Recognized as the best chocolatier in the world after winning the World Chocolate Master in 2022, Lluc Crusellas is committed to transforming high quality cocoa beans into a familiar and accessible product. This is how the Eukarya brand was born, a name derived from the cells that make up cocoa: eukaryotes. “After winning the competition, I felt like I had to bring the pastry and chocolate culture to the streets,” says the 27-year-old.
In a 700 square meter workshop that Crusellas has set up in Vic, capital of the Osona region (Barcelona), Crusellas has developed up to 45 preparations with cocoa as the main ingredient. It turns chocolate into bars, balls or creams and has launched a range of nougats and panettone for Christmas. It emphasizes that its intention is to make a product affordable in its highest quality version, at prices that are affordable for many budgets. The cheapest chocolate bar is sold on the site for 3.90 euros and the most expensive product is a box of twenty chocolates that costs around 31 euros.
He started the company nine months ago with an initial investment of one million euros, which he received through financing and collaboration with Pavic, a Catalan pastry shop. The company currently employs seven people in production and one in store at the same factory in Vic, which has been open to the public since November 14th. Some of the creations produced by the brand are also sold at Casa Atmetller and in the various pop-up stores that occasionally open in Barcelona or abroad, for example in the Harrods shopping centers in London.
Sample of Eukarya nougats.Albert Garcia
“If people want to try a puffed rice nougat with the highest quality nuts and then buy a plain, plain nougat with a lot of sugar, let them buy it, but let them know what's good first,” he explains. At the same time, it announces that in January it will have five more desserts in the catalog that will replace the Christmas desserts. “My philosophy is to make a product that is not complicated in terms of taste and is well executed,” he says. The company relies on online sales and claims to be able to distribute its products throughout Europe. At the end of the season, an invoice total of 600,000 euros is expected, but profits are not expected until next year.
“Ultimately, a nine-euro tablet is not available to the general public. For example, we want buying chocolates to become an everyday possibility and not just for the weekend or as a gift,” he concludes. He says goodbye and goes back to work. In his free time he devotes himself to cycling and admits to having found the strength and discipline to carry out the project, which he still admires for the speed with which it was realized. “It was crazy,” he says.
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