Foreground L-R: The four partners of Jester’s Wonder Emporium in their facility on Craig Street, Sturgeon Falls: Donnie Parsons, Joseph Curto, Daniel Curtylo and Corey Rounding. Two of their summer employees are in the background. 
The current soda line-up, using locally sourced products in unique new ways. 
Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré checks out Jester’s offerings, after announcing funding to send the local craft soda company to the Royal Agricultural Fair in Toronto as part of the Northern Ontario Pavilion.
Isabel Mosseler
Tribune
These days a person can crack open a can of pop in West Nipissing and as it fizzes and bubbles, they can boldly state, “This is a fine thirst-quenching product, using local ingredients, manufactured locally, that tickles my nose and my funny bone.” Jester’s Wonder Emporium, a team of 4 enthusiastic partners based out of Craig Street in Sturgeon Falls, has launched a new artisanal soda line that is brewed, pasteurized, carbonated and canned right here.
Old timers will tell you that at one time, many towns in Ontario had their own bottling facility. The big players gobbled up those enterprises of the past and centralized both production and distribution. But if Jester’s is any indication, there’s a burgeoning movement towards locally sourced and manufactured products that began with micro-breweries and smaller agri-food enterprises.
The four partners are Daniel “Danny” Curylo, Donnie Parsons, Joseph Curto and Corey Rounding. Curylo is the de facto spokesperson for the partnership. Originally from the West Coast and now in Sturgeon Falls, he’s been in business in the USA and is an enthusiastic vocal advocate for the endeavour. He is a cousin to Donnie Parsons of the Verner Parsons, well-known local dairy farmers. Joseph Curto hails from Field, and Corey Rounding from Noëlville. The four have been in business operating the King of Queens cannabis outlet and decided to stretch their wings in a new direction – soda with a West Nipissing flavour.
Curylo, who calls himself the main instigator of the new enterprise, explains that the cannabis business is highly competitive and also restrictive – laws govern the enterprise to the point that they are not allowed to sponsor sports teams and engage in certain community support initiatives. This new venture is an opening to community engagement. Jester’s did host a float in the 2024 Pride Parade, and it’s obvious the team is enjoying this expansion phase, as they now employ 9 people at their facility in Sturgeon Falls.
The enterprise uses local agricultural product. “We’re an artisanal beverage company and one of the core challenges that a beverage company faces is its sweetener cost,” Curylo explains, noting all the big players use corn syrup, while Jester’s wanted a healthier, more natural alternative. The obvious answer: local honey and maple syrup. “The big companies use it [corn syrup] because their sweetener cost will be about two cents a can, whereas our honey soda is about 30-ish cents a can, and the maple is about 42-cents, so our MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) is about $3.50. (…) That’s why we’re talking local product – this is amazing. (…) There is a current realization within society that high fructose corn syrup, ultra processed foods are literally toxic, and so this goes to our whole paradigm of that. We pasteurize versus using chemicals.”
There are two ways to make a beverage safe; pasteurizing or adding chemicals. The local product is pasteurized to a temperature that makes the product safe and stable. Curylo says this is the basis of their business philosophy – local, safe, tasty, and entertaining.
“Our honey soda it is a three-ingredient soda. It’s honey, water and a little bit of citric acid for that sort of lemon flavor. And that is the best beverage that you can imagine (…) Our mission objective was to identify a locally available sweetener, and to establish and build the supply chain along with it (…) We’re talking about a premium product (…) From the maple syrup side, the syrup that you get that you put on your pancakes, that’s AAA. That’s amber. (…) That stuff’s not cheap. Right? And so if we’re using that in a beverage, that makes business tough. And so our angle is that we are trying to find part of the [maple syrup] production process that has relatively low value.”
They found that the tail end of maple syrup production produces a liquor that is dark, smells somewhat like chocolate, and is usually dumped as unsaleable; the production tailings, if you will. Those tailings from local maple syrup producers now have market value and will be part of a vintage Chocolate Buddy Soda, turning it into a premium product with a terroir unique to West Nipissing.
Donnie Parsons notes that vintage sodas will be like vintage wines. “It will be like a red wine – you have a vintage 2022 red wine, like a unique product for that run. (…) That’s the angle of the Buddy Syrups, because we can’t guarantee the consistency of the product.” Cracking a can of vintage soda? “Yeah, exactly right.” Danny Curylo adds that uniqueness is part of establishing added value, perhaps the start of creating a sense of terroir that many local agri-food enterprises could benefit from, converting a food desert into a banquet of delights.
The team also uses local honey. “Our core line is our Sap Soda, that’s our marquee product, followed very closely by Luc’s Honey Soda, which is actually, to be quite honest, my favourite.” They also produce Iced tea, Yerba Maté tea, Lime water, and straight-up water, carbonated.
While Curylo may be the most voluble as the spokesperson, each of the partners plays a significant role. Joseph Curto, of Field, says he is considered the builder, literally and figuratively. He’s Operations and Logistics, making sure everything “works”. He was responsible for renovations to the facility. Not much of a talker, he does say, “We all help each other in all our areas but my main thing is renovating the plant, setting up the plant, learning how to use the equipment and getting it operational.” That involved a lot of new knowledge, because these men have entered a field alien to anything they ever did before. Curto says the team has received a lot of support from the company they purchased their equipment from. “Any question I have, I can reach out to them and …I have a background in trades.”
A lot of the training is by video, but when something becomes tricky, like the Brite Tank used for carbonating the product, Curto is the one on top of it.
By the way, the tank room has a disco ball and laser lights – these guys are having fun – it’s part of the vibe. The tanks and equipment have enigmatic names to bring a smile, like tank Numba Juan. Curylo comments, “It’s funny. You talk about establishing expertise. Well, the thing is, there was no expertise. (…) It’s us trying to figure all these things out.”
The cans are delightfully fun to look at and read, with digital ink printing, that Curylo calls a net benefit when it comes to recycling. “We do the digital printing, which has only been around the last couple of years. And what’s good about it is we can do very, very small runs (…), very small batches, very fancy graphics.” Small runs suit a focused market, which right now is the triangle of North Bay-Sudbury-Timmins. They can also adapt their enterprise to the needs of others. “There are creative people out there that have all sorts of ideas. We have the facilities. We have a graphics department. We have the supply chain. We have all the traceability requirements. We have CFIA approval (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), North Bay Parry Sound Health Unit approval.”
