Belgian chocolatiers savour sweet taste of world domination
Some time ago, a uniformed US Air Force officer from Nato headquarters arrived at Passion Chocolat, a tiny chocolatier in a suburban Brussels street, and threw staff into a panic by asking for 40 boxes of chocolate.
Their efforts to accommodate him were rewarded a few weeks later with a thank-you note - from the White House.
The popularity of Passion Chocolat is just one example of how Belgian chocolate is taking the world by storm. Set up in her own home by a widow with four children, the shop has become such a symbol of success that the Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, took its chocolates on a trade mission to the US.
Another Brussels producer, Chocolatier Mary, boasts the US President as a customer. The shop displays a photo of George Bush lingering over its praline counter. Mary, which has no advertising budget or international profile to speak of, processes internet orders every week. Air-freight exports go to the US, South Korea, Japan and India, and have doubled for each of the past five years.
No nation lavishes as much time and attention on its chocolate as Belgium. Internationally known brands include Neuhaus and Godiva at the luxury end, and Leonidas and Guylian in the cheaper end. But, in Belgium, chocolate is more than business. It is part of the culture.
Read full article: The Independent, 30 March 2006
