Indigenous chocolate shop to open in downtown Sudbury

Indigenous chocolate shop to open downtown Tammy Maki, an Indigenous chef who creates edible art, is expanding her business in Sudbury. CTV's Alana Everson reports.

An Indigenous chef who creates edible art is expanding her business in Sudbury.

Tammy Maki started Raven Rising Chocolate shop e-Commerce in October 2020 and is now opening a storefront. Maki used some of the money she received from the '60s scoop settlement to start up the business.

"It kinda' didn't feel like very good money, so I actually wanted to take that money and apply it to something positive," she said.

"So I did take a portion of it strayed Raven Rising and quite frankly it was the best decision I have made."

Maki's chocolate shop will be located in the old Capitol Theatre on Cedar Street downtown.

"I fell in love when I walked in here and I remember it because I am 57 so I remember when it was the Capitol Theatre," she said.

"And when I allowed in and saw the ceilings, what I do is create art … edible art and this place makes me want to create it."

Maki said Raven Rising will be an Indigenous forward shop.

"There will be a lot of chocolates that are Indigenous ingredient-based and I do a lot of sourcing from Indigenous businesses, but, of course, I also proudly use local ingredients, lots of local farm ingredients and sourced in Canada as well," she said.

Along with opening the retail space, Maki is helping Indigenous students pursue the art. She's offering a 1,500 Raven Rising Pastry Art Scholarship at George Brown College.