Tag Archives: Paris
Preparing for the 2009 Salon du Chocolat in Paris

Preparing for the 2009 Salon du Chocolat in Paris

by on September 30, 2009 in On Chocolate & Cacao, Trips

After some lenghty tasty posts on a series of London discoveries in the past weeks, it’s time to look at Paris for the Salon du Chocolat 2009. Yep, it’s like chocolate season is officially open!

salonduchocolat-2008

My trip last year was revealing up a whole new world of food concepts and ideas, but also a labyrinth in retail, wholesale, agents and distributors. Now that I’ve got that puzzled out a little bit more, I’m looking forward for a new visit, with some promising lookouts… Unlike last year where I felt a bit more touristy, this time I’m looking forward to meet a bunch of great people.

I’ll be travelling with Sofie from Callebaut, a super enthusiast person who’s always eager to help anyone out on new biz. I should be seeing Valerie again, the export manager from Pralus again, after our lovely passionate chat on last year’s fair. Moreover Pralus will be launching tree new Venezuela bars: a Chuao, Cuyauga and a Porcelana as well!
I’m also having sales reps from Domori on the agenda, a great brand (isn’t it KüchenLatein? ;-) ) with a distinctive signature taste that also has a reworked series of Criollo to be discovered, next to so many other things.
Then there is Clay Gordon from the US, both of us want to meet each other so I hope all goes well, and maybe he can even smuggle some US bars over here (mmmm)… I’m also tweeting back and forth with Genaro from the Salon du Chocolat, and who knows I’ll bump into Carol “ParisBreakfast” Gillot, who I got to know through Flickr, is a waterpainting artist and crazy on chocolate!
And it’s not only the 15th anniversary of the Salon, this year also hosts the biennial Salon du Chocolat Professionel, where I’d love to take a peek as well. I’m really curious how in these economic times the fair will do, as Karen from TheNibble pointed out… Stay tuned on Choqoa.com!

PS: and for those in the UK, or not making it to Paris, there’s also the London Chocolate Week :) (also on Twitter)

Choqoa goes tasting in London, meeting up in Paris next

by on September 10, 2009 in On Chocolate & Cacao, Trips

It’s going to be exciting times the coming weeks with 2 special chocolate events marked in my agenda. While I’m putting all the pieces of the Choqoa puzzle together, these 2 activities will surely bring a lot of further inspiration.

First of all I’m going to London end of the month to participate in a chocolate tasting event, organised by the people behind SeventyPercent.com. It is one of my favorite websites about cacao, with a great forum that had me learn a lot. Editor Martin Christy is also founding member of the UK Academy of Chocolate (and just like me he’s also working in the Web industry), so I’m looking forward to be in good company :)

Salon du Chocolat > http://www.salonduchocolat.fr/

Second milestone event will be the 2009 Salon du Chocolat in Paris. One year ago, going to this Mekka for chocolate lovers made me really start exploring how I could turn my passion into a passion driven ‘business’. One year later, I’m going again, but with a different attitude, and much more knowledge and focused plans.
My friends from Callebaut will also be there, I’m looking forward to confirm contacts I’m currently networking with, and maybe my Choqoa Twitter activity even can also result in a TweetUp at the Salon. The only question will be wether US brands will fly over too…

A lot of stories to bring back soon, for sure, and more than probably it will be a very yummy edible story for a lot of you too!

Feel free to follow me on Twitter.com/Choqoa too and join the Choqoa Facebook FanPage.

The Paris Collection

The Paris Collection

by on November 5, 2008 in Trips

Here is a small preview on all the bars I collected at the Salon du Chocolat 2008 in Paris. It was a great trip with lots of learnings. And with the “Original Introduction Pack” the overall total of bars I bought surpassed the magical One Hundred! I’m finalizing the little brochure and label on the packing, and I think it looks good so you will get your samplers soon.

The Paris Collection

Domori and Pralus came out with a whole new and fresh packaging design. Unfortunately, several brands I was looking forward to were not present or on sale at the fair at all: Amedei, Valrhona, and none of the US ones I hoped to catch a glimpse of, and Coppeneur only showcasing their hot chocolate products.
Then again, in the excitement of the action I forgot or overlooked to get Maglio and other small brands in my bag. Bonnat however just launched 3 new Porcelana based bars I found inspiring. The samples we tasted were very interesting, so I bought all of these 7€ priced bars.

Overall I returned with a lot of the good ol’ know brands, and little new. But I’m going to Cologne soon to discover a new shop with a unique offering. I’ll be posting more “Paris Collection” pictures soon!

Passion 2.0 in Paris, at the Salon du Chocolat

Passion 2.0 in Paris, at the Salon du Chocolat

by on November 1, 2008 in Trips

“Il est 5 heures Paris s’éveille, je n’ai pas sommeil”. It was precisely 5 AM in hometown Antwerp too when my alarm went off, timing was early but I was rise and shine even before my ringer went off. The timing and famous song of Jacques Dutronc couldn’t be more symbolic: going to the Salon in Paris was not only about this infamous chocolate fair itself, it was going back to the city that had me discover and experience the amazing world of pure dark chocolate bars, and moreover the art and craftsmanship required with chocolatiers. Heading back to Paris 10 years after this unforgettable moment, it seems my passion is ready to be unfolded and developed on a new level.

So we are back from Paris and here are some first impressions from this trip to a festive fair, so many things we encountered but only so few means to share this olfactory trip with you!

Paris Salon du Chocolat 2008

Together with Alison, an American friend passionate by food, we jumped on the Thalys to arrive at the fair precisely at 10.AM when doors went open. Friendly Noémie from Zaabär got me a complimentary entrance, and this was actually the first time we met in real, after many messages through FaceBook. Early birds, we had all the time and space to start exploring the fair, and decided to first make a helicopter view tour of the Salon, and keep the shopping and business networking in the afternoon.

The fair was more consumer oriented than we’d expected, however this also meant that every participant was doing its utmost best to showcase their chocolate pies and cacao sweets, show off pralines and bars, and this all in attracting stands and seducing environments. Soon we had checked the very chique boot of Michel Cluizel evoking a lot of craftsmanship, the presence of the Compagnia del Cioccolato representing Domori, Maglio and others, Pralus breathing passion, others went for fashion, spotted perfectionist haute couture chocolatiers from Tokyo, and enjoyed watching the Barry Callebaut World Chocolate Masters preparing wonderful sculptures.

In the afternoon we started our “Let’s get serious”-tour and got started shopping not only for ourselves, but also for the “Original Introduction Sampler” that I proposed to friends and fans. More details on that soon!
The numbers of bars and grams raised at record speed now, getting some dozens of bars at many famous and sought-after brands. I noticed correctly that both Domori and Pralus redesigned their packaging, and reworked their offerings. And armed with that and other knowledge, we also took the time to talk a lot about our passion with the people behind those brands, and we were really inspired by many of them. I gathered great stories, a glimp of a real view behind both passion and philosophy of the different ‘cacaofèvier’s’ and chocophiles.

Time swiftly passed by, our bags started groaning and our backs were moaning, but all the enthusiast people we met, the stories they shared, and the passion we all spread, gave us wings. To finish the day I had a short sniff of cacao and mint with Dominique Persoone from The Chocolate Line, which is a weird experience but you should try yourself too. And from Cluizel I got some original cacao beans of each of his plantations.

An exhausting but wonderful, inspiring and above all encouraging day to move on with Choqoa.com.

Taking your orders for the Salon du Chocolat!

by on October 28, 2008 in Marketing, Trips

So you’ve been reading about all this wonderful new types of dark chocolate that you’ve never heard of? Until exploring this blog you couldn’t image dark chocolate would taste like strawberries, citrus, leather and wood? My visit to the Salon du Chocolat may be an opportunity for you to get some for yourself!

I’m open to be your delivery boy and bar dealer, for those interested in trying some of the origin chocolate that I’ve been blogging about since last month. For two friends I’m already working out a kind of “Original Introduction Sampler”, a set of 4-6 bars that may cost you like somewhere between 20-30 €.
I presume that on the 12.000m² you sure have some shopping corners. I will select some ‘accessible’ bars and a few more ‘challenging’ ones, reflecting what I learned in other tastings I had in the past weeks. You will also get some tips on best tasting practices from me, In return I challenge you to definitely share with me what you did (not) appreciate in the various bars!

Please let me know if you are interested in getting your “Original Introduction Sampler” before tomorrow evening. Mail me through my Facebook profile, or use the contact form or email me on :> choqoa {at} gmail dot com.

I’m warmheartedly looking forward to get your orders!