Skip to content

Burnaby chocolate company still doing pickup, delivery

For those looking for Easter treats, a Burnaby company has some options. Charlie’s Chocolate Factory’s doors are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the company is still sending out deliveries and taking orders for curbside pickup.
Charlie's Easter chocolate
Charlie's Chocolate Factory in Burnaby and Port Coquitlam is still supplying sweets for Easter.

For those looking for Easter treats, a Burnaby company has some options.

Charlie’s Chocolate Factory’s doors are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the company is still sending out deliveries and taking orders for curbside pickup.

The company closed its production, office and stores in Burnaby and Port Coquitlam last week and for part of this week, according to Ellen Sigvardsen, general manager for the company.

“What we’re still doing are online orders, phone orders – if we’re in – and doing curbside pickup and shipping,” she said. “So we’re trying to serve our customers the best we can kind of behind the scenes rather than having the doors open.”

The company has a variety of Easter offerings, she said.

“It brings a little normalcy to the kids and a little bit of fun. Even if they’re stuck inside and they can’t have Grandma and Grandpa over, they can still do something as a family,” she said of the holiday.

The company is charging a flat rate of $10 shipping in B.C. for Easter orders that are $75 or more, according to the company’s website.

“Right now we’re trying to promote to B.C. and our local people who can’t get out,” Sigvardsen said.

But the company is also offering pickup at its locations, she added.

“Actually, that’s quite popular,” she said, adding it allows people to pick up chocolate items such as hollow bunnies, which are more fragile.

“So that allows people to pretty much pick and choose from anything as long as it’s not a made-to-order item,” Sigvardsen said.

Made-to-order items require production to be running, and it is closed for now, she said.

“We were ready for Easter before this hit,” she said. “We’re very lucky, very stocked up.”

The company has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic financially but has had a lot of support from its customers, Sigvardsen said.

“As a small business we really appreciate our customers sharing. We’ve had a lot of people who’ve forwarded either our Instagram post or created their own and sent it to all their friends, saying we’re still open, and we very much appreciate that,” she said. “We were built on word of mouth from our customers.”

The company’s hours for pickup may change, and they have yet to decide if they’ll open their doors before Easter, so customers are advised to check the website.

“We have to take into account our staff as well as the people who come in,” Sigvardsen said. “We have everybody from kids to seniors.”

For more information, go to charlieschocolatefactory.com.