Food and Drink Awards 2023

16 | LUXlife Magazine Chocolate Shop of the Year 2023 Situated in the heart of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Chocolate shop Cukrček is a family business that handmakes high-quality chocolate products with love and devotion. The specialist chocolatiers are innovators who consistently create bold new flavours and undertake exciting projects. Each Cukrček store is a chocolate heaven where clients can discover over 100 different flavours and shapes of luscious chocolate. For its wide variety of decadent products and innovative approach, Chocolate shop Cukrček has received our award for this year’s Chocolate Shop of the Year. stablished in 1993, Chocolate shop Cukrček began with a mother and son lovingly creating their chocolate praline. Son Luka went on to create Prešeren praline, named after the beloved Slovenian poet France Prešeren, which consists of rich chocolate praline with nougat and hazelnut. The product quickly became revered and is now enjoyed across Slovenia. In 2008, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth visited Slovenia, the President gifted her a box of Chocolate shop Cukrček Prešeren pralines. Chocolate shop Cukrček went on to open several stores which exclusively sell the brand’s delicious offerings. The company is now focusing on creating new chocolate varieties with unique flavours and beautiful shapes. In 2016, Luka set out to make the Guinness World Record for the largest chocolate bar by area. The final product weighed an incredible 1.4 tonnes and measured in at 135 m ². Luka dedicated the project with love to his wife and even proposed to her at the annual Festival Čokolade event. After the size was verified, the chocolate marvel was shared and devoured by festival attendees. The following year, Luka took his ambition further, creating the largest chocolate flag in Italy and incorporating all three colours. The Cukrček stores are renowned in Ljubljana and have won several awards. The brand’s most popular flavours are a creamy dark chocolate with Teran, a Slovenian red wine, a dark chocolate sprinkled with Slovenian salt, and a praline fruit and nut bar. One enthusiastic buyer reviewed the brand’s Teran flavoured chocolate saying, “It has a good dark colour to it, a pleasant glossy sheen, and a rich aroma. The wine content has made the chocolate a little softer than one might expect and lends it a very pleasant, subtly alcoholic note to the overall taste. As the complex cocoa notes build on the palate, you taste deep chocolatey flavours with hints of coffee and tobacco, and the finish is a lively blend of bittersweet cocoa and a soft, mildly alcoholic note.” Every year, in front of the store, employees roast fresh almonds laced with caramel and a top-secret ingredient. After market day in Slovenia, it has become tradition for families to buy themselves almonds or chocolate praline to take home. Chocolate shop Cukrček consistently innovates with exotic new flavours and undertakes exciting projects to expand its portfolio. The brand currently sells in Japan, the USA, and the United Arab Emirates. As Chocolate shop Cukrček uses raw materials, it is necessary for the business to keep its production small. As well as visiting the specialist chocolate stores, customers have access to international delivery so that everyone can enjoy its mouthwatering confectionery. The brand offers secure shopping and a 100% chocolate satisfaction guarantee to assure customers of its devotion to the highest product quality. E

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTY1MjM3