World Class Chocolate

For the exclusive chocolatier Mälarchocolaterie, packaging has become almost as important as the pralines that are found inside.

The grand foyer of the concert hall lobby Västerås has an elegant tea room where you can enjoy a chocolate world class Mälarchocolaterie. Chocolate is aligned in large glass counters; mouthfuls the praline with unexpected flavors: Roquefort, Sichuan pepper, horseradish, ginger, red wine ... total of more than 30 different flavors. In another glass counter, entire rows of buttons in lush pastels are presented for sale and an extensive selection of teas fills the wall shelves.

Mälarchocolaterie is managed by owners Elaine Chan and Thomas Brännström. They have run the company for ten years now, eight spent in the old bar of the concert hall. Neither has training in pastry - Elaine was an air hostess and Thomas worked in the preservation of cultural heritage - but they both shared the dream of creating something of their exceptional quality. That something turned out to be chocolate.

"We set ambitious goals from the start and decided to make excellent quality chocolates," says Elaine.

To reach their goal, the couple spent a lot of time in France and met real master chocolatiers. The biggest names in the business, Patrick Roger and Robert Linxe offered their advice. And in the end, it took a lot of hard work, failures and even more hard work.

Finally, the efforts have paid off. Small business, with its humble beginnings in an ordinary home cooking, the first chocolate bar was an old converted stone grill, received the International Award of Excellence in 2009 at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris.

While making chocolate and soon macaroons and cakes, Elaine Chan and Thomas Brännström developed packaging for their products.

"Packaging is extremely important and already from the beginning, we decided to create refined packaging to protect chocolate," says Elaine. "At first, I did my own sketches and I cut and folded it my little boxes on the kitchen table. But someone in France told us once our chocolates had a slight taste of cardboard and that's when we realized the importance of going beyond the design and also choose the right material. "

Back home, he contacted Thomas to Korsnäs Frövi. Not only they could help Mälarchocolaterie choose the right packaging material but the "Packaging Performance Service" company was also supported by design solutions smart packaging. Thus, Thomas was able to recover a portion of the remaining material in the production of cake boxes to make the company packs 12 bars of chocolate Mälarchocolaterie also produced and sold.

For pralines and chocolate bars, they use 290 gsm Korsnäs Light. Elaine and Thomas are very satisfied with the material and happy with the way their dark brown logo fits perfectly to the pattern of light brown back Korsnäs Light.

"Packaging means a lot to our brand identity and packaging part is as important as the part chocolate. But it is also something that is also additional concerns. You can not help but be a little worried when you have sent all the files to the printer and two tons of cardboard must be addressed. It was then he better have done everything right, "says Thomas Brännström.

Footnotes page

Following the recent merger Korsnäs is now part of BillerudKorsnäs. Product names have been changed accordingly.
BillerudKorsnäs Light, the board product mentioned in the text is currently being re-launched as part of an extensive product improvement. The most significant improvements are related to the appearance and printability: the printing surface is smooth and white, which means improved color reproduction, contrast sharper, more vivid colors, a wide range colors and a significant improvement in the surface.

Facts

Material:

BillerudKorsnäs Light 290 gsm (boxes pralines, chocolate bars)
Carry BillerudKorsnäs 425 gsm (cake boxes)

Printing and post-processing:

Åtta 45 Solna (Mälarchocolaterie provides print-ready PDF)
Product Grafisk, Västerås (cutting, folding, embossing)

Source: BillerudKorsnäs