Over the decades, its reputation has been built by showcasing expertise from all professions: pastry chefs, chocolatiers, and bakers from France, Europe, and worldwide. In the heart of Pavilion 5 at the Paris Expo, this year’s theme will focus on time throughout its five-day duration, with approximately 30 countries representing the chocolate sector.
Saudi Arabia will also be represented at this year’s Salon du Chocolat de Paris 2024, showcasing its finest chocolatiers in the country’s gastronomic culture.
Its position as a trailblazer has made it the world’s biggest event for the sweet gastronomy sector, with shows in nine different countries. Television programmes dedicated to baking, and a generation of ambitious artisan entrepreneurs, have put cakes and chocolates firmly in the public eye.
While Salon du Chocolat is primarily a trade event, it is unique because it opens its doors to the public and is a popular destination for consumers over a public holiday weekend.
Organisers The Comexposium Group said the Salon du Chocolat de Paris expects to welcome 250 exhibitors and 92,000 visitors this year, slightly up from 2023.
Salon du Chocolat in numbers
- 265 Salons since its creation
- 15 Trade Fairs each year on four continents
- 1 million+ visitors
Its goal has remained unchanged since its inception: to contribute to developing an entire sector ‘united under the banner of sweet gastronomy’ while forging connections between the links in the value chain from bean to bar and the creation of sweet treats.
Sustainability and environment
Sustainability and environmental issues are also important. “The time has now come to focus on the raw material itself. The presence of producer countries, with which the exhibition has a long-standing and privileged relationship, bears witness to this trend: consumers' appetite for transparency is constantly growing,” the organisers said.
Diversity and the rise of female cocoa entrepreneurs are also reflected this year, with a particular focus on women, spotlighting the talent of companies such as Les oursons de Manon, A-typica - a range of bean-to-bar chocolates with Caribbean roots and Oh Oui! -low glycaemic index pastries.
Producers from origin countries Peru, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Cameroon will represent female growers, and by bringing them face-to-face with consumers, the Salon du Chocolat de Paris offers a unique environment to experience a more human approach and mindful pleasure.
Paris fashion mixes with chocolate
But this is Paris, and the Gala Opening Evening (29 October) will bring together names from the fashion world. Stylists and chocolatiers will work behind the scenes for a spectacular show organized in aid of the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque association.
The show will subsequently be held every day at 4pm and 5pm, rising to the challenge of bringing indulgence to life. These catwalk shows bring the worlds of fashion and confectionery together. The haute couture houses organize them, incorporating chocolate creations on a journey through time, from Ancient Rome and Greece to the Baroque and the Sixties.
The Salon du Chocolate promises a unique opportunity for young and old alike to discover new flavours, textures, and ways of working with chocolate cocoa from the best origins and everything associated with it .. making chocolate an uninhibited pleasure that is accessible to all.
The next Salon du Chocolat will be held from October 30 to November 3, 2024, at Paris Porte de Versailles. Tickets and more information are available at salon-du-chocolat.com.