Chocolate with social added value
According to Persoone, the medical projects are among the most meaningful moments of his career. Previous collaborations made it possible for patients with throat cancer to experience taste again thanks to artificial saliva. He recently developed two new pralines in collaboration with AZ Groeninge: one for swallowing tests and one for patients with gastric paresis who are only allowed to consume liquid food.
These experiences have fundamentally changed his view of cocoa.
“For me, chocolate has become much more than a luxury product. It can also contribute to people’s wellbeing and quality of life. That is perhaps the most wonderful application I can imagine.”
Innovation arises outside the traditional kitchen
For Persoone, the boundaries between sweet, savoury, science and gastronomy are increasingly blurring. For him, chocolate is no longer an end product, but a versatile ingredient through which stories can be told.
Collaborations with, amongst others, neurosurgeons, the artist Jan Fabre, the Antwerp Academy of Fashion and Delvaux illustrate this vision. In his view, the most innovative ideas rarely emerge within the confines of a single field, but rather at the intersection of different disciplines.
