Bonnat is story of a family’s long love affair with chocolate. It is a story which began back in 1884 when Félix Bonnat established his premises at number 8, cours Sénozan in Voiron (Isère region).

And in 1956 Raymond Bonnat finally took over the firm. After studying business, he toured France, studied at the School of Chocolatiers in Basel, completed the COBA School and finally did a tour of Switzerland. He got married in 1959 and his wife Nicole, the daughter of well-known hoteliers in the region, helped him to run the business. Two of their four children, Cécile and Stéphane from the fourth generation, perpetuate the high quality tradition which has always formed the basis of the family business.

The shop in Voiron is a place of pilgrimage for unconditional Bonnat lovers where they are greeted by Nicole Bonnat and her daughter Cécile

In 1892, Clementine and Auguste Rouzand the daughter of a chocolate maker and son of a controller of mines decided to purchase a small chocolate shop in the thermal resort town of Royat, France. Auguste soon found he had a passion for chocolate.
 
“If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you.”

Marquise de Sevigne, February 11, 1677

In 1988 Monsieur Pralus started his son on the mission to perpetuate the family's tradition. After training with his father, Francois went to study with several French pastry chefs, among others the world famous Bernachon in Lyon. This is when Francois decided to open a facility dedicated entirely to the artisan production of his own fine chocolates, from bean to bar.

François Pralus is counted with the small number of the rare chocolate craftsmen - they are three in France! - who venerate the Quetzalcoatl god by manufacturing their own chocolate directly from beans of their own choosing. Why you might ask; to find the quintessence of the flavor characteristics in each vairiety and to develop original blends that demonstrate the magical possibilites of chocolate. All of this cocoa alchemy is worked out and developed in the Chocolate Laboratory which he created in 1991.

François works with the best available beans of each variety from all over the world, Criollo, Trinitario and Forastero, believeing that each has something special to offer. No less than eighteen kinds of beans are imported from Central America, South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific for his chocolate. Some of his blends reach a content of cocoa of 80%. His Pyramide du Tropiques is a true work of art - 10 colorfully wrapped bars, each made with different beans gathered from around the world.

Based in France in the south of Normandy and founded in 1948, Michel Cluizel remain a family business and are one the largest independent producers of fine chocolate from the bean to the finished bar.

Cluizel have connections with plantations all around the world, including Sumatra, Venezuela, Ghana, Java, and the Ivory Coast. From these they blend the chocolate used in their bars and confections.

Michel Cluizel is a stout defender of quality chocolate, declining to use soya lecithin at all in their chocolate and recently launched their 'Ingrédients Noble' label to highlight the quality of cocoa, sugar and vanilla used.

Famous with chefs the world over, Valrhona formerly known as La Chocolaterie de Vivarais - was founded by M. Guironnet, a pastry chef from the Rhône valley in 1924. Known in the industry as a supplier of high quality raw chocolate for chocolatiers they took the name Valrhona (from ‘valley’ and ‘Rhône’ in the early 1950s.

Valrhona pioneered the production of high quality chocolate from carefully controlled sources and started the trend of featuring the percentage of the cocoa solids in chocolate. With the introduction of their ‘grand cru’ chocolates in the eighties they led the way towards chocolate from known origins and quality beans.

Valrhona created the “Grand Crus” in 1984 and the “Chocolates du Domaine” in 1999. The chocolate “grand crus” are created from beans issued from a given geographic region but from different plantations: Guanaja, Caraibe and Manjari.
The “Chocolates du Domaine” correspond to a single harvest and come from selected lot of a given plantation where the quality of the beans is highly exceptional. They carry the name of the domain and vintage of their harvest.

L'artisan du Chocolat products are created by hand in Atelier near London. The guiding philosophy is to source the finest natural raw ingredients, use artisan rather than mass production techniques and thoroughly research taste and textures to create extraordinary chocolates. The source for the chocolate are the most flavourful cocoa beans. Cocoa is an agricultural product and therefore its taste and flavour characteristics will depend on the type of tree that it comes from, the climate and soil of the plantation where it is grown and the dedication of the farmers who grow it.
 

From the heartland of Colombia, where the best coffee grows, comes also one of the finest cacao in world. Chocolate Santander, the only single origin chocolate produced in Colombia and one of South America's most special, takes its name from the State of Santander, Eastern Colombia

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker was founded by long-time friends Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger to produce chocolate of the highest quality from the finest cacao beans.
In 1997, we made our first batch in the South San Francisco factory using vintage European equipment. It was delicious (even Julia Child loved it), but it took a series of further experiments before we could consistently make wonderful chocolate.

The secrets of our pure dark chocolate lie in careful attention to bean selection, blending, roasting, and conching, as well as the special care of small-batch processing.

The history at Amedei is none other than this: this history of an immense dedication, the spirit of research and enthusiasm in two siblings: Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri. Run by Alessio, with his sister Cecilia as master chocolate maker, they produce a small range of specialist chocolate.

Amedei develops a close relationships with plantations and farmers to ensure the quality of the beans they use is fully assured and develop their chocolates through enthusiastic research and a dedication to their cause. A company to watch. Amedei are a new company with serious ambitions towards becoming a major force in the world of fine chocolate.

Domori have a strong, poetic vision about fine chocolate. They believe in quality of taste, information for the consumer, protecting and promoting the biodiversity of the cacao beans and innovation in new ways of presenting chocolate. Their passion is summed up by their motto 'Cacao Cult' - they take chocolate very seriously!

Fortunately their products back up this passion - they produce one of the finest and most interesting ranges of varietal chocolate around, presented in a fresh and modern way. Un-fortunately their chocolate is little known in the English speaking world and very hard to find, though we hope this will change in the near future.

Domori were founded in 1996 after three years of travel in Central and South America in search of flavour cacao beans. Since that time they have been producing a growing range of unique origin and blend chocolates, including their award winning Porcelana.

Since 1969 the Slitti family has been known for excellence in coffee and when in 1988 Andrea started creating exceptional chocolates the worldwide market learned what truly great chocolate is. Lattenerot recent creation, is the "new milk chocolate".

Andrea Slitti wrote in one of his Press Releases: " I became Aware of the difficulties that lovers of Milk Chocolate had in declaring their personal taste as compared to lovers of Dark Chocolate. From that moment on, I had the idea to create "Lattenero", the New Milk Chocolate that encompasses all the aromatic components of cocoa. This new line of chocolate, can be found in 45%, 51%, 62% and 70%, will enable all to reach a happy medium of taste, also pleasing the lovers of dark chocolate"

At the outset, the Swiss chocolate pioneers had to struggle hard for their subsequent sweet success. When, in the second half of the 18th century, natives of Yal Blenio in the Tessin popularised chocolate in this country, too, nobody dreamt that, just a few decades later, a handful of Swiss would lay the foundations of the world-wide reputation of our chocolate industry. Neither our geographical position nor the customs and habits of our forefathers argured well for the success of such a venture. However disunited the efforts of the Swiss chcolate pioneers may have been, they were firmly united by a single purpose - to improve the quality of the chocolate. Only in this way could they keep abreast of the large foreign manufacturers who had already made a name for themselves throughout the world. The technical genius of these pioneers seems to have been almost inexhaustible; their inventive skill showed itself not only in the development of ever more efficient machinery, but also in their constantly more refined recipes for the manufacture of chocolate.

Many of the names which make our mouths water when we see them as well known trade marks on the boxes of all the best chocolates, recall to our memories the work and the lasting achievements of the pioneers of Swiss Chocolate. From small beginnings, for the most part, they laid the foundation stones of concerns which uphold the reputation of Swiss chocolates right up to the present day.

Terra Nostra tm ("Our Earth" in Latin) Certified Organic chocolates are made from the highest quality raw materials which have been organically grown, harvested, and professionally processed. This chocolate is created to the world’s highest standards, ensuring the chocolate bar you now hold delivers its robust & intense earthly cacao taste. Quite possibly the best chocolate you've ever had.

Art Historian Erika Fowler-Decatur founded Ithaca Fine Chocolates with her husband, Michael Decatur. The couple, originally from Endwell, NY, moved from San Francisco, CA, to Ithaca, NY, in March 2001, to raise their son near family. Fowler-Decatur, a former museum director and art history instructor, intended to start her own art gallery in Ithaca. That plan evolved into Art Bars late one night while she was contemplating the issue of how to provide contemporary artists with broader exposure.

Café-Tasse has always drawn its inspiration from two sources; our Belgian dedication to create the perfect chocolate and our desire to introduce you to the tradition of enjoying chocolate while sipping coffee... an exquisite combination, wrapped in innovative ways for a revolutionary concept perceived instantly by our "aficionados".

Café-Tasse chocolates have become a must for the true espresso and chocolate places trying to recreate this romantic european atmosphere.

Callebaut has become a household name for baking chocolate and is most commonly used as the basis for most Belgian Chocolates. In 1996, this Belgian chocolate couverture producer and the French Cacao Barry joined forces to create a progressive and powerful new group called Barry Callebaut. Both companies have enjoyed an excellent reputation as reliable suppliers of high-quality products, and as solid partners for thousands of craftsmen and manufacturers in the food industry.

Callebaut selects the finest cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Brazil, Mexico and Ghana. With attention to detail and superior quality, Callebaut makes a superior baking chocolate and is characterized by its sweet, yet strong Belgian chocolate couverture taste platform.

Provence based chocolatier, making award winning chocolate since 1994

Cavalier is a young and dynamic family company, founded in April 1996 and situated in the heart of Flanders, between the historical cities of Ghent and Bruges. Cavalier is market leader in the niche market of dietetic chocolates. Convinced about the consumer's demand for healthier and still delicious chocolates, Cavalier has acquired the roduct knowledge and technical know-how to achieve this. Innovation is still very important to Cavalier, and continuously the company is esearching and testing the newest ingredients, to create even healthier products as delicious as the actual ones.

Its full flavor comes from a delicate balance of toasted cocoa. But our cocoa isn't over-roasted to disguise the flavor; rather it's lightly toasted to enhance the character of the cocoa.

The chocolate is finely ground and extra cocoa butter is added to create a texture as smooth as butter. The cocoa butter and sugar are balanced to produce a chocolate that melts quickly but is not overly sweet or waxy.

In short, Chocolove is a balanced, full-bodied chocolate. This chocolate is sure to satisfy the most demanding chocolate lover.

CHOCOVIC is located near Barcelona , where a small family business, CHOCOLATES ARUMI was born in 1872. In 1977, the national group NEDERLAND bought the company, which was thereafter called CHOCOVIC. They are leaders in couverture in Spain and have recently introduced three exiting chocolates of unique origin for the chocolate connoisseurs.

Chocovic has also created AULA CHOCOVIC  in 1995, the first school specialised in chocolate in Spain and therefore an important reference point for professional training in bakery, restaurants and ice creams.

Côte D'Or is one of the oldest chocolate bar trademarks, and its rich history has left a legacy of delicious Belgian chocolate bars in many varieties. Charles Neuhaus, a traditional Belgian chocolate-maker who opened a chocolate and sweet factory in 1870, created and registered the Côte d'Or brand on April 24th, 1883.

The brand was named after the "Gold Coast" (present-day Ghana) where he selected a portion of his cocoa beans. In 1898, the factory became the property of Mr. and Mrs. Léopold Bieswal, who bought it for their son, Joseph. The year 1899 marked the start of a fruitful cooperation between the Joseph Bieswal Co. and S.A. Lambert Michiels. It was not until July 16th, 1906 that they founded S.A. Alimenta, under the Côte d'Or trademark.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, with colonial expansion, the Belgians discovered new horizons as well as new tastes. They became wild enthusiasts of the "elephant chocolate", which has been famous ever since. The elephant, along with the palm tree and the three pyramids, has become the symbol of the Côte d'Or brand. A powerful symbol, as it is still with us today

Dagoba Organic Chocolate was founded in 2000 by Founding Alchemist, Frederick Schilling.

The Mission: to create the purest, most exquisite chocolate products available by melding ancient principles and modern methods, offer new and exotic products to the chocolate market and most importantly, help create a better world through organic/sustainable agriculture, ethical trading and eco-friendly manufacturing practices.

This has been accomplished by making premium organic chocolate and infusing it with exotic inclusions to enhance the already divine qualities of chocolate. Carefully selecting these ingredients and blends create what Dagoba is known for: Premium Hand Crafted Organic Chocolate in uncharted flavor landscapes for the palate. 

Dagoba uses local ingredients whenever possible. Inclusions are hand stirred into the chocolate before the molding process to add that extra human touch.  Dagoba creates our organic chocolate products in very small batches to ensure optimum quality and attentiveness. 

Cocoa has been grown in Ghana since the mid 19th Century. Cocoa was first exported at the end of the 19th century and between 1911 - 1976 Ghana was the world's leading producer, contributing between 30-40% of the world' s total output.

In order to combat the threat of the farmers losing out during the liberalisation of the cocoa market in 1993, a group of cocoa farmers came together to form a co-operative that would collect and sell its own cocoa for the member farmers' own benefit. Supported by Twin, they set up their own company to buy their cocoa and sell it on to the Government Cocoa Buying Board. The cocoa farmers' organisation was founded and named "Kuapa Kokoo" which in the local language, Twi, means "Good Cocoa Farmers Company". Their motto is "Pa Pa Paa" which means "the best of the best".

Michaël and Jean-François Poncelet say that chocolate runs in the family. Their father, a remarkable figure belonging to the great Belgian tradition, instilled in them a fascination for this outstanding product.

They made their minds up in 1989 to create the Dolfin company. Their idea was to draw on the original sources of chocolate, highlight its strengths and pure taste, whilst appealing to the discerning buying public and catering for the increasing demand for authenticity.

Always bearing in mind this craftsman's approach, forcing the tool to meet the demands of quality, rather than the other way around, the Poncelet brothers are perfectly happy with their decision. Sales are rising steadily, amounting to 220 tonnes in the year 2000, with 40% earmarked for the export market. Their top-of-the-range bars and Neapolitan chocolate squares are now on offer in prestigious emporiums such as Selfridges in London, La Grande Epicerie in Paris, the KDW in Berlin and the Sony Plaza in Tokyo.

For centuries, manufacturers of Swiss chocolate, French chocolate and Belgian chocolate, have blended varieties of cacao beans from various parts of the world. Only the best of these European chocolate makers select flavor grade beans, like the Venezuelan Criollo and Trinitario, to blend with the less flavorful and basic African beans.

While blending is a time-honored tradition, El Rey chooses not to blend and prefers to focus on the intrinsic qualities of select, single varieties of cacao and to use only 100% Venezuelan cacao – the most aromatic and flavorful in the world.

Established in 1929, Chocolates El Rey’s all natural chocolates are used by the chocolatier, the baker and the homemaker for everything from handmade candy to gifts.

El Rey is available to the consumer in retail chocolate formats and to the professional in wholesale chocolate formats.

One of Germany's top chocolatiers, Feodora, creates its natural chocolate with intense flavor by selecting choice cocoa beans that are twice rolled. Then, the chocolate undergoes a long 72-hour conching period for smoothness. Made with only natural ingredients, including real Bourbon Vanilla, these chocolates have no preservatives or coloring agents. Feodora's trademark connotes creamy, delicious richness! These chocolate bars allow you to indulge in your favorite Feodora chocolate.

For Giraudi confectioner’s, producing and working chocolate is more than an art - it's a family passion. It is a tasteful tradition now in the hands of grandson, Giacomino Boidi, one of the great chocolate chefs of .

Boidi personally seeks and selects the finest raw materials and produces the cocoa paste.

This is where their specialities are born: in addition to the bars made of the purest chocolate of a specific origin (up to 100% Venezuelan Crillo) and blended, there are also the giacometta, Gianduia spread, napolitains, mandrugnin, and the nugatelli filled with almonds and hazelnuts. Mandrugnin

... Craig Sams, founder of Whole Earth - the pioneering organic food company, and his wife, environment columnist for The Times and confirmed chocoholic, Josephine Fairley, made the world’s first organic chocolate. It was a high-quality, bittersweet dark chocolate bar, packed with 70% cocoa solids – enough to make chocolate fans sit up and take notice.

Green & Black’s have been pioneers in the organic and fairly traded chocolate field. Their chocolate is becoming more and more famous. Some people argue that the quality of their organic chocolate does not stand up to the best of the non-organic chocolates out there

Grenada Chocolate Company Ltd. was founded in 1999 with the idea of producing high quality Organic dark chocolate in Grenada using local cocoa. Our factory is nestled in lush cocoa groves in Grenada's pristine rainforest.

The fine dark chocolate has the wonderful complex flavor of Grenada's world famous fine-flavored organic cocoa beans, processed carefully in small batches. Producing chocolate right where the cocoa grows allows to do individual fermenting which gives a real advantage in creating the finest, most complex taste possible from the beans.

Today, Guittard is the last of the group of original family-owned food businesses that defined nineteenth century San Francisco. Guittard's newest product line—E. Guittard—is named to honor Gary's great-grandfather, Etienne, and reflects a return to the family's traditional French methods and original formulas. E. Guittard meets a niche in a growing market—the artisan foods market. After five years of testing several hundred small, handcrafted batches of varietal cacao bean blends, Gary announced the first of the E. Guittard line in May 2001, with additions to the line released in early 2002.

website: www.luker.com.co
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phone: (1) 3212 48 5283

CasaLuker has been a leading name in new world chocolate since José Jesús Isaza Jaramillo turned out the company’s first “pastilla” in the lush Andean highlands of Columbia’s Caldas Department in 1906. Today, CasaLuker draws on more than a century of experience in clean crop development and environmentally friendly land management with its educational farmers programm to produce a premium dark chocolate of exotic provenance and uncommon flavor: LUKER 1906.

The secret of LUKER 1906 begins with the beans.  The LUKER cocoa bean variety is 100% pure Colombian in origin.  Known as Trinitario, it is a hybrid variety derived from the “criollo” (or native) cocoa cultivated by the great Mesoamerican civilizations that invented chocolate (Forastero variety) and savored its pleasures long before the Europeans stumbled onto the scene.  Still grown today in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, and Columbia, criollo beans are the most prized in the world, and the source of its finest chocolate.  LUKER has used modern agricultural techniques to create a choice criollo-based cocoa variety that is not available anywhere else in the world. 

But it is not only the raw ingredients that make LUKER 1906 such a delight to the senses. LUKER’s cocoa beans are grown on thousands of small family farms in the fertile lowlands and foothills near the port city of Tumaco, on Columbia’s southwest coast next to the Pacific Ocean.  Shunning pesticides and chemical fertilizers, these small farmers have taken advantage of Tumaco’s tropical climate and rich soil to bring out the full flavor potential of the LUKER cocoa bean, with its beguiling marriage of fruit and floral tones, balanced again bracing sharp notes.

All this did not happen by accident.  As the saying goes, “Experience gives us what nature by itself cannot.”  CasaLuker has been a driving force to improve techniques and methods of cocoa cultivation in Columbia for decades.  In 1962, CafeLuker established the Luker Research and Educational Farm near the town of Palestina in central Columbia.  Perched at an altitude of more than 3,000 feet, Luker Farm is the only cocoa bean research center in all Columbia.  It provides support to Columbian crop growers, technicians, institutions and universities dedicated to the field of agronomy.  Its goal is to improve the productivity of the cocoa bean at the level of the Columbian grower and of the small private farms that cultivate cocoa traditionally.

Montezuma's Chocolates is fairly a new chocolate company based in Sussex, manufacturing in a small unit near Chichester and retailing out of stores in Duke St Brighton, East Street, Chichester and Touchwood Solihull.

Belgium has a chocolate making tradition as rich as its chocolate. So it comes as no surprise that the most recent innovations in chocolate come from a Belgium company. NEWTREE SA was founded in 2001 by Benoit de Bruyn, a biochemist with a passion for chocolate. 

Grown solely in Ecuador, "Arriba" is a special cocoa varietal with a perfumed floral scent. Its flavor is smooth, with a dominant jasmine note and nutty after-tones. In order to present you with the purest flavor of Arriba chocolate, there is no vanilla nor "covering" aroma or extra vegetable fat added to this bar - just the cocoa bean, carefully roasted and ground.

Schokinag is a privately owned company established in 1923. Since this date Schokinag has produced chocolate couvertures, cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Today Schokinag is one of Europe’s leading producers of bulk chocolate and cocoa powder supplying the biscuit, bakery, confectionery, ice cream and dairy industries. Our products are also available through wholesalers around the world who supply the many thousands of artisan bakers and professional pastry chefs.

As true chocolate makers, Theo Chocolates carefully steward the cacao (cocoa beans) through the process of roasting, blending and conching in order to coax out the distinctive flavor imparted by each unique growing region. Theois proud to be the first roaster of Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa beans and the only roaster of organic cocoa beans in the United States.

n 1881 Don Valeriano López Lloret takes up the profession of chocolate maker and starts the activity that will later give rise to the present day company.

After the Civil War and with the intention of giving new life to the company, Don Pedro López Mayor takes charge and forms a partnership with his brother, Don Valeriano López.

Weiss chocolate company was founded in 1882 in Saint-Etienne and has since endevoured to keep alive a more then a century old tradition. Since it's creation four generations have contributed to maintain and develop the tradition of high quality french chocolate.