Barry Callebaut opened its first Chocolate Academy center in Turkey, the 16th in the company’s network of such training centers worldwide on November 22, 2013.
Located in Istanbul, the center is a teaching and workshop facility for culinary professionals who are interested in strengthening their skills in working with chocolate and learning about new techniques, trends and recipes dedicated to the Turkish market.
The center provides workshops and demonstrations chocolatiers, chefs, pastry, bakery and other chocolate experts, as well as culinary professionals working in hotels, restaurants and the catering business.
The center will also showcase the knowledge accumulated over more than 150 years by Barry Callebaut’s global Gourmet chocolate brands such as Callebaut, Cacao Barry, Carma.
It will also be a meeting place for chocolate professionals encouraging the exchange of technical expertise among each other.
“Through the center, we aim to promote a fruitful exchange between our Technical Advisors, brand Ambassadors and the local professionals from all food service specialties. We will create new recipes with and for the Turkish people and discover innovative ways of using chocolate,” said Marc Pauquet, technical advisor and director of the new center.
The center occupies 250sqm at the company’s Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) headquarters in Istanbul.
It has a professional kitchen with individual marble countertops for the chocolate pre-crystallization, equipment and utensils.
International chefs and teachers from abroad will share their knowledge and techniques at the center for chocolate experts in the heart of Turkey.
The first of such international instructors will be the international technical advisor Philippe Marand – a French chef, and without doubt one of the key individuals in the world of gourmet chocolate.
This center will be integrated into the network of Barry Callebaut’s 15 other training centers all around the world.
About 38,000 professionals and artisans receive training at these centers every year.
