7 Dec 2017
Technical Advisor (TA) Michel Eyckerman is always on the lookout for new trends and ideas linked to chocolate. He travels the world to train and inspire customers to work with the different ranges of Puratos chocolate products. In this interview, Michel gives us some insight into his job. We hope to inspire you with some of the beautiful chocolate miracles made with his own hands.
Michel Eyckerman joined Puratos 11 years ago after years of working as an artisanal chocolate maker. He’s now the Technical Advisor for chocolate and chocolate in patisserie, as well as the supervisor of the Belcolade Chocolate Centre. Michel spends his working days training colleagues, developing recipes and giving demonstrations on how to use Puratos products to create the perfect chocolate.
Eight to 10 weeks per year, Michel travels to other countries, joining exhibitions and events and giving workshops to local Puratos teams and customers. Michel says, “In our job, we travel the whole world. From Australia to the USA, passing through China or Dubai is not an exception. I have already seen a lot of countries. But believe me - when we travel, it’s for work, not for tourism!”
The weeks between Michel’s trips are filled with preparations, the creation of new products and recipes, and giving workshops. These ‘egg-celent’ creations are the result of an Easter Egg Workshop for customers in the Belcolade Chocolate Centre.
In July 2017, Michel went to Iran to give workshops and demos on chocolate sculpture making. He first trained the local Puratos team, and later that week, Iranian customers were invited for a training. “On every trip, my goal is to train the people and share as much knowledge as I can,” says Michel. “When you work with chocolate, the biggest challenge in foreign countries is the working conditions you will encounter. Where the Belcolade Centre is air-conditioned and equipped with a lot of materials, in other countries it’s often different. On every trip, we need to adapt to the environment and equipment, which is always quite an adventure and an interesting way to continuously challenge our creativity and expertise.”
In his 11 years career at Puratos, Michel has made the most beautiful sculptures and delicious creations with chocolate. See some examples to get some sweet inspiration:
1. Yuzu Brownie chocolate cake made with Belcolade Origins Vietnam 73.
2. Artistic piece for a training for customers from Uruguay: panning, chocolates, and Easter eggs.
3. Chocolate Dacquoise sponge with an orange marmalade. Crispy layer with peanuts, sea salt, PatisFrance Hazelnut praline and a chocolate mousse made with Belcolade Origins Vietnam 45. Made in a training for Korean customers.
4. Teaching our Mexican colleagues how to make chocolate from A to Z.
5. Teaching our Mexican colleagues how to make panning from A to Z.
6. Making new dessert ideas for a new brochure to launch Belcolade Cacao Trace chocolate.
7. Making a chocolate sculpture from A to Z for Iranian customers in the Chocolate Café at the Innovation Centre of Puratos Iran.
Interested to know how our Technical Advisors can support your business? Contact your local Puratos representative.