One day, he was filming underwater with Great White sharks in Mexico for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. Throw in a pandemic full stop and Cinematographer Ryan Lee soon reinvented himself as one of Toronto’s trendiest chocolate makers and founder of Chachalate in the exclusive category of bean-to-bar chocolate making. Always a chocolate lover, Ryan first began making his ethically sourced Chachalate (pronounced Cha-cha-lit) chocolate in his condo kitchen, but before long he was renting commercial space in a catering kitchen. Bean-to- bar production means that he does it all—roasting, grinding and tempering (a heating-cooling-heating process). There are only three others doing it in the city. The switch from video production to chocolate entrepreneur came from a combination of necessity, curiosity and, of course, passion. “Food was always a big part of our family,” he says. “At home, we hardly ever ate at restaurants and vacations were built around finding great…
Read moreRyan Lee ’12 | The Freedom to Explore (Alumni in Food Businesses)
