Guittard offers expanded premium chocolate options for sector professionals
Gary Guittard and team on a previous cocoa sourcing mission. Pic: Guittard
San Francisco-based Guittard confectionery has moved to expand its premium offerings in creating a new category of chocolate products for industry professionals, writes Neill Barston.
The 156 year-old US business has reportedly enhanced the product rheology, packaging, and distribution, with its new couverture offered in a two-pack 3kg variety targeting wholesalers.
According to the business, this will make it easier than ever for industry chefs to select and purchase the most suitable, premium chocolate products for their intended use.
The Guittard Couverture line will offer eight products: 31% cacao Crème Française White Chocolate, 35% cacao Soie Blanche White Chocolate, 38% cacao Soleil d’Or Milk Chocolate, 41% cacao Eclipse du Soleil Milk Chocolate, 55% cacao La Nuit Noire Semisweet Chocolate, 61% cacao Lever du Soleil Semisweet Chocolate, 64% cacao L’Etoile du Nord Chocolate, and 72% cacao Coucher Du Soleil Bittersweet Chocolate, all now available in a 3-kilo bag made with 30% post-consumer recycled material.
As the company noted, in addition to the new smaller package offerings, the Guittard Couverture line will continue to be offered in larger 25-pound wholesale sizes previously available to customers.
The diverse range of cacao percentages and viscosities offers professionals flexibility in flavor, texture, and functionality, with new viscosity and fluidity guidance on-pack, further informing best uses for professional applications. Guittard’s focus on application and flavor in this new category underscores the company’s expertise in knowing the needs of today’s chefs, artisan confectioners, and bakers.
Donald Wressell, Executive Pastry Chef for Guittard Chocolate Company, believed the new series held notable potential.
He said: “Chocolate professionals love the product line for its range of flavours and formulations and advocated for its expansion into 3-kilo bags to utilize our products in new and exciting ways.
“We created new packaging that is easy to use in a busy kitchen along with guidance on-pack to help understand what to expect from the product, and added new purchasing options tailored to various sizes of operations to make it easier to procure and use the chocolate our customers already know and love.”
