Alberta woman gives away 133,000 Rum & Butter bars in a ‘whirlwind’ of charity | CBC Radio

Crystal Regehr Westergard has made a lot of people very happy with her 133,000 Rum & Butter chocolate bars.

The Camrose, Alta., founder of Canadian Candy Nostalgia recently found herself in a pickle when pandemic delays left her with an unwieldy surplus of the classic confectioneries — all with a best before date in June.

But a few news stories and many, many emails later, Westergard has given away all her extra treats to a host of Canadian charities, food banks, churches and volunteer organizations.

It feels good to do good, she said — but she hopes it never comes to this again. 

“I think I’ll look back on it and say I’m glad I did it,” Westergard said. “But when you’re in the typhoon whirlwind, it’s a lot. Yeah, it’s a lot.”

WATCH: Canadian company’s chocolate bar backlog:  

#TheMoment a company had 133,000 chocolate bars to give away

A company that brings back retro chocolate bars has ended up with some excess candy and is trying to give away 133,000 Rum and Butter bars.

It’s also been a lot of work for Rena Pilon, but she’s more than happy to do it. 

Pilon is the communications and safety officer for the Bradwell Volunteer Fire Department in Saskatchewan, which took 16,000 of the Rum & Butter bars off Westergard’s hands.

The volunteer firefighters, who service communities in and around the Rural Municipality of Blucher, Sask., are planning to sell the bars to raise money for much-needed new equipment.

“We’re very proud of our small little department, and all our volunteers are excited to get out there and try to sell some of these candy bars,” Pilon said. 

The shipments — 1.5 pallets of bars weighing about 770 kilograms — arrived to much fanfare on Thursday, with free delivery courtesy of Purolator. 

“When we read about Canadian Candy Nostalgia’s creative call-out to give their chocolate bars away instead of letting them go to waste, we knew we could help,” Purolator spokesperson Courtney Reistetter said in an email.

“The chocolate bars will be put to good use by the fire department in their fundraising efforts, making it a win-win all around.”

It took a lot of co-ordination to make it happen, Pilon said, but she’s grateful to anyone involved. 

“It all really helps us so much,” she said. “It’s just a miracle, really, that it all kind of came together the way that it did.”

How did this happen?

Canadian Candy Nostalgia started in 2018, when Westergard made it her mission to resurrect her elderly mother’s favourite chocolate bar, Cuban Lunch. 

It was such a hit that in 2021, she decided to resurrect another discontinued classic, the Rum & Butter bar — a non-alcoholic, rum-flavoured candy, and her husband’s childhood favourite. 

But pandemic work shortages and delays meant that shipments that were supposed to arrive steadily over time instead came all at once. And with a best before date in June, she simply couldn’t move them fast enough through the stores she normally partners with.

It was a sugary sweet nightmare for Westergard, who also works full time running a physiotherapy practice in Camrose.  So she decided to take her story to the masses, doing interviews with CBC Radio’s As It Happens, the Globe and Mail, and even some international news outlets.

“This has gone out around the world,” she said.

Soon, her inbox was overwhelmed with folks looking for Rum & Butter bars.

A lot of people just wanted a box or two, which wasn’t ideal given her situation. Others were messaging from as far as South Korea or South Africa, she said, which just didn’t seem feasible.

But she also found a few really good fits.

In the end, on top of the Saskatchewan firefighters, she says she donated pallets to the Calgary Drop-in Centre, Calgary’s St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox church, Run Calgary, Run Like Ole, Calgary’s Varsity Church, and a number of food banks.

‘It does bring back a lot of memories’

If you still want some Rum & Butter bars, Canadian Candy Nostalgia sells them in stores across much of the country, mostly Western Canada and the east coast, as well as online via Amazon. 

And for the next little while, you can also get your hands on some by contacting the Bradwell Volunteer Fire Department.

Pilon says she’s looking forward to digging into some herself.

“My mom is 71 years old, and she distinctly remembers them. And I remember them going to the store and paying 25 cents for a Rum & Butter chocolate bar when I was a little girl. So it does bring back a lot of memories,” she said.

“We’re just grateful to be a part of the journey, bringing these chocolate bars back to Canada for people to try, and for the fire department to share them with families, and for them to have an opportunity to try a Rum & Butter bar.”