Smiths Falls, Ont., isn’t just any small town. After all, the first Beatles records were pressed there (1963, Love Me Do).
For decades, it was also known for the sweet smell of chocolate in the air. The Hershey chocolate factory that called Smiths Falls home was a vivid memory for many kids growing up near Ottawa—including Amanda Burt, who described the place as “sacred territory.” But when Hershey shut down and moved its production to Mexico in 2008, it was the first of many companies to abandon the town, leaving nearly 2,000 without work. And with a population of about 9,000, that’s a lot of unemployed people.
But today, the factory at 1 Hershey Drive is bustling again. Nowadays it serves as headquarters to Canada’s largest licensed medical marijuana producer, Tweed.
Piya and producer Karen Chen took a road trip to Smiths Falls to check out the building’s new tenant. Tweed CEO Bruce Linton showed them “the vault” and the seas of marijuana plants growing where Hershey used to make chocolate.
Piya Chattopadhyay – CBC News – June 04, 2016.
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