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BONNAT, chocolatier and confectioner in Voiron from father to son since 1884 |
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Bonnat is story of a family’s long love affair with chocolate. It is a story which began back in 1884 when Félix Bonnat established his premises at number 8, cours Sénozan in Voiron (Isère region).
All Bonnat’s customers in France and those making their way home for Christmas by boat from the French colonies looked forward to tasting the Voiron “Pavés” (Praline Chunks) and other Bonnat specialities.
As time went by Félix Bonnat’s two sons, Armand and Gaston, began to help him more and more with the production and running of the family business.
And in 1956 Raymond Bonnat finally took over the firm. After studying business, he toured France, studied at the School of Chocolatiers in Basel, completed the COBA School and finally did a tour of Switzerland. He got married in 1959 and his wife Nicole, the daughter of well-known hoteliers in the region, helped him to run the business. Two of their four children, Cécile and Stéphane from the fourth generation, perpetuate the high quality tradition which has always formed the basis of the family business.
Indeed, Raymond and Stéphane Bonnat always take extra special care to ensure that their chocolates continue to be of the highest quality, thanks to their expert palettes which are able to distinguish even the most subtle differences in taste. Genuine cocoa science does exist! Like wine, cocoa originates from different regions and bean varieties and can therefore have totally different flavours. It is only after roasting that these flavours become fully apparent. Roasting releases the final, full aroma. The beans are then sorted in the “winnower” (a device used for shelling the bean), crushed and finally mixed or “conched” - an operation which consists of mixing the chocolate for a very long time. The end result is a smooth, rich paste which can be modified depending on the flavour required and which is then mixed together with other cocoas to form magical blends. Exact recipes are of course guarded closely secret.
Again, like wine, the aroma of the different types of cocoa varies from one year to the next and it is when the Master Chocolatier has to develop his own special coating that his real Chocolatier skills come into their own.
But what exactly is the “coating”? It is the “mass” of chocolate used to coat any chocolate sweet which may be filled with praline, ganache, liqueur, almond paste, nougat, nougatine or, indeed, just pure chocolate, like our Palets (Medallians) and Dominos which have a cocoa content of respectively 65% and 75%.
Star products :
• Pavés de Voiron (Praline Chunks)
• The finest cocoas are used in our Palets (round with 65% cocoa), Dominos (square with 75% cocoa) and bars (75% cocoa).
• Les Œufs Coquille (Egg Shells) (real shells with a fine chocolate coating and a praline centre).
• The Chartreuse Chocolate, which we alone make for the Chartreuse monks.
Our Strenghts :
We design our products from start to finish in Voiron.
We only select cocoas from the best plantations in the world for our chocolate coating.
We make all the fillings used in our chocolates: praline, ganache, almond paste, nougat, nougatine, etc. |
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