FAQs

To place an order, simply add products to your cart. Once you have completed your basket, you will need to provide your email address or log in, then complete the requested information. When the order is placed you will receive a confirmation email

We will not be able to cancel or modify your order if it is handled by our carrier. Write to us as soon as possible at contact@plaqchococat.com (Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.), so that we can take your request into account.

When your order has been shipped (or ready at PLAQ for collection at the Boutique-Manufacture), you will receive an email notifying you and informing you of the carrier's tracking number. For Province orders, you will also receive an e-mail from the carrier (Colissimo or Chronopost) who will deliver your order accompanied by the tracking number.

We do everything we can to prepare each order carefully. It is possible, despite all our checks, that a breach may occur. If you encounter any of these concerns when ordering, we recommend that you contact customer service at contact@plaqchocolat.com and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Yes, of course this is totally possible. When placing your order you can check the “ Add a Gift ” option and it will be directly integrated into your basket.

The invoice can be downloaded via the order confirmation email or from your customer area. If you encounter any problems while downloading, you can contact our customer service at contact@plaqchococat.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

We prepare all orders carefully. However, errors may occur and we recommend that you contact us at contact@plaqchocolat.com within 48 hours of receipt and we will respond as soon as possible.

Once you have requested a refund for your order, we take 2 to 3 business days to complete your request.

Due to rising temperatures, during the summer (period which can go from May to August), we only use ChronoFresh for shipments to mainland France and neighboring countries (Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg).

This shipping method allows our chocolate to stay fresh for the duration of delivery.

For Metropolitan France, once the packages have been entrusted to ChronoFresh, delivery times can vary from 24 hours to 48 hours (working days) for the majority of orders.

We offer different delivery times and methods:

• Colissimo and Chronopost shipping - Metropolitan France and Europe

Packages are prepared and shipped the same day for all orders placed before 1 p.m. Monday to Friday. After 1 p.m., orders are shipped the following day (Tuesday to Friday).

• Deliveries by courier - Paris and neighboring Paris
  
  During the week, deliveries are made from Monday to Friday provided that the recipient is present when the courier passes.
  
  - For any order placed before 1 p.m. Monday to Friday, the order will be shipped the same day (time to be confirmed).
  
  - For all orders placed after 1 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, delivery is guaranteed the next day (time to be confirmed).
  
  - For all orders placed between Friday 1 p.m. and Sunday evening, delivery is guaranteed from Monday (time to be confirmed).
  
  On weekends, deliveries are possible only on request (to the address contact@plaqchocolat.com). On Sunday, a supplement of €5 will be added to the delivery costs.

PLAQ delivers chocolate to you everywhere in France, Europe EU and the United Kingdom.

If you are not present on the delivery day, a delivery notice will be left at your home by the carrier who will indicate the nearest Relay Point where you can collect the package. Do not hesitate to contact us at contact@plaqchocolat.com , if the situation is not resolved.

If there is a delay on your order, we advise you to contact us at contact@plaqchocolat.com , so that we can resolve your situation as quickly as possible.

If you do not receive your package but it appears "delivered" on your account in the "My orders" section, contact us at contact@plaqchocolat.com , so that we can help you.

When collecting from a Manufacture, you are expected at 4 rue du Nil Paris 2nd, during opening hours. You will be notified by email when your order is ready. This order will be kept for 5 days from this date.

On opening days, collection is possible the same day for orders placed before 1 p.m.
During busy periods (Easter, Christmas), order preparation times may be extended.

Bean to bar is not a technique. It is an approach defined in the 2000s by a handful of American pioneers wishing to revisit chocolate as beer and coffee had previously been.

These “craft chocolate makers” were on the plantations, testing new practices, new machines which allowed them to discover another way of making chocolate. Far from industrial standards, but also different from European artisanal tradition. Bean to bar means taking the time to do each step, from the cocoa bean to the chocolate plate.
Select high quality beans, cook them to measure and in small quantities to extract all the aromas. Focus on quality and meticulous, rigorous, uncompromising work, maintaining this requirement over time. It means developing and improving all links in the chain, from producer to consumer: the environmental quality of plantations, the scientific expertise of fermentation and drying centers, the distribution of rare cocoa, the remuneration of all stakeholders in the sector… and the consumer’s palate.

3 weeks for harvesting, fermentation, drying and packaging in the region of origin

2 weeks for test and evaluation shipments before order

3.5 months on average of logistics and maritime and road transport

5 weeks to receive and transform the beans into chocolate: 2 days for sorting, crushing and winnowing, 3 days of grinding and conching, 4 weeks of maturation.

1 week of molding, packaging and sale.

That is 6 months in total from the harvest of the bean to the availability of the chocolate plate (not counting the various storage periods, which vary according to the seasons and activity)

This % corresponds to the weight of cocoa beans and added cocoa butter. The distinction between the two is not a legal obligation. The only way to know whether or not there is added cocoa butter in your chocolate is to look at the ingredient list. But unfortunately the percentage of cocoa butter added is rarely indicated. It is therefore difficult to know if your 70% pure origin dark chocolate actually contains (as is often the case) 60% beans from this origin and 10% deodorized cocoa butter from a completely unknown origin...

The bean to bar artisan makes chocolate from cocoa beans with a very specific approach, focused on quality and transparency at each stage of manufacturing. The bean is at the heart of his work. The traditional artisan chocolatier buys couverture chocolate to melt it, sculpt it, and use it in confectionery (candies, ganaches, coatings, etc.). He doesn't work with the bean.

In the current predominant global system, the vast majority of cocoa beans are sold as an agricultural commodity regardless of their qualities. Direct sales refers to cocoa beans purchased outside of this system, most often directly from producers or specialty cocoa traders. This represents less than 5% of cocoa production worldwide.

In this niche market the term “short circuit” is more appropriate than “direct producer”. Because each cocoa has its own history and distribution system with more or fewer actors involved. Each farmer works in agro-forestry and generally cultivates several raw materials. He sells his fresh beans to a cooperative or social company which will know how to ferment, dry and package them before contacting a logistician who will transport them to the European importer capable of purchasing the cocoa in sufficient quantities to charter a container. This Specialty Trader will store the bags before reselling them individually or by pallet to chocolatiers. This distribution circuit is virtuous if each actor and the remuneration of each is clearly identified.

Our responsibility is that all of our ingredients are sourced ethically and transparently. Our cocoa beans are all traceable and ethical. We choose them following our visit to the plantation or on the recommendations of our advisor on the subject, Chloé Doutre Roussel, whose job is to identify the best cocoas in the world.

We use as few intermediaries as possible and are always in direct contact with cooperatives or with specialty cocoa traders who work and invest locally with planters and their cooperatives. Cultivating, harvesting, fermenting and drying are the key steps guaranteeing the final quality of our cocoas. They can only be carried out in producing countries and must be paid at the right price to guarantee high quality beans, i.e. 5 to 10 times above world cocoa prices.

The 3 main sources of carbon emissions in the chocolate sector are linked to cocoa cultivation, manufacturing and its distribution method. Very little in transport from the producing country to the manufacturing country.

- The use of pesticides and deforestation has a very strong carbon impact on intensively cultivated cocoa. Those from agro-forestry used by PLAQ are, on the contrary, virtuous because they grow among other fruit trees and contribute to biodiversity and soil irrigation.

- Transforming beans into chocolate consumes a lot of energy. At PLAQ we have chosen the most efficient electrical solutions in order to minimize the number of KW used. But the air conditioning necessary to keep the chocolate at 17° remains a real challenge during periods of high heat.

- Distributing chocolate at the place of production, as PLAQ practices for 80% of its sales, guarantees a reduced impact. As for the remaining 20%, a majority of deliveries are made by bicycle couriers in Paris. Only shipments outside the Paris region require the use of the post office.

- Transport by tanker boat has very little impact on the balance sheet, contrary to popular belief (barely 3% of total emissions). We are nevertheless trying to implement freight solutions by sailboat cargo in certain destinations in order to preserve marine biodiversity as much as possible. This is one of our challenges for the years to come.

In total, a chocolate made by PLAQ has a lower carbon footprint than a piece of meat raised virtuously in France, or a cheese...

Essentially, but not always, because organic labeling is not systematically purchased by cocoa farmers (due to lack of means or real guarantees in certain countries). But in fact, all our cocoa beans come from cocoa trees grown without pesticides in agro-forestry while respecting the environment.

The cocoas labeled organic at PLAQ are: Maya Mountain from Belize, Gran Nativo and Gran Yapatera from Peru, Kamili from Tanzania and Idukki from India. Our sugar, for its part, is unrefined, organic, vegan, and comes from the most respectful of biological diversity and the most ethical agricultural project that exists in the world: Native Cana Verde in the Sao Paulo region in Brazil. Finally, almost all the other ingredients that we use for our pastries and “alongside the Plaq” are organic and above all 100% traceable.

Our sugar comes from the pioneering Brazilian Native Green Cane project, which was the world's first certified organic sugar cane plantation in 1997. We purchase through PanoFruita, a Spanish importer based in Barcelona. Led by Leontino Balbo, an agronomist whose family has been in the sugar business for over 100 years, the project replaces destructive conventional farming practices with progressive land restoration methods. fertilizers and pesticides - Balbo has set up its own experimental system called ERA (Ecosystem Revitalizing Agriculture).

ERA improves crops while preserving biodiversity, soil health and natural resources. Native is fair trade certified, and they plant trees, supporting sustainable development. Beyond these environmental qualities, this unrefined blond sugar retains all its nutrients while being very neutral in taste. This aromatic discretion allows it to be used only as an enhancer of our cocoas in our pure black plaq. And we replace it with Rapadura, coconut sugar, or maple sugar when we want to play with aromatic accords.

Geographic origins are not a selection criterion as such. The cocoa beans used by PLAQ come from 4 different continents. Taste, aromas and traceability will determine our choice. All cocoa originates from small local agroforestry crops. Bean genetics is a more complex subject. It is often difficult to isolate a single origin.

As for the terms endemic or wild cocoa, they only have very relative relevance. That said, our Chuao from Venezuela is a trinitario hybrid with a high % of criollo genetics (up to 32%). Our Maya Mountain from Belize is a hybrid between Amelonado cocoa and cocoa from the upper Amazon region. Our Kamili cocoa is a classic trinitario therefore hybrid (Amelonado x Criollo), but with a small presence of Neo-Nacional.

The transport of our cocoa beans is mainly done by truck (to go from the farm to the export port, and from the import port to Paris) and by tanker boat. On average, maritime freight represents around 3% of the carbon footprint of dark chocolate. The use of cargo sailboats is currently being studied in certain destinations to further reduce this carbon footprint and above all contribute to the preservation of pollution of the seabed.

Our milk chocolate is as dark as our dark chocolate, it may even be darker than some of our dark chocolates (for example Gran Nativo pure dark from Peru.)

The color of chocolate essentially depends on 3 major elements:

- The color of the cocoa bean: this color varies between very light brown (we even call them blonde or white) to very dark brown.

- Roasting: when you roast very hard (which is not our case) the bean becomes darker (this is normal, it “roasts”)

- The ingredients: milk powder and cocoa butter which will lighten the color (a lot if you use a lot and a little if you use a little.) Our milk chocolate is made with a naturally very dark cocoa bean which comes from Kerela in India and in this milk chocolate we put a large quantity of cocoa beans, a minimum of fat, a pinch of sugar and just a cloud of milk.

The ideal storage temperature for chocolate is around 17° degrees in a dry place (60% max hydrometry). But for tasting, the chocolate will melt better in the mouth and express all its aromas more quickly above 22 degrees.

Even if current legislation grants us 2 years on dark chocolate and 1 year on milk chocolate, we prefer to recommend a shelf life of 10 months for our chocolates. Once this period has passed, the chocolate may have lost some of its specific qualities (organoleptic, physical, etc.) but it is in no way expired and therefore does not present any risk. For precise information, we prefer to specify the date on which the chocolate was molded, this allows you to better appreciate its freshness.

We offer different gift cards at prices ranging from €50 to €100. You can use them multiple times until the credit balance is reached.

To create an account on PLAQ, simply click on “ Login ” at the top right of the screen, then “ Create an account ”.

To change your password, simply click on " Connection ", then on "Forgotten password". You will then receive an email which will allow you to reset it.

You can use different means of payment, in particular: The bank card (carte bleue, Visa, Eurocard/Mastercard, American Express) or the PLAQ gift card.

All payments made on our site are 100% secure. We do not have access to any data relating to your payment methods. Payment is made directly with your banking establishment.

If you wish, sell our Plaq. Please contact us at pro@plaqchocolat.com , and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please contact us at this address pro@plaqchocolat.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you are interested in a collaboration, please contact us at: pro@plaqchocolat.com

Please contact us at pro@plaqchocolat.com , and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you are interested in working at PLAQ, contact us at: job@plaqchocolat.com

If you would like to propose a partnership or co-branding, please contact us at: contact@plaqchocolat.com