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The Salon du Chocolat 2010, a first report from Paris.

By on October 30, 2010 in Interviews & Video, On Chocolate & Cacao, Trips

What a hectic day it was this time at Salon du Chocolat. Was it the crowd, the number of exhibitors, or the fact that I wanted to do so many things in so little time? For all the things I could not do, however I got many very inspiring talks in return. And eventually that is the main reason for me to return to Paris every year.

What didn’t happen were the many video interviews I planned. Many chocolate people were subject to loaded schedules and the talks I did have left little window for an extra video. So I ended up with only three. And I didn’t shot a single photo. Gosh. Didn’t talk with Stéphane Bonnat, talked but didn’t interview Diego Badaro, and well some other things.
The good news though, I was really glad to run into Clay Gordon again, my inspiring chocophile from the US. Also Bertil Akesson was running a booth for the first time and I finally met a charming Santiago from Pacari. Also nice shaking hands with London’s most talked chocolatier Paul A. Young and Kate Johns, the director of The UK Chocolate Week, and an inevitable warm talk with Valérie from Pralus. It was a great surprise as well to see the Rizek family, the Dominican Republic cacao producer.

Salon du Chocolat 2010

My two most inspiring moments were meeting Duane Dove and Chloé Doutre-Rousell. Duane devoted 7 years of his life to revive a true cacao plantation in Tobago, beautiful story. And now he releases his chocolate with the help of François Pralus. And yes I do have a short video with him.
The second encounter with Chloé was the longest talk of the day, but we needed 100 times more time. Her experience, attitude and now the El Ceibo project fired up talks and thoughts on our shared passion. Must be continued. Video, check.

On the chocolate side, it was crowded and the discoveries came from rather unexpected moments. It was not by queuing booths but through sharing passion that those discoveries happened. Tasting the Rizek family chocolate was exciting, trying the ‘El Ceibo Heritage’ was unique, and getting a non commercial sample from a rare Brazil Forastero variety was truly … rediscovering chocolate!

After all an unexpectedly very interesting Salon du Chocolate 2010. And for next year, I do need business cards. Taking a time now to reflect on many things, and do the video edits. More in detail of all of the above soon, for there is of course much more to tell!

Getting ready for the 2010 “Salon du Chocolat” in Paris!

By on October 18, 2010 in Interviews & Video, Trips

It’s that time of the year again: at the and of this month I’m visiting again the Salon du Chocolat in Paris! It will be the third time now, and so far every year has been an important boost for Choqoa, thanks to the enthusiasm of a growing fanbase!
Also this year I’m looking forward to it a lot for several reasons. Not only will we dive again into a fascinating chocolate universe, share passionate stories, but also  meetup again with both new people and others I met last year.
I’m eager to experience how AMMA’s chocolate bar evolved from a test series to a true product range. Rumours about some new origin bars from a great French chocolatier may come true, and after having read her book, we’ll also meet Chloe Doutre-Roussel in real life. We will be loaded with our videocamera and I hope to bring back some inspiring interview moments as well!

Pre-order the new Salon du Chocolat Selection!

Above all, this is what is getting me excited the most. Just like every year Choqoa will put together a new, special selection with bars discovered at the Salon du Chocolat. It’s what thrives Choqoa: sharing great cacao, and have you rediscover chocolate. And every year so far it was a unique surprise. This year I’m already establishing contacts for a fantastic edition… It’ looks to be an exclusive and limited again.

For a smooth followup I have setup a special order page to make pre-ordering as easy as possible for you. So reserve your Salon 2010 Selection by Choqoa now!
Thank you for spreading the news, and stay in close touch!

Video: Interview with François Pralus at Salon du Chocolat

By on December 13, 2009 in Interviews & Video, Trips

François Pralus has been inspiring and helping the cacao world forward to indulgent experiences in fine origin cacao bars. Personally I like his dark signature a lot. He makes you discover cacao in a bold way and at the same time explore the flavors that makes eacht bar so typically different, by interpreting regions and beans, and delivering a variety of typicalities that make the whole cacao experience so rich.

Pralus recently took some time at The Salon du Chocolat in Paris to offer us a brief video interview, joining my previous talks with Clay Gorden ‘The Chocophile’, Frederick Schilling from AMMA and Stéphane Bonnat. It took me some time to add the subtitling, but now at least all of you can enjoy his passion.

François takes his own angle on the same questions I’ve been asking all of the above cacao icons. He really hunts for high quality plantations, passionate people and aroma development. It’s very inspiring to see how different all of them respond and share their proper focus on building wonderfull chocolate stories.

Enjoy the short video interview with François Pralus (though I was a bit distracted), the last in the video interview series I shot at The Salon in Paris. I hope it makes you discover and appreciate his chocolate in a new way as well!

It’s finally here: the 2009 Choqoa Sampler selection

By on November 22, 2009 in On Chocolate & Cacao

Chocolate has put me to the test lately: slow distributors, fast selling stocks, last-second changes… I almost had it all! But most important is, all pieces are finally joined together. I think the booklet and detail sheets will make it all in all a nice package and look really nice. And on top of it all, I believe it’s a nice selection of chocolate bars to introduce you to a new level of Cacao appreciation.

Choqoa 2009 Sampler

From the plethora of bars on display at The Salon du Chocolat in Paris, I’ve made a modest selection that takes you on an imaginary tour of the cacao growing belt:

Michel Cluizel takes us to the Sambirano valley in Madagascar and to the Dominican Republic, where we experience an entirely different character from the same brand. Francois Pralus leads the way to Brazil and demonstrates – together with AMMA Chocolates – how similar beans can be mastered in different ways. Finally, Bonnat takes us back to the heart of fine cacao:  his Venezuelan masterpieces from the mythical Chuao cacao beans.

I hope this selection pushes you forth into the exploration of real, original chocolate. Whether you’re in for trying different regions, different percentages or different ways of production – that’s entirely up to you. As long as you’re having fun, you can discover anything you want in a great chocolate bar.

With the sampler I hope your fine origin discoveries will only make you hungry for more!… :)

Video: Childhood Memories with Stéphane Bonnat at Salon du Chocolat

By on November 17, 2009 in Interviews & Video, On Chocolate & Cacao, Trips

Off course I was nervous. Bonnat, the iconic Chocolatiers family who all started this, my passion, decades ago. So close, and yet… He seemed busy running his booth at The Salon du Chocolat, I’ll try later maybe. Five minutes shortly after, he stood next to me outside. I had that “meet-your-hero” feeling bubbling up again and couldn’t resist, sharing my childhood memories with him. He smiled, charmed.
If I could interview him? “Mais oui, bien sur!”

Of all the interviews I did at the Salon, this one felt most special to me, for obvious reasons. It’s interesting to see how all of the chocolate people respond differently to the same questions I’m asking them. It reveals a lot of their particular viewpoints and playgrounds, and makes the rich world of fine cacao all the more interesting!

La Maison Bonnat celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, and Stéphane was passionate in sharing his vision and thoughts, and at the end he definitely touched emotions when he started evoking memories of the childhood stories we all share. It’s the unique place chocolate merits in our youth, that he seeks to translate in gorgeous gourmet bars for grown ups.
Such passion makes you appreciate fine artisan origin chocolate even more!

It took me some time to get this whole video subtitled, but now at least all of you can enjoy Bonnat’s take on Chocolate! Enjoy the interview :)