1900s it was only the name of an ambitious entrepreneur, Richard Carmon Purdy.
Richard Carmon Purdy was born on January 20, 1878, in London, Ontario. Together with his wife, Sophia Stewart, they had a son, Frederick Wesley. Sadly, Frederick lived only a few short years before passing away. After the death of their son, Richard Purdy decided to head west to start a new life and packed up his belongings to move to British Columbia.
The Founder’s Story – The Struggles & Successes
Richard had been interested in candy making while he was in London and used to conduct tasty experiments in his kitchen. Once he settled in Vancouver, he continued to explore his passion for candy making in his new kitchen. After practicing and finessing his home creations, he took them to the streets and began selling them to eager customers. By the time he had perfected his recipes, Purdy already had a small but loyal following.
Then In 1907, the Purdy name was officially open for business. He set up his first chocolate shop at 915 Robson Street, soon to be the new heart of Downtown Vancouver. His following quickly grew—as did his recipes.
Amazing changes were transforming Vancouver. It was the year Canada’s first gas station opened (at Cambie and Smithe Street); and the year when, according to the Province newspaper, the city’s population was growing by 50 people a day. This was a heady time of breathtaking growth in population and industry‒the perfect time to open a chocolate shop!
From the beginning, Richard Carmon Purdys insisted on using only the highest quality, freshest ingredients in his chocolates. His reputation as one of Vancouver’s finest chocolate makers grew steadily, and more and more people gravitated to his store for his handmade confections.
By 1914, the burgeoning city of Vancouver was quickly becoming the metropolitan centre for all of western Canada.
The streets began filling with shopping locals and new businesses looking to set up roots in this up-and-coming town. It was during this year that Richard Purdy decided that he would forever keep his name in Canadian chocolate history. He established his own corporate entity, “R.C. Purdy Chocolates Limited.”
As Purdy’s tiny kitchen could no longer keep up with his customers’ zealous demands, he had to make a serious business decision. He hired more staff and expanded into a second chocolate shop at 675 Granville Street, sharing the large space within the Devon Cafe. This new venue, just around the corner and down a block or two from his original store, was in a prime location. Right across the street from the Hudson’s Bay department store.
In 1918, according to Wrigley’s British Columbia Directory, Purdy was considered a “Manufacturer and Retailer of High-Class Confectionery”. While it didn’t roll off the tongue, it established Purdy’s reputation for crafting premium-quality chocolates.
People sought out Purdy’s chocolates to enjoy treats that were held in the highest regard amongst locals. Purdy’s Robson Street shop also found a new home on 990 Granville Street, right in the centre of Vancouver’s lively new theatre district, marking a glowing final chapter of the first era.
Hugh Forrester Saves Purdys
Just before 1940, the second World War broke out and the entire world was thrown into political conflict, socio-economic turmoil, and resource shortage. This meant the government introduced a national food rationing, including key chocolate-making ingredients like sugar, butter, and dairy cream.
Candy makers and chocolatiers everywhere found it nearly impossible to get enough sugar, butter and cream to meet demand. So, ever the problem-solver, Forrester bought a local dairy farm with a herd of twenty cows in Ladner, B.C.
With the ingredient restrictions and limited hands-on deck, Forrester could only make as many chocolates as his meagre supplies would allow. Nevertheless, he opened his doors at noon to find lineups going around the block. His chocolates sold out in half an hour.
After the war ended in 1945, Canada and countries around the world sought to bring back the bright, promising landscape. People were excited about a post-war future.
Hugh’s son, Frank Forrester was one of those people. Young, smart, and eager, as his father had been before him, he quickly immersed himself in the family business, learning as much as he could about the art and science of making chocolates.
Before long, Frank was producing new varieties of chocolates, setting higher standards in marketing, inventing machines, and modernizing production methods – many of which are still in use in Purdys’ factory today.
Purdys saw new and exciting opportunities to grow and prosper in the post-war era. By the late 1940s, the business had outgrown its cramped and dark basement candy kitchen on Robson Street. Purdys urgently needed to find a larger facility where the chocolatiers could work their magic.
Eventually, Frank found a location on West 7th Avenue in an area known as Fairview Slopes. In 1949, Purdys acquired the property and the company moved into its shiny, new factory. This plant stayed in operation until the early 1980s where it served the community and company well. In fact, it was such a notable location in the neighbourhood, that a small city park, officially named Choklit Park, stands in recognition of more than 30 years of Purdys in the area.
Malls may seem like an everyday part of our lives nowadays, but they were exciting and new in the 1960s.
These big sprawling retail establishments were a hot new concept but had not yet come into their own in Vancouver quite yet. So when a new shopping centre, Park Royal, anchored with a Woodward’s Department Store, expanded to the south side with Eaton’s, Purdys and a few other tenants joined to create a new shopping experience for the community. When Frank signed the lease, the south mall was still nearly half empty.
Purdys flourishes under Charles Flavelle
In response to growing customer requests, the company began producing milk chocolates as well. Today, Purdys’ Milk Chocolate is used in numerous iconic treats like the Sweet Georgia Browns and Hedgehogs.
Today, it’s hard to believe that few shopping malls existed in the late 60s. Purdys initial shop in Park Royal was not proving to be a resounding success.
But Charles saw promise in the shopping mall concept and wanted to take a chance on this new retail experience. An opportunity came when a mall landlord called with an offer in Nanaimo, BC. With great trepidation, Charles agreed to the new location. The new retail shop was a runaway success! Shopping malls became a source of connection with many more customers over the decades to come. Today, many customers mainly associate Purdys with their closest shopping mall.
As shopping malls grew in popularity around the country, Purdys and its chocolates grew too! The Chinook Centre store was the first Alberta location for Purdys Chocolates, the first of 18 stores in Alberta today
Supporting the Emergence of Women in Business
In the early 80s, it was not uncommon for senior bank management to ask clients if they “minded” having a female account rep. While it remains a struggle and ongoing issue today, it was an even greater problem in the 1980s. Women’s roles and contributions were significantly undervalued. But to Charles, gender was not a source of merit. He strongly believed that everyone deserves the right to equal opportunities. And thus, he did not hesitate to uplift women in his workforce. When the bank asked him if “he minded having a female rep”, he not only enthusiastically accepted her, he sponsored her to be a member of Rotary in 1996, when only a handful of members were women. She eventually became Chair of the Vancouver Rotary Chapter. He was a true pioneer for gender equality—well ahead of his time.
In 1980 Charles Flavelle opened the first store in Seattle, Washington. At the time, Charles thought Seattle was like Vancouver in taste and lifestyle.
He went on to open five more Purdys stores. As it turned out, the American consumer was more different from the Canadian consumer than Charles had initially imagined. Although the Seattle stores experienced varying degrees of success, they did not match the success of Canadian locations so in 1993 he decided to close them.
“We never could establish the Purdys’ culture” said Charles. But the lessons learnt in Seattle contributed to the success of Purdys’ eventual move to Ontario, where the market more closely resembled the American markets than Vancouver.
Purdys Hedgehogs
In the early 1990s, Purdys introduced what was to become a customer favourite: the Hedgehog. With the silky smooth, extra hazel-nutty gianduja centre and adorable hedgehog mould, customers of all ages fell in love—fast!
Purdys becomes Canada’s Chocolatier under Karen Flavelle
Growing up, all four of Charles’ children had been discouraged from seeing Purdys as their future career.
Charles told them he didn’t want to parachute his children over long-term employees. He greatly valued his loyal team and wanted the best for them. Despite this, his oldest daughter Karen showed a keen interest in business. She immersed herself in the retail food and beverage industry after completing a Bachelor of Communications at Queen’s University. Karen went on to build a successful marketing career with General Mills, then with a boutique consultancy in London, England and finally with Swiss Chalet in Toronto for over 13 years. In 1986, Karen had asked if she could join the Purdys business but Charles declined and stated that Purdys didn’t have a role open for a Marketer.
Eventually, around 1987, a long-term Purdys employee and trusted advisor began asking Charles when the family would be joining the business to continue the company’s legacy. Although he was initially reluctant to the idea, this began to open Charles’ mind to the possibility.
In 1994, after much thought, discussion, and negotiation, Karen bought the business from her father and his business partner Eric Wilson. The sale solidified Purdys’ future, continuing the Flavelle legacy and keeping Purdys a family-owned Canadian business.
For Karen, the purchase meant moving her family from Toronto to Vancouver to start a new life. It also meant her husband generously forgoing his preferred career path in Government Finance in Toronto, opting instead to be an institutional bond salesman in Vancouver.
At the time, their three children were 4 years, 18 months and 6 months old. Busy days were ahead!
Karen was excited to connect with Purdys customers and to understand what Purdys meant to them. Although Purdys had many fans, she knew that there was immense potential for future growth.
Sales had plateaued over the prior four years. Purdys needed to re-evaluate how to continue to be relevant as the world around Purdys evolved and people’s lives and expectations shifted. This gave Karen the opportunity to talk to her team and customers directly to understand what Purdys meant to them and how Purdys could adapt to meet their needs better.
For one, Purdys had moved away from its iconic purple and gold to a dark navy blue. Karen recognized the value in having branding that customers recognized and trusted. Implementing purple and gold on all packaging and in all stores became a focus. A large investment was also made to upgrade stores to be more welcoming, relevant and appealing.
In addition, for most of Purdys’ history, chocolates had been sold by the pound. But that didn’t meet customers’ new and growing request of “Do you have something for around $10?” As consumer tastes and spending habits changed, it was time for Purdys to innovate its offerings.
The focus was to create a line of chocolate offerings every season that had “something for everyone”. This required thinking through various customer journeys to make sure Purdys customers would find gifts for everyone on their lists.
With such changes in place, sales soared to new heights. It was with this new wind of success and refreshing optimism that in 1997, Karen Flavelle became President of Purdys Chocolatier.
The early 2000s were a time of creativity and ingenuity for Purdys. Purdys No Sugar Added line was previously made externally by a subcontractor. Chocolate development for this line was brought in-house to be made by Purdys.
Doing so improved the quality and assortment and created die-hard fans. Purdys developed a revolutionary Caramel with no sugar added, allowing Purdys to make the highly requested No Sugar Added Sweet Georgia Browns.
A key contributor to Purdys joined in the early 2000s – Peter Higgins. He joined the company to run the factory at age 29. A fast learner and eager entrepreneur, Peter introduced many efficiency gains in the factory as well as new opportunities like E-commerce and Year Round Fundraising. He also re-invigorated the Seasonal Fundraising and Group Savings programs, causing their growth to surge.
Year-round fundraising was launched to provide a more user-friendly experience for fundraising parent associations in schools. Many organizations and parent associations across Canada became regular participants and have raised millions of dollars for successful fundraising initiatives in their communities.
The early 2000s were also an exciting time for the new World Wide Web. E-commerce was just beginning and Purdys was an early adopter. At the time, it was unknown how important online retail would become to businesses. The E-commerce team’s initial goal was to be the equivalent of one Purdys retail shop.
2007 marked Purdys’ 100th anniversary. To celebrate, Purdys held an exhibition called The Story of Chocolate at Science World.
Purdys also held a gala, which was attended by many Vancouverites including the Mayor. Guests were honoured with a performance by Canadian singer-songwriter, Jann Arden. For their centenary, Purdys also created commemorative tins, mugs and a collector’s envelope from Canada Post. They also created their now iconic Coat of Arms, which is used in their retail shops and packaging designs.
It was also the year Purdys expanded its facilities to Chester Street in Vancouver. After much renovation and ensuring the facilities were just right, the Support Office and Warehouse teams moved into the new facility, while the chocolate factory team stayed at Kingsway Street.
In 2009, Purdys introduced a new confection by taking a long-time signature favourite and giving it a modern twist. By taking Mr. Purdy’s original 1907 vanilla caramel recipe and adding a sprinkling of Himalayan Pink Salt, the Himalayan Pink Salt Caramel was born! It became an instant bestseller.
The 2010 Winter Olympic Games were held in Vancouver, and the then 103-year-old family-owned Vancouver-based company was the perfect choice to be the Official 2010 Olympics Chocolate provider.
Purdys teamed up with Rogers Chocolates of Victoria, and both companies crafted a collection of official Olympic chocolates. Karen was also a torchbearer in the Olympic Relay.
Previously, Charles had been apprehensive about opening Purdys shops in Ontario. But with creativity, and hard work, the first three stores opened in Ontario in 2005. Today, Purdys is proud of its over 25 stores in Ontario!
In 2013, Purdys Chocolatier was featured on W Network’s Undercover Boss. Karen had made a point of regularly visiting the factory and every store. When the producers for Undercover Boss were doing their research, they quickly discovered that Karen was too familiar a face to Purdys employees to be able to go undercover. In her place, Kriston Dean, Director of Marketing (now VP of Sales & Marketing) stepped up to go “undercover”. It was wonderful to be able to provide special help to the 3 employees highlighted in the show. The experience resulted in valuable insights on ways Purdys could serve employees better.
In 2014, Purdys was proud to move to sustainable cocoa for all its chocolate. While this had long been a journey Purdys had pursued, it had taken time to get the supply chain visibility that was needed for the change. This meant guaranteeing fair cocoa prices and making community investments to support farmers with training and education. The investment in sustainable cocoa also provided assistance to local cocoa-growing communities to fund schools, medical infrastructure, children’s education, women’s education, and conflict resolution within families and communities.
In 2019, Purdys launched its first Vegan chocolate, the Vegan Dark Chocolate Bar, which received an overwhelming response from customers.
In 2020, COVID shook the world. While it brought unforeseen challenges, it also brought time to reinvent improved ways to serve customers and plan for a brighter Purdys’ future.
In March 2020, like all retailers across Canada, Purdys closed all 84 shops due to Covid concerns for store staff. During this time customers continued to show their passion for Purdys by purchasing through its online shop, creating exponential online sales growth from 2020-2021.
The year 2020 also created an unexpected opportunity for the next generation of Flavelles – Scott McTavish (Karen’s son) to join Purdys. He joined as the Director (now VP) of Strategy & Corporate Development and supported Purdys in hiring executive team members, establishing Governance systems, helping to give clarity on priorities and leading changes in key departments.
Throughout 2020, Purdys continued to focus on community support by donating to health workers across the country and continuing investment with its philanthropy efforts.
2021 was the year when Purdys Purple Partnership initiative was established. With a long history in philanthropy and community support, Purdys realised it had also created a new platform for communities to be seen, heard and supported.
A platform that can bring more people together and create even more joy for people who need it. Purdys Purple Partnerships are driven by their pillars of impact and can include financial donations, awareness and resource funding.
Later this year, most retail shops reopened and customers returned to retail and their regular buying preferences.
2021 was also a delightful year for Vegan chocolate lovers. What initially began as a Vegan Dark Chocolate Bar, eventually grew into an entire vegan bar collection of Vegan Mylk Chocolate Bar, Vegan Mylk Chocolate Trail Mix Bar and Vegan Dark Chocolate Trail Mix Bar.
In early 2022, Purdys also launched plant-based versions of their bestselling Sweet Georgia Brown and Himalayan Pink Salt Caramel with Vegan Mylk Chocolate Sweet Georgia Browns and Vegan Hawaiian Black Salt Caramels.
The Vegan Hawaiian Black Salt Caramel soon became a Purdys favourite and was also recognized for its innovative recipe with a BC Food & Beverage’s Product of the Year Award in November 2021.
We still have so many exciting opportunities to look forward to together with a fantastic leadership team and the next generation of Flavelles. We appreciate the dedication of the Purdys team in the Chocolate Factory, shops, e-Comm, fundraising and Group Sales. And most of all, we wouldn’t be here talking about our wonderful journey and our plans for the future without the support of Purdys customers.
