‘University taught me how to learn’

When University of Saskatchewan (USask) graduate Faye Moffatt (BComm’04, CPDS’06, MA’07) decided to make a major career shift, she drew upon her USask education to help navigate the challenges and the changes that came her way.

Moffatt, who studied finance and economics at USask at the undergraduate and graduate levels, landed a job as a senior financial analyst at a uranium company after earning her degrees. While she enjoyed her role and her work at the company, during a maternity leave in 2015 she began further exploring her passion for chocolate making. As word began to spread about Moffatt’s delicious chocolate creations, her hobby blossomed into a business—prompting her to quit her corporate role in 2017 to become a full-time chocolatier and entrepreneur.

Customer interest and demand continued to grow. In January 2018, Moffatt officially moved her business—River Layne Chocolate Couture—from her home kitchen to a commercial space on Quebec Avenue in Saskatoon.

“We do small-batch, European-style chocolates and bonbons, so everything here is handmade,” she said. “All our chocolate comes from France, and all our fillings are made in house. I think the thing about us is it’s fresh and it’s made daily and it’s beautiful—it’s kind of art, and it’s a lovely gift.”

For Moffatt, making chocolates at home initially offered an enjoyable hobby and a creative outlet that complemented her corporate job. With two small children, however, she began to see a full-time career in chocolate as a way to bring more flexibility to her daily schedule as she raised her young family.

Moffatt set out to learn more about the art of chocolate and bonbon making by scouring professional cookbooks and by buying unique ingredients to explore in her recipes. Her USask education helped instill confidence in her as her business took shape. She became dedicated to reading and researching all things chocolate, studying bonbons and confections with the same enthusiasm and determination that she had previously given to finance and economics at USask.

“University taught me how to learn, in that I could really accomplish anything if I set my mind to it,” she said. “I learned and read and tried—and I think that’s the confidence that university gave me.”

Moffatt, who grew up on a farm near North Battleford, Sask., first developed an interest in chocolate making during her childhood. Moffatt’s father rarely cooked, yet each Christmas he made batches of chocolates to give to friends and family. As time went on, Moffatt became more and more interested in her dad’s Christmas tradition, eventually helping him to customize and beautify the chocolates by painting the molds.

Moffatt recalls with fondness the joyous reactions that people would have when they received her father’s homemade chocolates.

“I just remember it being such a big deal for the people he would give them to—everybody looked forward to this,” she said. “I don’t know why, but that just sort of stuck with me.”

Moffatt eventually moved away from the family farm to attend university, first relocating to Calgary, Alberta, and then returning to Saskatchewan to study finance at USask’s Edwards School of Business and economics at USask’s College of Arts and Science. Still, the Christmas chocolate-making tradition endured. Each December, when Moffatt finished her final university exam of the semester, she would return to the family farm to make chocolate with her dad.

“I’m just a farm kid at heart,” she said.

Today, River Layne Chocolate Couture—named after Moffatt’s two children—is known for its luxe artisan bonbons, bars, and confections. They are handcrafted, hand-painted, and best eaten fresh; their shelf life is about three to four weeks.

“They’re not full of preservatives and sugar and the like,” she said.

Moffatt’s customers often tell her that the creations seem almost too beautiful to eat. She prides herself on providing high-quality customer service and excellent products made with the finest ingredients; the chocolate she uses comes from the world’s Cacao belt—located in the tropics near the equator—and is then refined in France.

“It’s kind of considered the crème de la crème of chocolate,” she said.

River Layne’s most popular products are Moffatt’s colourful bonbons, created in exciting flavours such as mango habanero, strawberry cheesecake, lime margarita, lemon lavender, caramel macchiato, and many more. Her personal favourite is the Hazelnut Toffee-Faye Bonbon, which she named after herself. A customer favourite, meanwhile, is the Italian Maraschino Cherry Bonbon, complete with 22-carat edible gold on top. Moffatt said many people have fond childhood memories of eating mass-produced cherry chocolates purchased from grocery and department stores at Christmastime, and her spin on the sweet is an elevated version of the holiday staple.

“People come in here at Christmas for the cherries, because it reminds them of going to their grandma’s house,” she said.

One of Moffatt’s favourite things to create is three-dimensional chocolate art pieces, such as Christmas trees and snowmen for the holiday season. While it’s a time-consuming process, “it’s so fun and I think people get such a kick out of it,” she said.

Although chocolate sparks joy for both Moffatt and for her customers, she admits that “getting a business off the ground is not the easiest thing in the world”—and that the COVID-19 pandemic made it even more difficult. Each year, however, Moffatt’s business has grown and evolved; this fall, for example, she began offering chocolate and wine tastings. Last year, River Layne moved across the parking lot on Quebec Avenue to a much bigger retail space, enabling Moffatt to be able to host the wine and chocolate events and to connect with her customers in new ways.

“That’s made a world of difference in just how much we can do. It’s been a game changer,” she said.

As her business grows, Moffatt relies on the skills she developed at USask. Studying finance and economics has been an asset to her business, and she uses her expert knowledge daily when it comes to tracking inventory and pricing her products, as well as in understanding local, national, and global economies at the micro and macro levels. A self-described proud USask alumna, Moffatt has many positive memories from her time at the university.

“I loved it; it was great. I had great professors,” she said. “I loved USask.”

When asked about her advice for other USask alumni who may want to become entrepreneurs, Moffatt said it’s important to “make sure you have a good support system.” There will be challenges, she said, but small business owners need to “keep going”—and having a support system helps.

“You can do it; you just have to put your mind to it. Work hard,” she said. “These are things that worked for me.”

For Moffatt, River Layne Chocolate Couture offers more than a career and a livelihood. The chocolate shop is also a creative outlet and a way to bring joy to people’s lives.

“It’s kind of the best job,” she said. “People come in happy.”