What are you able to inform us concerning the historical past of Souchet?
Souchet is a Lebanese artisan chocolatier with roots relationship again to 1979. We’re pleased with our heritage and dedicated to crafting our personal chocolate utilizing high-quality elements. Right this moment, we make use of round 80 folks at our state-of-the-art facility, the place we produce all kinds of merchandise tailor-made for every kind of events.
As a part of its meals and beverage division, Advantage acquired Rifai, Lebanon’s main nuts and seeds model, 4 years in the past. Venturing into the chocolate sector felt like a pure subsequent step, particularly because it’s a rising and promising class. Apparently, Souchet had been a accomplice for Rifai; our aim now’s to construct and develop the model, develop its retail presence and embark on what we see as a really thrilling journey.
You latterly opened the primary Souchet boutique in Achrafieh, Beirut. How did you select the placement?
We selected our location in Tabaris, Achrafieh, as a result of it provided nice visibility. It’s located on a distinguished roundabout and simply accessible from a number of instructions. It’s additionally instantly throughout from the Rifai retailer, which presents nice alternatives for synergy between the 2 manufacturers. In the end, we immediately linked with the area and noticed as the proper flagship for our first boutique. And that is only the start, as we’re planning to open extra branches over the approaching yr.
How would you describe your shoppers?
Initially, Souchet operated primarily as a B2B model. Nonetheless, with our first retail retailer, we’ve made a shift towards B2C. What you see right here — all the retail idea, from branding and packaging to the in-store expertise — is a recent creation designed particularly for direct shoppers. Now we have many purchasers within the neighborhood, in addition to many who go to us from different components of Beirut. We’re additionally accessible on Toters for supply, and we’re planning to develop our presence into different areas of the town very quickly.
In your opinion, what differentiates Souchet from different manufacturers available in the market?
Each model has its personal id — its positioning, values, branding and signature merchandise. What units Souchet aside is that we craft our personal chocolate totally in-house. We craft our merchandise utilizing selective cocoa sourced from premium origins, making certain wealthy taste and superior high quality. We use 100-percent pure cocoa butter with none substitutes, and all our uncooked supplies are completely sourced from Europe, upholding the best requirements of purity and traceability. Our group of gifted younger Lebanese cooks stick with it a practice rooted in a secret recipe that dates again to 1979. Certainly, we boldly and proudly protect the essence of the model whereas additionally creating new signature merchandise to mirror evolving tastes throughout generations and buyer profiles.
What are your signature and best-selling objects?
Now we have a number of signature merchandise at Souchet. First, the croustillants, that are nougatine coated in milk or darkish chocolate. They’re crunchy, wealthy and indulgent. We even have tuiles, ganache-based chocolate delicacies accessible in a wide range of flavors like darkish sea salt caramel and milk raspberry crumble. Our pistoles — chocolate rounds with a macaron-like form, full of praline-based ganache in flavors reminiscent of pistachio, espresso and mango — are additionally in style with our clients. And, after all, the best orangettes and gingembrettes, to not point out the perfect feuilletine — a croquant-based should attempt!
What can we count on from Souchet over the approaching months?
We’re including an ice-cream part in our retailer from round June 2025. There, we can be providing a wide range of flavors.
A number of new places are within the pipeline, together with a retailer in Verdun, one at Beirut airport and a seasonal pop-up within the mountains. These tasks can be launched earlier than the tip of 2025.
For now, our focus is on strengthening Souchet’s presence in its house nation. As soon as the model is effectively established domestically, we will doubtlessly discover worldwide enlargement.
