Dominique Persoone and son Julius awarded Flemish Chocolatier of the Year 2023 by Gault&Millau

‘I cannot imagine a more beautiful gift for 30 years of The Chocolate Line!’ writes Persoone on his Instagram account when announcing the news. ‘We could only achieve this thanks to the commitment of our team! During the first corona wave, there was a lot of uncertainty, our production team almost left then. I then gave my son Julius the chance to create a whole new group as head of the workshop and look: almost two years later to result, world-class! My respect for their motivation is great, what recognition. It makes me quiet and I don’t often have that.’

Gault&Millau is a big fan of Dominique’s work as well as Julius. So the latter seems to be following nicely in his father’s footsteps. ‘Dominique Persoone made craft sexy,’ it says. A word he often uses himself, by the way, to emphasise that chocolate can be hip, cool and even seductive. And to show that his relationship with chocolate, besides being professional, is above all passionate, appealing to the chocolate freak who likes to return to the roots with him.