5 years ago, I packed my bags to go to Brussels to embark on a new adventure: making my own chocolate, from the cocoa bean to the bar. For this, I wanted to learn as best I could, both in terms of the manufacturing process and in terms of tasting.

I am graduated at the CERIA in chocolate making, at Ecole Chocolat Canada in bean to bar making and at the IICCT (International Institute of Cacao and Chocolate) in chocolate tasting. I have done my training practices at Laurent Gerbaud’s (chocolate maker) and Mario Vandeneede’s (bean to bar chocolate maker) places. Now it’s my turn to pass on my knowledge to those around me through my workshops and my products.

I work with trusty, transparent and reliable supplier as Silva cacao, Uncommon cacao and Crafting markets to buy my cacao beans at a fairer price and with a total traceability of the supply chain. I work alone with the valuable support of my friends and family, and other craft bean to bar chocolate makers.

By making my own chocolate, I decide how to roast the cacao beans, which gives my personal touch to the final product. I want to highlight the diversity of cacao and the unique character of each origin. I want to make people around me (re)discover cacao through my products, and enhance the upstream work of the planters.

For all my dark chocolates, I only use 2 ingredients: sugar and cacao beans. I want to be as faithful as possible to the aromatic profile and the natural properties of each cacao origin. I work with small bean to bar equipment for some tasks such as winnowing and tempering and I do all the steps by myself: selecting the beans, roasting in a convection oven, winnowing, grinding in my 2 table top melangers of 2,5kgs and one melanger of 5kgs, tempering (some origins by hand because they are too viscous to pour in the tempering machine and I do not add any cacao butter), molding, unmolding, packing and delivering.

What we often don’t see for small craft bean to bar maker, is that in addition to chocolate making I also have to do the marketing, to post on the social medias, to do the accounting, and everything that is linked to my small business! For the moment, I still have to work 3 days a week to be financially sustainable. A passionating journey with loads of work but also so much reward!