La Bonbonnière chocolate factory, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, is inaugurating L'École du Chocolat on the first floor of its arcade in the center of Geneva in early November 2022.
L'École du Chocolat, open all year round, offers a wide range of workshops and services for chocolate lovers of all ages and professionals.
A unique place to introduce young and old to the art of chocolate making
In a modern laboratory where everything has been designed for young and old to live an immersive experience in the Swiss artisanal chocolate industry, L'École du Chocolat offers workshops during which participants discover the history of chocolate, taste La Bonbonnière's creations and make their own chocolates.
By booking online for a 1 to 2 hour workshop or by privatizing the space for a personalized experience (team buildings, birthdays, afterworks, etc.), apprentice chocolatiers are guided throughout the process by professionals to make chocolate cards, bars, rochers or other thematic chocolate creations according to the seasons, for example a marmite before the Escalade festival.
Once a month, an afterwork is also organized to spend a pleasant moment tasting and making chocolate, while relaxing around a drink.
"In the Chocolate School program, we have workshops for families, for adults and for children, everyone can find the chocolate experience that suits them and this throughout the year. We are looking forward to introducing the Geneva public as well as chocolate lovers visiting Geneva to the making of artisanal chocolate" says Cédric Rahm, co-director of La Bonbonnière.
The workshops are given in French, but can be conducted in English or translated into another language on request by an interpreter. For the administrative and logistical management of these workshops, La Bonbonnière has chosen to rely on Illico Travel & Business Services, a partner that is used to highlighting Geneva's history and know-how, notably through personalized guided tours of Geneva.
A Chocolate School to remedy the lack of training in Switzerland
Although Switzerland is known for its chocolate, there is no official training to become a chocolatier. Indeed, the CFC Baker-Pastry Chef-Confiseur allows to have some notions by evoking some basics of chocolate making, but there is no dedicated course. In order to offer professionals the opportunity to acquire new skills, L'École du Chocolat offers practical training to fill this gap. A person who has worked all his life in a bakery or a young person who has just passed his CFC will be able to follow courses to learn in more detail the essential knowledge of the chocolate profession such as the tempering of chocolate, the making of ganaches and pralines or the technique of molding. Big names in the chocolate industry will also be invited for demonstrations and classes in order to offer professionals the opportunity to complete this instruction with specific techniques. An experience that will allow them to apply with more confidence for positions in the chocolate industry.
"Our chocolate factory is more than 100 years old, and while there are machines in some chocolate factories today to replace manual work, in an artisanal chocolate factory like La Bonbonnière, most of our products are made by hand as they were done decades ago. By proposing to transmit our know-how from craftsmen to professionals, we want to preserve the Swiss chocolate heritage", says Yvan Loubet, co-manager of La Bonbonnière.
The realization of a dream for Yvan Loubet and Cédric Rahm, directors of La Bonbonnière
Awarded a few days ago for their creation at the Rallye du Chocolat (1st prize from the Jury and 1st prize from the public, course B), Cédric Rahm and Yvan Loubet, chocolate chefs and managers of La Bonbonnière, work with passion and have no shortage of ideas under their hats to pass it on. When they took over La Bonbonnière in 2017 and opened the first Chocolate Bar (more than thirty hot chocolates from different origins) in the center of Geneva, they already realized the potential of making the upstairs of the establishment "a place to teach everyone how to make their own chocolate" .
"We have long recognized the interest of chocolate lovers in understanding how their favorite delicacy is created and in being able to experiment with it themselves. The smell of melting chocolate, the sight of cocoa being transformed, the first flavors on the palate, the pleasure of designing with one's hands... Making chocolate is a fabulous experience that awakens all the senses that we are proud to be able to share through the Chocolate School", explains Cédric Rahm. "With more than 400 identifiable aromatic notes, chocolate is an exciting dish and part of the Geneva identity. Geneva is known throughout the world for its chocolate, but no place of this magnitude existed in the center of Geneva, we are very happy to make this dream come true and to complete Geneva's offer as a gourmet destination" adds Yvan Loubet.
About La Bonbonnière
Cédric Rahm and Yvan Loubet fell into the chocolate pot at an early age, and more than anything, they love to share their passion with young and old. They took over the Chocolaterie La Bonbonnière at the end of 2017, where they had been working as chocolatiers for 15 years. Their shared wish: to perpetuate history while breathing a wind of modernity into the world of Geneva chocolate. At the beginning of 2018, Cédric Rahm and Yvan Loubet opened La Fabrique in Chêne-Bourg, a small and friendly store where you can watch them work. At the same time, they move the Geneva Chocolate Factory from Rue de Rive to Rue Pierre Fatio in order to have a larger place to create "Le Bar à Chocolat". Thus they can offer the original experience they have imagined: a journey of flavors through a menu of about thirty Grands Crus hot chocolates, accompanied by succulent pastries (including a vegan and gluten-free range) and tastings of pralines and ganaches. In 2020, they will partner with the company Aeschbach to offer a Tea-Room concept "Le Patio by La Bonbonnière" in the inner courtyard of the shoe store on rue du marché in Geneva. Then, in March 2021, they open a new Boutique - Bar à Chocolat in Geneva, at 62 rue du Stand.
In November 2022, they inaugurate "L'École du Chocolat" in the center of Geneva.
Ecole du Chocolat
www.labonbonniere.ch
Program
La Bonbonnière's social networks: Facebook - Instagram
LA BONBONNIÈRE GENÈVE
Rue Pierre Fatio 15 & Rue du Stand 62
1204 Genève
022 311 61 96
LA FABRIQUE (lab)
Rue de Genève 14
1225 Chêne Bourg
022 736 33 95
