Voiron, about 25 kilometres northwest of Grenoble, is home to the Chocolatiers Bonnat. Their chocolates enjoy an outstanding reputation based on consistent positions, valued experience and genuine enthusiasm. The remarkably approach goes back to the year 1884 and founder Felix Bonnat, the first chocolatier in the world to produce plantation chocolates separated by origin. Great-grandson Stéphane Bonnat continues to uphold this tradition to this day. He cultivates a philosophy one finds otherwise in quality-oriented viticulture. Comparable with the aspects giving a wine its distinct taste, there are also significant differences between cocoa cultivars originating from growing regions, bean varieties, local characteristics of the plantation, and the aromas inherent in the beans. Accomplishing a high recognition value of these properties in the respective chocolate requires scrutiny in the choice of the ingredients: Bonnat was one of the first chocolatiers to dispense with soy lecithin. At Voiron, they use only cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar – and some milk powder for the milk chocolates.

Bonnat works “from bean to bar”: They deliberately take all the steps from the raw cacao bean to the ready-to-send chocolate bar into their own hands. For this reason, they maintain direct and close contact with small plantations (3-10 hectares of land) in the respective country of origin. The selected plantations grow cocoa without pesticides, fertilizers, or other chemical aids and use water from the surrounding area for irrigating the cocoa plants. The French Chocolatiers take care of the import and transportation of the beans. And they expertly roast the beans tapping into the up to 400 flavours the cocoa seeds contain – a process that requires a delicate touch. Roughly speaking, the dry-roasting is followed by grinding and blending. Finally, the resulting mass undergoes a prolonged conching process. The sensitive details of the overall processing remain the family’s secret. Yet, you will taste the chocolatiers’ joy in their profession and their fulfilled aspirations for the perfect chocolate in every piece. Bonnat’s chocolates come with a smooth bite and a fabulous aroma and are, in our opinion, incomparably good.