The Salon du Chocolat is the world’s largest event dedicated to chocolate and cocoa. The 26th edition of the Salon du Chocolat took place from October 28 to November 1, 2021. The Salon du Chocolat was rich and full of surprises, during 5 days at the Porte de Versailles, enjoyed a spectacular fashion show, live demonstrations fun animations and prestigious competitions.

The Salon du Chocolat is the global must-see event for all chocolate lovers: Over 500 participants from around the globe, more than 60 countries was represented. Exhibitors all under one roof for 5 days, which include the biggest names in chocolate and pastry, and the largest showcase of chocolates from the 5 continents and the presence of cocoa-producing countries

The Salon du Chocolat is a show for the whole family featuring an exclusive programme of activities and events together with exhibitors’ stands: A demo stage with a line-up of top chefs; The Chocolate Fashion Show; Prestigious competitions; 
Exhibits and chocolate sculptures; Live performances by cocoa-producing countries; A children’s area; Pastry workshops; Talks and tastings and Booksignings.

Salon du Chocolat started with a love story, Sylvie Douce was running an event management firm. The idea of creating a show based on chocolate suddenly came to her and, at a dinner in 1994,. The couple decided to go ahead and inaugurate the 1st edition of the Salon du Chocolat on 28 October 1995, featuring 40 pioneering exhibitors at the Eiffel Branly convention centre. It was a resounding success, with 40,000 visitors.

The Show set off to conquer the largest cities in France and abroad. In 1998, the show headed to New York, it was a great success. Major television networks promoted the event and audiences queued up over five blocks, bringing the traffic in an entire Manhattan neighbourhood to a standstill. After the United States, the Salon headed for Asia. In 2002, the Salon du Chocolat signed a historic partnership with the Isetan department store chain in Tokyo and expanded into several major Japanese cities.

The Salon du Chocolat has been held 237 times since its creation, with some fifteen events held every year on four continents. Host cities include Beijing, Moscow, Shanghai, Cairo, Salvador de Bahia, Lima, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bologna, Cologne, Zurich, Monaco, Brussels, London, Marseille, Cannes, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille, Nantes…

Highlights
For 5 days of Chocolat Paris 2021, met the players in the chocolate and cocoa industry. Chocolatiers, pastry chefs, cocoa producers, major brands, food bloggers: they shared their passion with you. They were all gathered to offer an unforgettable experience.

Pastry chefs
After a great success during its first edition in 2019, the pastry space was back. The “Trophée International de la Pâtisserie” : this international pastry competition honors the entire pastry profession, and allows professionals and amateurs to defend their creations to the general public and to a jury of experts. The theme for this year was “the traditional log”.

In the Pastry chefs section participator gathered to showcase animations, demos and exhibitions entirely dedicated to pastry. In the program : the greatest chefs on stage for amazing demos on the Pastry Show stage. There also an exhibition of the most beautiful Christmas creations, sculptures and other monumental chocolate works

Destination Cacao
The Salon du Chocolat was also a unique opportunity to meet cocoa producers, essential and irreplaceable players in the entire chocolate industry. Producers from all over the world were present at the Show to reveal all the secrets and the richness of their cocoa. You learned more about the various origins and production methods of this unique bean and become an expert too.

Live performances

Chocolate, technique and sharing
The greatest pastry chefs, young talents and renowned chocolate makers prepared their best chocolate recipes during exceptional masterclasses on the Pastry Show stage.

The chocolate fashion show
For more than 25 years, renowned chocolatiers and couturiers have collaborated to offer you unique and dazzling shows. Once again this year, they have gone above and beyond with their work and imagination to offer a collection of fascinating and delicious masterpieces.

The art of chocolate
The exhibition “Bûche, ô ma bûche” was back this year with the most beautiful Christmas creations : ephemeral works of art imagined by iconic pastry chefs. Sculptures, monumental works and photo exhibitions: many surprises has been prepared and crafted by our renowned chefs.

Chocolate sculpture of Napoleon
To mark the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death, Jean-Luc Decluzeau, a chocolate artist from Limours in Essonne and history lover, has decided to create his own chocolate creation. He presented at the Salon a bas-relief inspired by Jacques-Louis David’s painting “Bonaparte franchissant le Grand Saint-Bernard”.

Made with more than 100 kg of chocolate and 1.65 meters wide and 1.10 meters high, this work is the result of more than 120 hours of work. The chocolatier started with a picture of the famous painting and then made a life-size drawing before directly molding the sculpture in a block of chocolate.

International Awards of french pastry
The international awards of French Pastry organised by the Confédération Nationale des Artisans Pâtissiers, took place on the Salon du Chocolat from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1st 2021. The competition was held in public, on the stand of the Confédération Nationale des Artisans Pâtissiers Chocolatiers Glaciers Confiseurs Traiteurs (CNAP).

This year topic was “traditional Christmas cake”. Contests was separated in 2 categories: Amateurs and professionals. This international contest dedicated to pastry is celebrating the whole pastry profession and allow professionals and amateurs to defend their creations toward jury of experts and public. MOF, World Champions and passionate experts were part of the jury.

The Nutella Academy
This year, the final of the second edition of the Nutella Academy took place at the Salon du Chocolat. For this new edition, more than 70 apprentice pastry chefs competed by revisiting the classics of French pastry with Nutella as the main ingredient. A unique pastry competition, which reveals the future talents of French pastry. This competition was created with the collaboration of Chef Gregory Cohen, Ferrero ambassador.