Consumption: boutique bites

Australian Financial Review – BOSS Magazine  

Don’t just chew on it – think Jean Paul Gaultier. The chocolates with attitude designed by Oded Brenner are inspired – at least a little – by the French fashion guru.

Marketing chocolate is one of the toughest jobs around. There’s so much of it one way and the other, and there’s a trick to getting the price point right. Designer chocolate is one way to
add to the allure – and the price.

Still, Australians have embraced the concept of franchised choc shops: The Max Brenner Chocolate Bars – launched by the 35-year-old Israeli with the same surname – have done well here since the first was launched in Sydney’s Paddington in 2000. Brenner says he wanted to create an experience for patrons similar to what they’d find in a coffee bar or a wine bar: “I felt somehow chocolate was kept very sterile, clean. If you look at Godiva [the haute couture Belgian brand] and all the European brands, it is almost like jewellery, it is untouchable. The nature of chocolate, the way chocolate is in our heads, is something that is more passionate. I really felt that although there is a chocolate tradition, there really is no chocolate culture.”
Teeming with novel utensils, weirdly shaped cups and great slabs of chocolate, the Max Brenner bar is the brainchild of a slick-looking Willy Wonka whose designs are cleverly plastered on all the products. The small servings and intricate culinary gadgets add to the trendy boutique feel of the store.

So are we looking at the next Starbucks? Says Brenner: “Coffee is an everyday product, but the nature of chocolate is indulgence – you cannot have a Max Brenner on every corner.”