Our interview with the NU Chocolat Family

We got the opportunity to interview the family behind NU Chocolat and try out some of their delicious truffles. Enjoy!

 Q: So, what’s the story behind NU Chocolat?

Rowan: “We were all at a turning point in our lives a handful of years ago, and we were all sort of wondering what we were going to do next. We had the crazy idea to start a chocolate shop! My father, Kevin, had trained with a Swiss chef back in the early 80s, so he’s always had the technique and ability to do this. We were like, ‘let’s put that to use and start a chocolate business!’”

Q: What is your favorite aspect of working in a family business?

Virginia: “I think working together as a family is our greatest asset, but it’s also one of our greatest challenges. The beauty of working together is that it really forces us to confront whatever issues we might have and really improve our communication with each other. We have no choice but to learn to work better as a team. I think that deepens our relationship, not only as coworkers but as a family too, which is a really valuable opportunity.”

Q: Do you have any funny memories from growing up around so much chocolate?

Rowan: “I remember getting really tired of eating chocolate. After dinner I would be like ‘what’s for dessert? Oh, these amazing chocolate truffles? I want ice cream and boxed brownies!’ Obviously that’s not the case anymore!”

Virginia: “I have kids, they’re 9 and a half year old twins and they don’t like chocolate! If you grow up around chocolate, it’s everywhere. They want to eat Skittles! When I was a kid we lived in a house in the Northeast Kingdom…It wasn’t separated into apartments, but there were two separate kitchens…The first floor one was our family kitchen, and the second floor one was the production kitchen where our parents made chocolate. They had a mail order business in the ‘90s and early 2000s…When all of our friends would come over, it was a big deal to them to ‘raid the chocolate kitchen!’ My friends still talk about how that was such a special thing.”

Q: What is your favorite NU Chocolat product?

Rowan: “The truffles!…Truffles are where a lot of the expertise shines through because the truffle is kind of the number one thing you can mess up…Part of that is the texture of the creamy ganache center, which is basically an emulsification of fresh Vermont cream and chocolate. There’s a lot of science that goes into making that ganache center very smooth and creamy. We also use all real ingredients when we flavor the truffles. For example, we have a passion fruit truffle…we take fresh passion fruit puree and we blend that in with the ganache, so you’re getting that real passion fruit taste as opposed to just a flavoring.”

Q: When you’re not eating chocolate, where’s your favorite spot to get dessert?

Virginia: “I would probably say Shy Guy Gelato!”

Rowan: “It’s phenomenal, he’s a great guy, great business!”