État de Choc Celebrates Craft Chocolate with Bars & Confections

Maud Gaudreau proprietor of Etat de Choc

Most dictionaries define chocolatier as someone who makes or sells chocolate, two very different skills. But the Fine Chocolate Industry Association glossary defines chocolatier as “artisans who melt and temper chocolate couverture to re-form it into a bar, a bonbon, a confection, a truffle or another chocolate product” a chocolate maker by comparison is, “At the broadest level, any person or entity that transforms dry cacao into chocolate, regardless of method or volume.” Each craft requires different skills. When Maud Gaudreau launched État de Choc in Montreal in November 2018, she decided to honor both.

Located a few minutes from the famed Marché Jean Talon (Jean Talon Market), État de Choc appeals to customers with an airy design, welcoming staff, and extensive chocolate selection. In addition to carrying bean-to-bar chocolate from all over the world, the company crafts confections with custom- made couverture chocolate from Canadian makers.

The fusion of these elements owes nothing to chance. Instead, it’s a direct reflection of Maud’s vision for a culture celebrating “education, transparency, innovation, and pleasing the senses.” We spoke to Gaudreau to learn more.

You’ve worked as a strategic planning analyst for many years before launching État de Choc in 2018. How did (craft) chocolate enter your life?

I had a mandate in 2017 in a chocolate factory where I discovered bean-to-bar chocolate. [Back then,] I loved chocolate but knew nothing about it. I thought chocolatiers made their own chocolate. I didn’t even know what chocolate couverture was. At that place we used to sell some bean-to-bar [brands] like Qantu, Palette de Bine, Marou, and Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate.

I visited Elfi from Qantu who made me taste their different chocolates. It’s after she explained their work that I understood everything (lucky me that this introduction was made by one of the best if not the best in the world). I then met Christine from Palette de Bine and Daniel from Chocolats Monarque. [They were] passionate people. I wanted to continue in this wonderful world.

You have a business background, which must have equipped you with the skills to be an entrepreneur. What gap did you identify in the chocolate market that prompted you to start a chocolate company?

There was no chocolatier who used bean-to-bar chocolate to create their recipes, nor was there a place solely dedicated to cacao. Bean-to-bar was found in some delicatessens or cafés in Montreal, but none of these places had a large selection and could talk in depth about the makers, the beans, tasting notes, etc.

People already talked about third wave coffee and natural wines at the time, but not about bean-to-bar chocolate. There were shops specializing only in teas, spices, coffees… but none for chocolate, outside of the classic chocolatiers who worked with commercial couverture. I said it’s up to me to launch it.

The État de Choc storefront has clean, minimalistic lines reminiscent of a design shop. It’s quite a different feel from the jewelry look that fine chocolate shops typically have in cities like Paris. What inspired that choice?

I really like the minimalist style and the airy spaces. I was lucky to find a commercial space with very large windows. The goal has always been to have a clean design and decor to showcase the products and their packaging. I knew that the packaging of État de Choc products and bean-to-bar tablets would attract people. I also wanted the transparency to start at the shop, which is why when you’re in the boutique or just walking on the sidewalk, you can we see the chocolatiers working and the couverture chocolates on the shelves.

Your company’s known as a bean-to-bar retailer and a chocolatier, which is unusual for a chocolate shop. Why was it important to honor both bars and confections?

I wanted a place where we would find the best chocolates in the world. I’d like to have all the brands, but I have to make choices…To have a good idea of what is the bean-to-bar movement or what types of chocolates can be found in the world, you have to offer a wide variety of bars from different manufacturers and from different bean origins too. It made sense for me to offer bean-to-bar.

People have different tastes. I wanted to offer the best for all the tastes. I’ll give an example to illustrate, I have a lot of 100% [dark chocolate] lovers. They can buy a bar from Chocosol and another from Pump Street Chocolate at the same time. The same customer will tell me [their choice] depends on when they eat it and their mood. But I also have people who have a sweet tooth, some who like smoothy chocolate, others who think that the best is without cocoa butter added. You need [to carry] a variety.

On the other hand, for original creations and seasonal products, I wanted État de Choc to have its own unique offering. When someone who buys 2 bars from us, regardless of the brand, tells us “I don’t like the chocolate you offer,” I tell myself that this person doesn’t like chocolate. They have tried 2 of more than 300+ different bars.

It’s important for me to respect all tastes, chocolate is synonymous with pleasure, you like white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark, 100%, pralinés, it’s up to us to offer the best in all these categories.

État de Choc crafts fun inclusion bars using couverture chocolate from Canadian makers. In fact, you identify the name of the couverture maker and the origin of the cacao on the back of your wrappers. That level of transparency isn’t widespread among chocolatiers. How do customers react to the information? Do you use it as an educational tool?

It was well received but at first it could even be confusing. When people see the country of origin of the bean with our logo, they would say “oh this chocolate comes from Peru, you don’t make it”, we must explain that no, it’s the bean [that comes from that country].

On some occasions it may have harmed us because we received reactions like “ah you don’t even make your chocolate, what do you do then?” The distinction between a chocolatier and a chocolate-maker is not always easy to understand for some consumers. But transparency has always been and will remain important [to us]. And yes, when we explain all that, it allows us to educate people and make them aware of the importance of knowing where chocolate comes from.

État de Choc is known for its pocket-size bars, like the lemon nougatine milk chocolate bar and miso corn & chili pepper dark chocolate bars. What other products are currently popular?

Last November, we launched our Solides (Solids) collection, which is [a range of] giant 160g chocolate (bonbon) to share. We found that we couldn’t find a product of its kind on the market. We present them as a dessert to share and not a regular bar. [There are] 3 flavors: hazelnuts from Piedmont [in Italy] and dark chocolate, pistachios and dark maple chocolate, and caramel pecans and milk chocolate. These products are growing in popularity.

As we produced hazelnut and pistachio pralines to create these recipes, we decided to launch our Superstar spread collection to go with the Solides collection with no compromise on ingredient quality. We also revisited our Snackbar recipes to have the same quality of ingredients as our Solides. Our Snackbar Hazelnut and Pistachio bars are now extremely popular. Our pistachio spread sweetened with maple sugar has also created many afficionados.

I’ve heard from Daniel of Monarque that État de Choc de Choc commissions custom couverture chocolate for your confections. Can you give an example of what you use them for? Also, why is it important to have custom couvertures?

We work in 2 ways. Either we taste a [specific] chocolate that inspires a recipe to our head chocolatier Stéphanie, or we have a recipe in mind, and we look for THE right chocolate. It’s in the 2nd situation that we commission a custom couverture.

Let’s say we have a new recipe in mind. We discuss it with Daniel (for example), who suggests different bean origins to us of the origin of the beans. He sends samples so we can do tests. Then in subsequent tests, we choose the cacao percentage and cocoa butter content. For the dark chocolate hazelnut spread, we asked Daniel for an 80% [chocolate]. Tests with Honduras and Mexico [beans] were not conclusive and [we thought] Belize was the best for this recipe.

For our Lemon Nougatine bar, during the summer of 2021, we asked Qantu for a 45-50% gourmet milk chocolate. They presented us with 2 [different] 45% milk chocolate bars: one made with Chuncho and another with Gran Blanco. For the recipe, it was the Gran Blanco that offered what we were looking for (I love their Chuncho so much that I was surprised by our choice).

Another example: we wanted a milk chocolate very low in sugar. Chaleur B then a 63% milk chocolate for us, but with only 13% of sugar.

Last example with Sirene: [founder]Taylor [Kennedy] wanted to help farmers in Guatemala during the pandemic, so he asked if I wanted couverture so he could buy more beans from [Guatemalan farmers.] We asked him for a custom 55% dark milk chocolate, which is the one we still use for our crispy caramel card.

It’s a great privilege to be able to work in close collaboration with these chocolate makers. We try as much as possible, except for the classic recipes (i.e., with hazelnuts, caramel, fleur de sel, and coffee) not to create a recipe that they already produce. It may seem very easy from the outside, but it can take a long time to create new recipes with this process. But when we all sit down together and taste and all agree that we really like the last result, it’s very satisfying. Then [we work on] the packaging.

Any cool products your customers should look forward to?

We won’t have any new État de Choc products this year except for our special edition and creations of the moment bars, Solides and [chocolate greeting] cards. Our Advent calendar will once again be renewed with a new design and new compositions of chocolates. I do, however, want to add several new bean-to-bar brands this fall.

How État de Choc Celebrates Craft Chocolate with Bars & Confections