Walk down Patricia Street in Jasper, and most days, you will be tempted by the delicious smell of caramel, fudge, or chocolate.
Yuichi Tokunaga, owner of Candy Bears’ Lair, says it’s a labour of love.
Growing up in Japan, he didn’t have much of a sweet tooth. The odd ice cream or small piece of sponge cake would be the treats for a month.
But after moving to Canada and purchasing Candy Bears’ Lair, he learned to love the art of candy making. Of course, one has to taste the products for quality control, so he’s become a big fan of his creations.
So are a lot of others.
There is “Gummy Bear Man,” a truck driver who pops into town regularly to buy all, literally the entire display tray, of the chocolate-dipped gummy bears.
There is the Ginger Lady, a local who comes in regularly for the cholate-dipped ginger. A BC couple drops by every few months to buy bags and bags of caramels because “you can’t get anything this good at home.”
And Tokunaga can’t visit his sister-in-law without bringing a bag of Beaver Dams, the product that Tokunaga invented to use up broken pretzels and reduce waste. “I’m not sure she’d let me in the house if I came empty-handed,” he jokes.
Tokunaga comes up with new creations every year. Most stay on and find their place on the permanent shelves; others, like the Marzipecan–his wife’s all-time favourite–must step aside for more popular creations. “My wife is still mad about that,” he laughs.
He bought Candy Bear’s Lair on impulse. The big loan was a wake-up call for a man that knew nothing about candy making or running a store.
But Tokunaga wasn’t happy at his job, and his wife always wanted to own a candy store, so he took the plunge.
While the learning curve was steep initially, there were some big challenges. Tokunaga didn’t count on thieving staff and power outages that cost him freezers full of ice cream. He also didn’t expect kids wrestling and karate kicking the big huggable bear that guards the door.
But it was all worth it in the end.
So what are Tokunaga’s favourite treats?
Buffalo Chunks, Turtle Fudge, and Peanut Butter Cups are some of his personal favourites. But he also loves selling coconut-coated Hairy Balls because no one buys just one.
So drop by and pick out your favourite, just don’t kick the bear.
