Mr Franzoni, how does one become a producer of chocolate?
Like in stories with a happy ending, everything happened by chance. I had a degree in economics and worked as a company consultant in a completely different field. And, of course, I was dissatisfied. One day I left for Venezuela on business and a friend of mine took me to a cocoa plantation. That’s where I fell in love! I thought that it would be a real challenge to try and bring together gourmets and chocolate, and so in 1994 I began to work on this idea. I made a feasibility study and realised that the market might be interested. I was also lucky because right from the beginning I had access to top quality raw materials – Venezuelan cocoa. This allowed me to concentrate above all on perfecting technical aspects. First I worked with contractors, and then I set up shop on my own, finding a network of agents that helped me to develop the business. And now here I am. I realise that both definitions may seem reductive, but do you feel more of a craftsman or a manufacturer of chocolate? Fr
