In 1997, when my passion for fine chocolate started, the only premium bar I could buy in The Netherlands was Valrhona's Le Noir. For many years it was very difficult to get good chocolate. At some places you saw more bars of Valrhona and if you were lucky one of Amedeis.Still there was not much going on. For the real stuff I visited Paris a lot.

But the last two years there is a chocolate revolution going on in The Netherlands!In 2009 Kees Raat, our most famous chocolatier , opened his new "Metropolitan Deli" in Amsterdam. He makes delicious truffles and lollypops with Original Beans Piura Porcelana couverture and he sells bars of Pacari, Akesson's, The Grenada Chocolate Companyand of course Original Beans.

In the same year "Chocoweb", an online chocolate shop, was launched. A lot of bars you couldn't get here before were now only a mouse click away.

In the two last months of 2010 two new chocolate shops opened in Amsterdam. The first is "VANDERDONK Fine Chocolates", it offers bars by Bonnat, Fine & Raw, Donna Elvira and many more. They also make wonderful French-style chocolates.The other one is "Chocoltl", it has an almost completely different collection: Pralus, Askinosie, Corallo, Amano, Domori, etc.

So the real chocoholic who wants his collection complete must visit them all! The owners of the shops createdtheir own unique style. But what they share is a true passion for chocolate.....and Original Beans' bars!