Report ‘s spotlighted Bales on Chocolate! aired on Monday, Oct. 23, and re-run on Saturday, Oct. 28, a wanted to put a magnifying glass on some of the vices that are evinced in the world of Chocolate!
The question mark is not whether an artisan chocolatier makes his own chocolate, it emerged from the statements of Guido Gobino, a chocolatier, but it is a matter of fan talk. It is obvious that those who make this enormous effort would like their sacrifice to be more recognized. Moreover, Gobino absolutely sees his Professionalism recognized worldwide. The argument also applies to other companies in Italy that, with immense technical and financial sacrifices, process cocoa from beans and turn chocolate into valued specialties. The Amedei company has been roasting cocoa and processing its chocolate since the 1990s, with moments of very high media visibility, and today in the world of top cocoa producers Amedei turns out to be well-known and appreciated. Domori more or less in the late 1990s embarked on the same path, initially marketing and then producing a high-end chocolate! appreciated all over the world. On the other hand, there are firms that for years sometimes more than 100 have been proudly and highly successful in the market such as the
Majani
which has always followed its own philosophy on the quality of chocolate. Leone Pastilles that although their world is sugar, after a 20-year hiatus they are back to roasting cocoa. I really remember with pleasure a trip taken with Rag Monero to Brazil during a cocoa conference in Ilheus, his anecdotes and memories of the great era of Turin Chocolate! Turin-based Peyrano’s was one of the few that made it through the Great Depression unscathed that caused the demise of all chocolate firms in Turin, representing for ALL chocolatiers a kind of beacon to reach for. I admit it was Mr. Giorgio and Ms. Bruna who were real inspirations for me, a young aspiring chocolatier. Knowing that they were deciding the quality of their chocolate by choosing the cocoa beans was a miracle to me, and I can admit that they are the ones who gave me the impetus to embark on this never-ending journey toward the absolute determination of quality. To George and Bruna go my immense gratitude! I hope that my decision, mocked in the beginning and then become such that it is now an example followed by hundreds of chocolatiers and has become without fear of contradiction a real Fashion The Bean to bar!
The Universal Conca, a machine for processing Chocolate.
Roller refiner, best machine for refining chocolate
Small artisans who have taken up chocolate making are quite a few!
Some starting from liquor (cocoa beans already ground and made into a paste) others roasting cocoa and making their own Chocolate! With different success there are Guido Castagna, who uses a Biglie refining system, now advocating a method of his own that denounces some limitations but if the quality of the cocoa and the sequence is done well it can make the Difference. Then there is Mirko Della Vecchia who instead uses another technology the Conca Universale, which by the way is very fashionable especially in Spain and France, a method that I think is less orthodox but which the great French chocolatiers Michel Cluizel and Francois Pralus also use.
Going into the substance of Report’s report,
the real problem are those who mystify the work of the artisan. that is, they concentrate on other production, then buy chocolates or other specialties and declare urbi et orbi that they are produced by them with raw materials of extraordinary quality. While instead they unscrupulously market the products of others. Such behavior penalizes those who truly produce with sacrifice, and misleads the consumer who trusting the brand is willing to pay even much more recognizing the character or brand, an absolute value. But if he knew that that product is NOT made by him perhaps he would go elsewhere perhaps to a craftsman who specializes precisely in that specialty! Unfortunately the service took two famous brands as examples, but this practice instead is widespread! contract manufacturing is a widespread practice although there would be nothing wrong with it if the words produced at…. or by…. appeared on the packages for …. Being clear is mandatory! Otherwise you run into the crime of Fraud or Trade Fraud and this is punishable under criminal law!
In the Panettone, Colomba and Pandoro sectors, the Nas have for years been combing through all companies claiming to be manufacturers, to unveil and sanction all those attempts to defraud consumers where by buying an industrial panettone for a few € at the supermarket with only changing its paper with their own they magically transform a commercial product into an artisanal specialty. Separate discussion applies to complaints of plagiarism!
Project My Chocolate!
For a few years now, to help some ambitious colleagues, I have been on a very interesting path! I allow colleagues to take a three-day training course with me, during which I teach them ALL the Secrets of Chocolate, anecdotes about various cocoas, and during this course we produce 200 kg of Chocolate! Every chocolatier or confectioner has his or her original recipe, Codified and secretly registered, such a design allows the colleague to be able to claim that that is HIS Chocolate! Handcrafted and it pays to me, training, raw material and processing cost. Without investing hundreds of thousands to build a plant. This practice is developing, and every year more and more people are trying to elevate their work by standing out from the vastness of Artisan chocolate
A group of students who took the Chocolate Making course by Silvio Bessone
Do certifications still represent or rather have they ever represented absolute security of transparency and effectiveness?
I am now on my 140th intercontinental trip in search of cocoa, and I can assure you that I have never trusted anyone! In my travels I have often met representatives of the various organizations but not in the camps but in large convention centers, in suits and ties, magnifying their operatives. In the field, where they are really needed unfortunately I have never encountered any! I can say that I have seen it certified, and I can prove it in front of any TRIBUNAL that questionable characters were helped who, thanks to the contributions, traveled in limousines and supermega-mobiles, but in the field his peasants did not even have shoes to put on their feet. On the fact that something is absolutely needed, a pact that connects the two ends that is, the two weak links in the chain that are the producers and the consumers. These two categories, however, and the tam tam developed these days proves it, MUST remain in ignorance ber the good of the caste! Who is the caste? I would say that one only has to see those who point fingers at those who do correct information to be certain that there are twisted interests underneath sometimes repaid only by a friendship on facebbok.
Regarding my in-depth thinking on this issue I refer you to my FIVE project but in the coming days I will go into more detail on this and those who want to join can do so, it is a solidarity pact, a short link where those who produce go in close contact with those who consume. Without too many people speculating on it.
In Conclusion, I would like to appeal to all those journalists, bloggers or chocolate enthusiasts not to shift the focus of the service! Artisans can do as they see fit, starting with commercial choices of better or worse quality but be fair in their labels! Whether they use chocolate or surrogates, whether they make their own or buy, whether they roast cocoa or buy it, and above all, it is suggested to everyone to do this job ONLY if you are really MOTIVATED!
Silvio Bessone
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