OUR STORY

The start of a family history of creative Chocolate Makers

It is at 23, rue de Verdun in Damville, and more precisely in the intimacy of the kitchen of Marc and Marcelle Cluizel, former pastry chefs from Rambolita, that the history of the Manufacture CLUIZEL begins.

If it does not yet bear this name, it already carries within it a desire and an ambition : to make chocolate candies as tasty as they are refined…

An iconic reinvention of chocolate

That year, Manufacture CLUIZEL created a small revolution in the realm of creative Chocolate Makers with the launch of its chocolate bar illustrated by Mucha. .
Its bold packaging, which received an Oscar for packaging was a fitting reflection of CLUIZEL’s work.

A Chocolate Maker in Paris

Enthused by its recent successes and excited to meet chocolate lovers, Manufacture CLUIZEL opened a first shop at number 193 of the famous rue Saint-Honoré in the first arrondissement of Paris.

Pioneering expertise

Unique at the time: in 1989, Manufacture CLUIZEL innovated by launching the first bar of chocolate with 99% cocoa. Consistent with its pioneering know-how, CLUIZEL became the first Chocolate Maker to market chocolates made with more than 70% cocoa. At a time when achieving this exceptional content was still unimaginable, CLUIZEL was able to offer a unique dark chocolate creation.

A creative Chocolate Maker on the road to secret terroirs

Wishing to offer authentic tastes, that year, Manufacture CLUIZEL launched “Premier Cru de Plantation” dark chocolate : made from the cocoa beans of a single Plantation, “Hacienda Concepción” in Venezuela. Refinement, precision and precision are the keywords driving this quest for flavour.

Plantation’s Premier Cru chocolate satisfied the desire to offer richer and more complex flavour notes. Its beans easily transcribe powerful, singular tastes, that pay tribute to the work of planters around the world and the flavour of their products. In the wake of this fruitful partnership, many others have been created and continue with different planters around the world.

The Plantation Collection’s “premier cru”, now renamed “Plantation Chocolate”, is intended to awaken the senses, the fruit of unique partnerships that are still active to this day. As pioneers, we have methodically implemented our approach so that it can be anchored in reality and replicated in the world of chocolate.

A commitment to high-end chocolate

True to its high standards and transparency, in 2000, CLUIZEL created its quality commitment entitled “Noble Ingredients”.

This commitment guarantees professionals that only pure cocoa butter, Bourbon vanilla pods and sugar are included in the recipe. The Manufacture’s creations are thus guaranteed to be soya- and flavouring-free.

Manufacture CLUIZEL also carefully selects the raw materials essential to make its creations, always seeking to source the highest quality.

Confirmed as one of the best Chocolate Makers of France

After winning two awards the previous year : the Excellence Award for our Hacienda Concepcion Plantation Premier Cru dark chocolate from Que Choisir magazine and the “Grand Lait Java” creation, named as best milk chocolate by the gastronomic magazine, Gault&Millau, in 2002, Manufacture CLUIZEL experienced a year crowned with multiple awards.

On its release, our Los Anconès organic “premier cru” Plantation Chocolate bar received the prize for the best organic bar by the Organic Food Award attributed by the Soil Association of Great Britain. It is the first Organic “Premier Cru” Plantation bar.

At the Salon du Chocolat in Paris, it won a special prize for its fairtrade approach, underscoring the seriousness of our commitments.

Building on these successes, and true to its passion for the trade, CLUIZEL launched its Michel Cluizel chocolates the same year, inaugurating a space dedicated to cocoa and chocolate tasting in Damville : The Chocolatrium. A real tasting experience open to all, where the values of sharing and high standards come together, every day, the Chocolatrium welcomes gourmets to talk to them about chocolate.

Passion, tradition, innovation: being a creative Chocolate Maker is a hereditary spirit

Proud to be the fruit of a family passion, the history of CLUIZEL chocolates continues through the generations.  Michel Cluizel handed over the business to his son Marc, supported by his brother and his two sisters, Catherine and Sylvie. Together, they reinvented the Parisian shop and extended their gourmet territory to New York, where the first store was opened.

Cacaofèvier®, a promising profession

Manufacture CLUIZEL has been enriched by years ofpartnerships with planters of excellence on the three cocoa continents. In 2006, the Manufacture created the term « Cacaofèvier® ». While the profession has always existed, it did not previously have a defined name. Now it does.
The term covers bean selection, communication with planters, roasting, crushing and grinding of nibs into cocoa paste.
The term Cacaofèvier® represents the overall control of the entire chocolate manufacturing process. It is intimately linked to the notion of quality, purity and traceability.

Excellence and know-how rewarded

Since 2012, CLUIZEL has been one of the few companies to have been awarded the official label of French Living Heritage Company (or EPV).
As prestigious as it is demanding, this government label distinguishes French companies with excellent craftsmanship and industrial know-how.

The French Living Heritage Company certification guarantees the sustainable quality of CLUIZEL products, as the company must regularly demonstrate that its know-how always meets the requirements of the label.

Once more, this certification has been reassigned to it for another five years through the work of the enthusiasts who strive to make CLUIZEL grow.

A new exclusive and original collection

A true culmination of 70 years of expertise, CLUIZEL launches the world’s first collection of premium organic chocolates, called “Exclusives”.

The “Exclusives” collection is distinguished by complex and gourmet textures. Available in 16 different sweets, it includes Ganaches Initiales and Ganaches Essentielles, subtle and precise products that delicately blend flavour and texture. You will also find the traditional Pralines that cheekily combine crunch and fondant in ever more tasty and surprising ways.

All of this is made with carefully selected organic raw materials.

Sensory Know-How: a new philosophy of tasting

Chocolate tasting as a sensitive and sensory experience. The desire to share and educate Driven by this state of mind, the Manufacture has created “Les Sens du Chocolat” : a multisensory adventure to accompany the tasting of CLUIZEL creations and to discover the complexity of the notes contained in its two flagship collections : Plantation Chocolates and the Exclusives.
Its goal is simple and controlled: to help gourmets and foodies discover the different nuances and subtleties of chocolate, in order to better appreciate it in an original way.

A fourth chapter is opening for CLUIZEL

The Manufacture is in good hands: the expert and sensitive hands of the third and fourth generation of Cluizel children.

Inspired by chocolate, they honour and reinvent Maison CLUIZEL’s DNA with critically praised and acclaimed new products. More than ever, Manufacture CLUIZEL deploys all its know-how as a creator of high-end chocolate, thus retaining its precious place among the best in France.