How to become a chocolatier?

Summary:

• Profession
• Skills
• Required level and diplomas
• Compensation
• Attire
• Career prospects

  

The profession of chocolatier consists of creating creations based on chocolate, for making cakes or sweets. The chocolatier handles the design, preparation, cooking as well as presentation. They work with chocolate to give it a different appearance than its original form. They can make preparations such as creams, ganaches, tiered cakes, etc. They also handle creating pieces for annual events like Easter, Christmas and even birthdays.

 

 

 

  

The world of chocolate making is a field requiring a lot of rigor, creativity, but also patience to create very high quality pieces. Chocolate manipulation is very technical, which is why you must show dexterity and precision. You must be both fast and consistent in your movements.

  

To practice, you can hold a professional Baccalaureate in baker/pastry chef or a bachelor's+2 mastery or technical certificates in chocolatier/confectioner trades.

You should know that there are several paths to practice this profession. You can go through different training programs such as:

•  CAP chocolatier/confectioner
•  CAP pastry chef
•  CAP ice cream maker
•  Additional qualification in pastry, ice cream making, chocolate making, specialized confectionery

You also have the possibility to do a CFA, which is very beneficial. You will complete your training through work-study programs which will allow you to integrate more easily into the working world.

If you want to take over a chocolate shop, a business, you must obtain a BTM (Technical Trades Certificate) diploma. This is a qualification dedicated to craft trades, to be qualified as a worker or qualified employee at level 4.

 

 

 

Regarding the salary of a chocolatier/confectioner, everything depends on their status. If they have a beginner worker status, they start by earning minimum wage, which is a little over $1,200. As an experienced and qualified worker, they can earn between $1,500 and $1,600/month. However, if you work as a self-employed artisan, your salary can range from $3,000 to $4,000/month. As you can understand, you just need to stand out and offer quality products if you want to be successful.

The chocolatier can equip themselves with different equipment to adopt an original uniform that represents the image of their workplace. We will suggest different equipment to constitute your work attire.

• The jacket

The typical attire of a chocolatier consists mainly of a kitchen jacket with single or double buttoning, to be able to remove it easily, but also to protect you as much as possible. It usually has a crew neck collar, as well as short sleeves to avoid any friction and to allow easier chocolate manipulation. For optimal comfort, your jacket must be breathable and easy to maintain. A well-cut kitchen jacket guarantees very good work quality. This is why the Cookie kitchen jacket from SNV is made for you, it is now available in different colors.

• The pants

You will also need pants with some characteristics similar to the jacket, particularly favoring an anti-perspiration material for your comfort. The pants must also be both sturdy and have no hems to avoid any microbes. You should therefore favor a houndstooth cut, that is, fitted to your legs. We invite you to take a look at the HERVE kitchen pants from SNV. They perfectly match the mentioned criteria.

• The shoes 

To guarantee high safety and hygiene in your workplace, you need good shoes, certified, specialized for this profession. You must have safety shoes with EN ISO 20345 standards. These shoes are similar to those of a baker/pastry chef. They must be comfortable and sturdy to last a long time. It would be best to forget about laces and stick with a pair of simple shoes that hold your foot. We have available the pair of S2 moccasins from Portwest. They are ideal for practicing this activity.

• Accessories

To perfect your chocolatier attire, you must equip yourself with essential accessories for your hygiene, safety and the image you provide to your customers.

To protect your head, you can use a toque or a cap to minimize hair and microbe falling into your preparations.

Hands also need to be protected with disposable nitrile or latex gloves. We offer boxes of 100 A295 gloves from Portwest.

Finally, the apron is of great utility to serve as additional protection in addition to your clothing. In general, the chocolatier uses a chef's apron to preserve good freedom of movement. The chef & café waiter apron by the Molinel brand is very comfortable with its cotton material.
 

 

 

The chocolatier has several choices in their career:

Status evolution: During your career, you will gain experience, which will facilitate your status change. According to your motivations, you can open your own workshop and have more freedom to create your pieces and confections. You can also consider going abroad to share your expertise and creations.

You can also expand your skills through continuing education, to increase your experience in pastry, ice cream making, etc. This will result in increasing your customer base while diversifying your products.