Meet Anne Sellmer of Cōchu Chocolatier in Calgary

Anne Sellmer making chocolate photo credit Janet Pliszka

Anne Sellmer opened Cōchu Chocolatier in 2017 and quickly won accolades and awards in chocolate competitions. A local favorite in Calgary, she was a natural choice to participate in the Terroir Symposium that took place in Calgary September of 2022. In June of 2022 Sellmer opened her jewel box retail shop in Calgary’s East Village, across from the Calgary Public Library. We spoke with Sellmer to learn about her chocolate journey.

What drew you to chocolate?

As a mom of three boys, I was always trying to teach them to find and follow their passion. When the time came for me to return to the workforce, my youngest son asked me if I was doing what I was passionate about. I realized that I wasn’t and that I could start something new, even though I was nearing 40. I started exploring what path would bring out the most passion in me.

I knew if I chose a new path, it would involve food and thought perhaps it was something to do with creating elaborate cakes and desserts, which I enjoyed at the time. I took a chocolate course to advance my pastry skills, and completely fell in love. To this day, my happy place is working with chocolate. For me, it is the perfect balance of food, art, and science.

Who are your chocolate teachers, mentors or heroes?

The chefs and chocolatiers I admire the most are Pierre Herme and Sadaharu Aoki for the way they structure their flavours, and Amaury Guichon for his creativity and skill with chocolate sculptures (Editor’s note: learn more about Amaury Guichon’s in our review of his Netflix series, School of Chocolate.)

Chocolate covered sponge toffee from Cōchu

Which confections are your top sellers?

Our bonbons, candy bark and all varieties of our sponge toffee are our most popular items.

Which confection(s) are you most proud of?

I am probably most proud of our Pecan Pie bar because it placed a gold medal at both world final chocolate competitions. Other than that, I am proud of the unusual flavour pairings that morphed into delicious and interesting combinations, such as the Blood Orange & Balsamic Caramel, the Black Licorice & Grapefruit bar or the Sesame Togarashi bar (coming soon).

Where does your inspiration for flavors come from?

I am constantly thinking about food and things I want to eat! I regularly find inspiration from new and interesting flavors, as well as those traditional and classic ones.

Can you tell me about some of the local purveyors you work with?

We are fortunate to have a variety of fantastic local producers and an exceptionally positive and supportive chef/restaurateur community. We have a number of bonbons with Eau Claire Distillery spirits. In fact, they give us the cherries used to distill their cherry gin, we purée them and incorporate them in our Cherry Gin bonbons. We use local coffee roaster Phil & Sebastian in a variety of bonbons, bars and specialty items. The honey we use in our bonbonsis produced by local producer dr!zzle honey and we also use other small producers such as Porter’s Tonic for our gin and tonic bonbon. Chocolate is a great medium for showcasing a variety of ingredients!

Where does your chocolate come from and any favorite brands?

There are so many amazing chocolate producers available, which makes it fun to pair flavors with chocolates from around the world. In our production we use chocolate from Valrhona, Lindt, Cacao Barry, Republica del Cacao and Belcolade. I also really love chocolate made by Qantu and Amano makes some amazing chocolate from Papua New Guinea.

The name of your company was inspired by your sons, how else are they involved?

All three of the boys help out part-time in different capacities in our shop and kitchen. Often when guests come into our store, one of the boys will be there to welcome and help them. Sometimes my mother and mother-in-law lend a hand and we end up having 3 generations of our family working away together. I love it!

What trends are you seeing in chocolate? Do you pay attention to trends?

There are some trends I do pay attention to and the one that is most important to me is the movement towards sustainably produced and harvested cacao. Thankfully, this movement continues to grow as increasing numbers of people are starting to pay attention to where their chocolate is sourced.

Visit the flagship location:

Cōchu

429 8 Ave SE

Calgary, AB