A former pro hockey ref turned fine chocolatier fights for survival
Jeffray Gardner, a former pro hockey referee turned chocolatier. Photos by Derek Baron One of the entrepreneurial success stories of the South Bay has suffered a major business reversal for the unlikeliest of reasons. Marsatta Chocolates, a business that started making premium candies ten years ago and was rapidly expanding, suddenly lost their lease due to a hockey game. The company was founded by Jeffray Gardner, a former professional ice hockey referee who moved from Canada to California. When Gardner started Marsatta, he was one of very few chocolatiers in California who starts with the cacao beans, rather than a partly processed product called couverture chocolate. When business got too brisk in the kitchen that he shared with other businesses, Gardner rented commercial space in east Redondo Beach. The office there was decorated with hockey memorabilia, and on Saturdays when all nearby businesses were closed Gardner’s sons and their friends would don rollerblades and play practice games in the parking lot. Gardner at work. All was well until one day when the landlord drove by and saw the boys practicing. There had been no complaints by neighbors, and an adult was present…
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