Discover Benelux | Food & Drink | A Taste of the Netherlands
Passion for making chocolate TEXT: BAS VAN DUREN | PHOTOS: JKV
JKV Chocolate Moulds and Machines is a family business with a history as rich as the chocolate it helps to create. Based in the southern town of Gilze in the Netherlands, three generations of the Koenen family are, as a reliable partner, responsible for supplying machinery that is necessary for SMEs in the chocolate industry, educating on the usage of the equipment, and supplying an astounding amount of moulds that are on display in what could easily be the Netherlands’ largest chocolate mould exhibition. Picture this: it is 1947 and chocolate is, right after World War II, becoming increasingly popular in Europe, partly due to American soldiers handing out food rations that included confectionary bars. It was around this time that Dutchman Jan Koenen 54 | Issue 52 | April 2018
founded JKV in Gilze, becoming the expert in metal and Bakelite moulds that gradually changed to plastic throughout the years. Now with son Peter and grandson Luca running the business, JKV sports not only an incredible collection of moulds, posters, tin storage cans and much more, it is also the place to be for using their own line of machines that are key in the process of making your own pieces of chocolate. Manager Margriet Brand, who has been with JKV for 35 years, shows the fabrication room where multiple machines are whirring and give off the sweet smell of chocolate. “This is our very own JKV Hermes line that we sell. It melts small chocolate pellets into one liquid mass and keeps it at exactly the same temperature. That’s for preventing the forming of crystals which in turn are lethal for getting the choc-
olate out of the mould. This way, you can be sure the chocolate comes out exactly the way you want it, without any bits and pieces breaking off.” Said moulds are fabricated by JKV themselves and there is not much they cannot do: from the usual tablets imprinted with company logos, to three-feet-high Easter bunnies and from kitchen cutlery to the standard bonbon forms, anything is possible at the company in Gilze. “It’s a great idea for promotional gifts or as a company outing to come over here and make these chocolate creations yourself. It’s a sheer pleasure to work with chocolate or see the exhibition with Peter Koenen as your guide, because every mould has its own story.” Web: www.jkvnl.com