During my European chocolate trip back in September I was lucky enough to be given an in depth two day tour of the Zotter Chocolate factory in Bergl, Austria.
As someone who is relatively new to the world of chocolate (I have been making chocolate full time for 3 years & The Chocolate Cafe has only been trading since May 2008) it was a fascinating glimpse into the world of a true chocolate genius.
Josef Zotter & his team create wonderfully imaginative organic & fairtrade chocolates from the bean to the bar. What struck me from the moment I arrived is their attention to detail and their unfaltering determination to never compromise on quality. The staff, the raw materials they use & their state of the art machinery is all the best available. When I tried to engage Josef about how much everything had cost he simply shrugged off the question as if money was just a distraction from the art of making chocolate.
The best example I can give of this unwillingness to compromise is in the Zotter staff 'canteen'. Throughout the year staff numbers can vary from 50 to 100 due to the seasonality of the chocolate industry. Josef believes strongly that the staff should have access to healthy nutritious meals & employs a full time, trained chef just to cater for them. Everything in the staff canteen is organic (& delicious) & the majority of the produce is grown or reared on Zotter's own land or on neighbouring farms; they even mill their own flour!
Although I got the full behind the seens tour & was lucky enough to play a small part in the production process anyone can visit the Zotter factory, & thousands of people do. Even though Bergl is quite literally, in the middle of nowhere, the Zotter factory attracts over 150,000 visitors a year. The tour starts with a short film showing Josef on one of his visits to the cocoa farmers in Central America, where Zotter source most of their cocoa beans from. You are then free to wander at your own pace, following the journey of the beans, from their arrival at the factory, to the finished product in the Zotter shop. There is lots of opportunity to taste on route & freshly tempered chocolate from 30% to 100% cocoa content is readily available. As is a huge range of single origin labooko bars, filled handscooped bars & much more. In the hot chocolate cafe a working scale model of a Doppelmayr ski lift carries drinking chocolate directly to your seat!
As I was having my picture [above] taken with Josef we had to keep stopping as children would run up to him demanding a few moments of his time or an autograph. Josef was always generous with his time & always signed his autographs the same... 'to the sweet side of life!'
If you get the chance to visit the Styria region of Austria then I highly recommend a trip to Zotter.
Failing that you can get a flavour of Zotter here [video]
Buy Zotter Chocolate online at http://www.chocolate-cafe.co.uk/zotter/