Debauve & Gallais

Debauve & Gallais

Type	Privately held company
Industry	Confectionery production
Founded	1800
Founder(s)	Sulpice Debauve
Headquarters	Paris, France
Key people	Paule Cuvelier (CEO)
Products	Chocolates
Website	www.debauveandgallais.com

Debauve & Gallais, is a French chocolate manufacturer founded by Sulpice Debauve in 1800. After his nephew Antoine Gallais joined the company in 1823, the company adopted their current name. In 1819 the company received the royal warrant as purveyors to the French court, and was the official chocolate supplier of kings Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis Philippe.

History

Sulpice Debauve (1757-1836), former chemist to French king Louis XVI, devised "the novel combination of cocoa, cane sugar, and medicine after Marie Antoinette complained to him about the unpleasant taste of the medicines she had to take."The queen was so pleased that she named those exquisite coin-shaped chocolates “Pistoles”. Debauve continued to create a variety of flavored Pistoles for the queen. Finally in 1800, Debauve opened his first chocolate shop on the left bank of Paris, at 4 Faubourg Saint-Germain.
In 1816, Debauve was appointed as the sole chocolate supplier to the French royal families. In 1819, Napoleon’s official architects Percier and Fontaine designed the new shop,which is now classified as a historical monument, located at 30 Rue des Saints-Pères. In 1823, Debauve took in his nephew Auguste Gallais, also a chemist, as an associate in order to create and distribute his dietary chocolates, – known then as "healthy chocolates" – made with almond milk, vanilla and orange blossom water. Gallais published four years later his Monographie du Cacao which offered a scientific approach to cocoa.

Nowadays

Debauve & Gallais claims to be one of the few former royal suppliers in France who remain their independence, family owned and operated till today. In 1989, Madame Paule Cuvelier took over Debauve & Gallais establishment. With the help of her son, Bernard Poussin, Debauve & Gallais has now expanded their business worldwide: New York, Seoul, Athens, Dubai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Chengdu.

Appreciation

Debauve & Gallais offers a wide range of dark chocolates whose cocoa percentage comes as high as 99%. Over time they have built a cult following among gourmands, aristocrats, artists, writers and celebrities. Anatole France, author of Le Petit Pierre, describes the shop as "lovely".

References

Bibliography
Walks through Marie Antoinette’s Paris, Diana Reid Haig, Ravenhall Books (2006), ISBN 978-1-905043-08-8
Walks through Napoleon &Josephine’s Paris, Diana Reid Haig, The Little Bookroom (2004), ISBN 978-1-892145-25-3
Chocolate French, TCB-Cafe Publishing (2004), ISBN 978-0-9674898-4-1

See also

• Royal Warrant

External links

• Official website