7 Main Street, Victoria, Prince Edward Island
902-658-2320
peichocolates@gmail.com
Eric Gilbert
Island Chocolate with Global Roots
On Prince Edward Island’s picturesque south shore, Eric Gilbert is helping carry a family chocolate tradition into a new generation. Based at Island Chocolates in Victoria-by-the-Sea, Gilbert combines hands-on chocolate making with an interest in cacao origins, flavour development and bean-to-bar production.
Island Chocolates has been part of the small seaside community since Eric’s parents, Ron and Linda Gilbert, established the business in the 1980s. Today, the next generation continues to build on that foundation while exploring how carefully sourced cacao and small-batch production can create distinctly different chocolate experiences.
From a Family Chocolate Shop to Bean-to-Bar Craft
Growing up around a working chocolate business gave Gilbert an unusually close connection to the craft. Yet continuing the family tradition has involved more than reproducing the chocolates that came before him.
Eric and his sister Emma have pursued further chocolate education and travelled to cacao-producing regions to deepen their understanding of the ingredient at its source. Those experiences have helped shape Island Chocolates’ evolution from a traditional chocolate shop into a business that also explores bean-to-bar chocolate making.
Discovering Chocolate at Its Source
For Gilbert, understanding chocolate means looking beyond the finished bar.
Island Chocolates has developed relationships with cacao producers and worked with beans from different origins. Transforming those beans into chocolate on Prince Edward Island allows the maker to influence roasting, grinding and other stages that ultimately shape flavour.
That approach also gives customers an opportunity to experience chocolate differently. Instead of viewing dark chocolate as a single flavour, single-origin bars can reveal characteristics connected to cacao variety, growing conditions and post-harvest processing.
Award-Winning Island Chocolate
The results have earned recognition beyond Prince Edward Island.
Island Chocolates’ Honduras 70% dark chocolate received a silver award at the International Chocolate Awards Americas competition. The business has also earned recognition for its handcrafted truffles, demonstrating strength in both bean-to-bar chocolate and traditional confectionery.
Eric specializes in moulded chocolates and bean-to-bar production, while Emma Gilbert focuses particularly on hand-dipped chocolates. Together, their skills allow the family business to maintain its traditional favourites while continuing to experiment with cacao and contemporary chocolate making.
Chocolate and a Prince Edward Island Experience
Location is an important part of the Island Chocolates story. Victoria-by-the-Sea is one of Prince Edward Island’s small historic communities, making the chocolate shop both a working confectionery and a stop for visitors exploring the province.
The shop and café bring chocolate making into the broader experience of visiting the village. It is an example of how artisan food businesses can become part of a destination’s identity while supporting local tourism and community life.
For Gilbert, that creates an interesting combination: cacao may begin its journey thousands of kilometres away, but its transformation takes place on a small Canadian island.
Through bean-to-bar experimentation, traditional confectionery and a family business that has endured for decades, Eric Gilbert is helping write the next chapter of Prince Edward Island chocolate — one that connects international cacao origins with a distinctly local sense of place.
