The 2015 European Candy Kettle Club Award recipient, Jean-Luc Grisot of Valrhona, believes that intense and personal involvement on all fronts — be it in the fields, in the lab, in the plant or with the customer — results in better chocolate and a better company.

Some people just have a way of winning you over immediately. They have that je ne sais quoi that’s welcoming, open, energetic and inspiring. Jean-Luc Grisot is one such person

Dulcey was discovered by Frederic Bau, the company’s executive pastry chef, as a result of leaving white chocolate in a water bath for 10 hours.

For the European Candy Kettle Club (ECKC) members and guests, the bus ride from l'Hotel de France in Valence, France to the Palais du Congres Sud Rhone-Alpes proved rather short. Nonetheless, the memories from that evening will last long into that and future nights.