Since the 18th century, the world has been in love with chocolate.
For the Verstreken family, their love of chocolate began in Belgium three generations ago through Pierre, a talented baker, chocolatier and pâtissier.
In 1987, having learnt the ropes of business and the art of chocolate, Pierre’s son Robert moved to Australia with his family, later establishing Belgian Delights.
Now headed up by his two sons, Dominique and Christophe, who trained in Belgium, the business has enthralled chocolate connoisseurs all over the coast; you too may have even enjoyed an iconic individually wrapped square if you’ve stayed in an upmarket Gold Coast resort.
“My parents had achieved what they set out to do by their mid-thirties, owning multiple shops and supplying other places around Antwerp, and their goal then was to relocate,” says Christophe.
After selling the business in Belgium and settling on relocating to Australia, they were directed to the Gold Coast by friends who advised them not to bother with Sydney or Brisbane.
“We dived straight into it with a Belgian style patisserie on the Gold Coast, but with a bigger focus on the chocolate,” he says.
“Initially there was a struggle with the language and culture because in Belgium you don’t make meat pies, so the pastry and baked goods industry was a very different landscape than what we had come from.
“Funnily enough, a lot of people came up from Melbourne or Sydney and said that’s where we should be, but we settled here for the weather and lifestyle, and the Gold Coast is a magical place to work and live.”
There was a lot of trial and error before the Verstreken family discovered chocolate was easy to sell.
“When we first started out, introducing European style pastries and bread was a challenge, whereas Australians are more familiar with it now,” he says.
“If we were to enter into business now, I think it would be a lot easier.
“We started creating our own unique flavour with our own recipe and along the way, we’ve invested in several Swiss machines to ensure quality, which has always been our focus and it’s essential when you’re in any kind of food production.
“If the quality is there, you don’t give customers a reason to go elsewhere.”
The elite coastal hotels were among some of Belgian Delights’ first wholesale customers, a feat which came about from arduous door-knocking efforts, when first getting established.
“90 per cent of the hotels we sell wholesale to are five stars, the Hilton, JW Marriot and Sofitel’s are a few, and they have been customers for more than 20 years,” says Christophe.
“While we deal with Treasury Casino Hotel Brisbane and The Star, they are constructing more buildings, which means we are getting more prospective customers through the door, so that keeps us growing as well.”
These days, Christophe doesn’t knock on too many doors, as thankfully, word-of-mouth has continued to help expand the business, even so far as Australia’s ‘Red Centre’ in the Northern Territory.
“A chef from a Brisbane hotel we supply to recently moved to Uluru and said he needed our chocolate at the hotel he’s now working at,” he says.
“We had to figure out how we were going deliver our chocolate in a safe and pristine condition, which we did, and now we’re supplying to a five-star hotel in Uluru.”
Having always done the individually wrapped and branded squares of chocolate as seen in hotels, about seven years ago the business branched out by producing chocolate bars and now can’t keep up with the market demand.
“The squares you find on your pillow are called Napolitain chocolates and they are six grams each, so when we make these, we’re producing between 40 to 50 thousand per day,” he says.
Depending on what they are running, on an average week Belgian Delights will produce between two to three tonnes of chocolate.
The company now operates three brands; Belgian Delights, Local Cocoa and Queensland Chocolate which is targeted towards airport stores.
“About a year ago we set up Local Cocoa, which uses cocoa from Australian grown beans,” he says.
“We work together with a few plantations in the Cairns and Mossman area, where the beans are processed up north and then delivered to us on the coast.
“We apply the same systems we use with Belgian Delights to ensure quality, and we’re using about 90 per cent Australian ingredients but 100 per cent produced in Australia.”
While he’s responsibilities have fallen more into the job title of General Manager, Christophe is still a talented and qualified chocolatier, a title he agrees sounds much cooler.
“We’ve been incredibly busy, so I’ve been back on the tools in the factory and it’s like riding a bike… its fun jumping back in to get a few orders out,” says Christophe.
“It’s a positive product to talk about and experience, and one of those things people truly love and enjoy, especially when you see people’s eyes light up when they come into the factory.”
The deliciousness of these delectable chocolates can be savoured directly from Belgian Delights’ Factory Outlet which is located in Molendinar on Mondays through to Fridays, from 8am to 4pm.
Website: https://bdchocolate.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belgiandelights/?hl=en
