Biden’s chocolate gift an ‘unbelievable’ moment for its Syrian-Canadian creator | 24CA News
A lighthearted second throughout U.S. President Joe Biden’s go to to Canada on Friday involving the gifting of a chocolate bar meant a lot extra to the Syrian-Canadian whose firm created the deal with.
Tareq Hadhad, CEO of Peace By Chocolate in Antigonish, N.S., instructed Global News he was in disbelief after watching Green Party Leader Elizabeth May give Biden a “Peace Bar” throughout a welcoming ceremony in Ottawa.
“This is absolutely unbelievable. Totally unbelievable,” stated Hadhad, who was invited to Friday evening’s state dinner on the Ottawa Aviation Museum as a visitor of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“This is a moment for the history books for our family and we are incredibly honoured.”
Biden, who is thought to have a candy tooth, elicited laughs when — after handing the sweet to Trudeau to signal the House of Commons visitor e-book — he rapidly requested concerning the chocolate bar’s whereabouts.
“Where’s my chocolate?” he requested as handlers started to usher him out of the room.
Trudeau, who had handed the bar to another person, rapidly returned it to him.
Biden instructed the reporters masking his go to that he may share his chocolate with them later, “depending on how tough your questions are.”
“It was a good thing (the bar was returned), because you really don’t want a bilateral incident prompted by the Prime Minister of Canada depriving a president of his chocolate bar,” May quipped to reporters as she entered the dinner Friday night.
May stated she obtained the concept for Biden’s reward when she visited Peace By Chocolate in Antigonish every week earlier than the go to and noticed an image on the wall of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holding the identical chocolate bar subsequent to Trudeau.
Hadhad stated he knew May had visited however couldn’t think about this viral second with Biden would come in consequence.
“I’m shaking from joy,” he stated, including he has obtained a number of messages of assist from household, pals and followers of his firm.
Hahdad and his household have been chocolatiers again dwelling in Syria for many years and as soon as owned a big chocolate manufacturing unit in Damascus. But the manufacturing unit was bombed in 2012 throughout the escalation of the Syrian civil warfare, which compelled the household to flee to Lebanon as refugees.
Three years later, they have been welcomed into Canada and settled in Antigonish, the place they established Peace By Chocolate. The Peace Bar gifted to Biden, which is packaged with the phrase “Peace” in 24 languages, was its first product.
“(We wanted) to teach people the true meaning and how to practice peace in their own means and their own forms,” Hadhad stated.
“I am a big believer that our chocolate is bringing nations together. … We came to Canada as refugees because we lost everything to the war in Syria and we didn’t want to lose anything again here in Canada. That’s why we’re spreading this value.”
The household grew to become Canadian residents in 2020 and opened a brand new flagship retailer in downtown Halifax the next 12 months. Its merchandise are additionally bought in choose supermarkets throughout Canada.
Currently, the corporate is donating 100 per cent of the proceeds from its Peace Bars to the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Red Cross Relief Fund to assist the 2 international locations rebuild from final month’s devastating earthquake, which killed practically 60,000 folks.
Hadhad stated he hopes his household’s story can serve for example of the worth immigrants can carry to international locations just like the United States and Canada.
“We are just so honoured that the president — with an absolutely incredible agenda for yesterday and today until he leaves the country — he just remembered the chocolate bar,” he stated.
“I really hope he’s going to also look at (it) further and really understand how Canada opened the doors for us and changed our lives forever.”
—with recordsdata from Bryan Mullan
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
