Beyond the historic wooden houses and windmills, the Zaan area is the heart of the Netherlands’ cacao industry, this is right where our studio is located, in Zaandijk.
zaandijk.
Fun fact: OFI, one of the world’s largest cacao processors, is our next-door neighbor! The area has a long history of cacao production—and yes, it really does smell like chocolate here.
The Zaan region has been a hub for Dutch cocoa and chocolate as far back as the late 17th century, thanks to its windmills for grinding and processing raw materials. Important Dutch inventions, like Van Houten’s cacao alkalising (also called Dutching) process, gave the industry a major boost and paved the way for famous local brands like Verkade, now a household name In the Netherlands.
Today, the region’s rich chocolate heritage is still celebrated— especially right here in our studio, where we love sharing the magic of bean-to-bar chocolate making.
“We did a workshop and it was so much fun. Kids absolutely loved it. Hans was very nice and explained everything so well to us. The chocolate process was very interesting and we got to taste different percentages of chocolate and at the end we got to make our own delicious truffle chocolate that just melted in our mouths! Highly recommend visiting them!."
- Former customer