THE BATTLEFORDS — Although Moirae Choquette wasn’t technically born in North Battleford, growing up there with her family from six-months-old, going to a French immersion school and cutting grass so she could afford to spend the money on her obsession with clothes, she began working at Battleford's only ice cream shop at the young age of 14.
“I remember my parents being like, 'OK kid, go get a summer job.’ There was an ice cream shop on Main Street in Battleford, and I managed to convince them to give me a job at 14,” Choquette said to the News-Optimist/Sasktoday.ca.
And Choquette's desire for her own money, and by extension, independence, led her to work many jobs throughout the Battlefords and area, including Marion's pharmacy while her friends were out snowboarding, a restaurant operated by the family of her brother's girlfriend, Ruckers and Boston Pizza, attracted solely by the promise of tips and extra money.
That is, until after graduation, when Choquette began to wonder what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
“I was kinda going to just coast for the summer. I still wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do.”
But Choquette was dreaming of the big city lights of Edmonton, managing to nab a job as a French translator at the Canadian Medical Conference and moving to the capital of Alberta without any actual plans.
“I was like just following my intuition about it,” Choquette said, noting that despite moving around for a bit, Edmonton became her home base for 18 years. Still, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life.
After some minor guidance from her father, she decided to do something a little different and went to school to study geology. After studying at NAIT for two years, thinking she’d go to Calgary and have a desk in an office, Choquette found herself in Fort McMurray in a camp, wearing coveralls and steel toed boots.
Choquette said, “It was very interesting, while I loved the work and I loved the study of it, the lifestyle itself just wasn’t for me … I kinda felt like an imposter, to be honest. I never really felt comfortable in that environment or what I was doing.
In 2009 with the recession hitting, she found herself laid off though the company offered to return her as a contractor. This would have required her to get her own truck and start her own business.
“I was like, ‘Over my dead body am I owning a Ford-F150. That is absolutely not happening,’” she said.
“At the point I quit, and my dad [said], ‘You’re leaving a six-figure career?’' And what did I do? I decided I was buying a one-way ticket to London.”
A passion for storytelling uncovered
Choquette went to the UK intending to stay in a hostel for a week. She figured if she didn’t get a job within a week, she’d shop, enjoy a week in Europe, and come home.
“I ended up going over [and] the universe had my back. I met the right people at the right time. Within a week, I had a place and two jobs to support myself, and I ended up staying a year and a half.”
Ultimately, she’d uncovered her passion: marketing.
“I was like ding, ding, ding, why has no one explained what marketing is to me?” she said.
Looking back, Choquette had always had a hunch that marketing was her passion, with several of her jobs before moving to London in marketing and communication.
"And largely, marketing is storytelling. It’s being able to tell the story of a product,” she said, noting that, ‘Do people want a product?’ and ‘What stories can you tell them to bring the product to life?’ are just a few questions she answers with her job.
“I use my creativity and always choose projects or products to market that I’m passionate about and do that very authentically.”
When returning from London, she moved to Calgary, enrolling in online University of Athabasca courses to delve further into the world of marketing.
“And that kinda set me up for a trajectory in a career path that felt a lot more comfortable and much more suited.”
But her first real foray into the scene began with a mentorship with the Canadian Diabetes Association before she'd finished school, where she was tasked was implementing red clothing donation bins in grocery store parking lots. And although the previous summer student implemented three, Choquette implemented 16 throughout Alberta.
“After that, it was just like lighting a fire. I had found my space. It felt authentic. It felt like I knew what I was doing,” and to her, it all comes down to building relationships.
And after taking a job with Post Media, followed by a job with Edmonton Economic Development, followed by some Alberta tech companies, she took a life-shifting trip to India.
Tomato Wheels: From marketer to entrepreneur
“It was such an eye-opening experience … that is such a magical place and space; I love every single moment of it,” she said, amazed by the privilege so many people in Canada get to live.
“Literally, I had a quarter-life crisis. It was a reverse culture shock. I kept hearing a mantra in my meditations, ‘build a global brand, feed the world,’” she said, noting that she was angry and resistant, not understanding the true meaning behind the words.
Finally, surrendering, she began taking baby steps that saw her spice company, Tomato Wheels, born. The company was based on the idea of selling rehydrated pasta sauces before Choquette obtained a worldwide scholarship to cook with David Chang at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy.
“When the pandemic hit and everything shut down, I was just … I’m going to do a hard pause,” she said as the spice company pivoted to kitchenware, teaching her about the global supply chain, logistics, sourcing, launching projects and e-commerce, various tools that she was unaware was setting her up for something much more significant.
“Things kept happening, and I wasn’t really forcing it,” she said. But at the end of the day, competition was extreme, and shipping costs were intense. Choquette was interested in selling wine, and as she’d travelled to Italy many times in her 20s, Lambrusco was top of her mind as it wasn’t easy to find here in Canada.
“There is a massive gap in North America for this product. Is this the gap I’m about to fill?” She said, noting that there are 23,000 red wind labels in Canada, with only 31 are Lambrusco.
“I said, ‘OK, if I can really broadcast it.’” The rest is arguably history.
But she didn’t want to import product, she wanted to create her own. Networking her way into talking with one of Canada’s top sommeliers, Brad Royale, the two of them managed to find a fourth-generation, family-owned and operated vineyard in Emilia Romagna, Italy, operating since 1925.
“After six months, they ultimately agreed to produce Lambrusco exclusively for Tomato Wheels,” she said, describing the Zoom calls that fostered partnership and communication.
“They are so passionate, they are so knowledgeable. The quality and the level of care they take, [it's] so cool to learn from that. And it was amazing to see what goes into making a wine … half of this stuff was just mind-blowing, the process and the care it takes.
“Now I have a whole new appreciation [for wine]. Vines have to be planted and grow for four years before they can even be appreciated. Every single person I’ve worked with is so passionate about what they do. Everyone is here for the right way. The sommelier, the vineyard, the artist."
Finally, after months of work, Tomato Wheels launched Lambrusco in the Canadian market in October 2022, and in the last six months, the sparkling red wine has been making waves across Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
Now, Choquette hopes that Lambrusco becomes what Prosecco was 10 years ago, filling a gap in the market while she's able to give back.
“This has been such a learning journey … success for me is how I leverage this business to give back. Success to me is how I can build these bigger programs through Tomato Wheels. As this becomes successful, how can I give back to ensure there is healing in the world?”
Success for the young, Indigenous female entrepreneur from North Battleford sees her continue the family legacy of entrepreneurial spirit, as her grandfather and, in many ways, her father did before her. And as Choquette stays in Airbnbs across the country, exploring the United States and Mexico as she travels with her Lambrusco, she aims to make sparkling wine the most exciting thing since sliced bread.
