Genaveh chocolate: Luxembourg’s answer to Willy Wonka

One of the most enduring classics in modern children’s literature is probably Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which the central character finds a “golden ticket” inside a Wonka chocolate bar for a money-can’t-buy tour of Willy Wonka’s fantastical sweet factory – after which life would never be the same again.

The British novel was adapted for the big screen in 1971 and again by Tim Burton in 2005.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory may well be the bedside book of Alexandra Kahn, director of the Genaveh chocolate factory, who has proudly recycled the idea to mark the firm’s 20th anniversary this year, by deciding to slip two golden tickets into various chocolate boxes every month.

Two “golden tickets” are to be found in the chocolate boxes each month © Photo credit: Genaveh

A visit to the chocolate factory in Steinfort is planned to be one of the prizes up for grabs later in the year, and chocolate lovers can already win a particularly indulgent gift this February: a year’s supply of chocolate. The lucky winners of the February prize will receive an assortment of treats at home every month, ranging from new creations to the company’s classics.

The return of Geula Naveh’s iconic chocolates

“We’re also planning other events to highlight this anniversary, such as various workshops for young and old organised at our Steinfort premises and the return to the shop of some iconic chocolate products, such as Picasso and Japonais,” says Kahn.

The chocolates were originally created by Geula Naveh, founder of the chocolate factory whose name is a simple contraction of her first and last names. The adventure began in 2005 in the kitchen of the woman who had followed her husband, a teacher, on a number of trips, the last of which took him to Luxembourg City – before continuing on Route d’Arlon to Strassen, then to Steinfort, where the Genaveh workshops can still be found today.

The late Geula Naveh, pictured in 2006 © Photo credit: LW archives

“I never met her,” says Kahn, who finalised the takeover of the company at the end of 2017, following the death of Naveh and after almost a year of negotiations. “She was ill and, inevitably, absent from the workshop,” she notes, comparing the company of that period to a boat which was having a hard time staying on course without its captain.

New energy and expansion

“My first objective was quite simply to become profitable again,” explains Kahn, who originally hails from Paris but whose family originates from Lorraine on her mother’s side and Alsace on her father’s. Aged 26 when she took over the business, she succeeded in injecting new energy into it.

“This project has grown little by little,” she says, as if trying to play down her success. From the outside looking in, however, everything actually seems to have happened rather quickly. In just over seven years, she has managed to increase annual production fivefold, from five tonnes of chocolate to 25 tonnes.

At the same time, the firm has done almost as well in terms of staff numbers: growing from five employees in 2017 to 21 permanent jobs today, plus five seasonal workers at the most “chocolatey” times of the year [i.e. the end-of-year festivities and Easter]. All this has been achieved by doubling the size of the workshop from 400 to 800 square metres in Steinfort, a stone’s throw from the Belgian border.

Alexandra Kahn spent three years working in luxury marketing in Hong Kong, after completing a master’s degree in finance and another in entrepreneurship © Photo credit: Sandra Packard

But her influence seems to go far beyond these figures, impressive though they may seem. Accompanied by her head chocolatier, Romain Rougeck – recently replaced by François Roulhac – she has revamped Genaveh chocolates. Geula Naveh’s expertise was indisputable – the award she won at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris in 2006 is proof of that – but “her sweets were no longer promoted as they should have been, their potential clearly under-exploited”.

Into the world of luxury

Under the impetus of the new director, the sweets were taken into a world that had previously been more or less unknown to them: the luxury market.

Kahn, on the other hand, was no stranger to this world, having spent three years working in luxury marketing in Hong Kong, after completing a master’s degree in finance and another in entrepreneurship.

By obtaining the title of official supplier to the Grand-Ducal Court in 2022, by modifying certain recipes – to modernise them – but also by bringing additional refinement to the design of the chocolates and the boxes containing them, Genaveh has changed its image.

The opening of an equally elegant boutique in the city centre – just a stone’s throw from Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Mauboussin – has only reinforced this. “You start eating chocolate with your eyes,” smiles Kahn, who since 2022 has had a place worthy of showcasing her chocolates. “Geula Naveh dreamt of this boutique in Luxembourg City, and we’ve made it a reality,” she says.

The boutique on Rue Philippe II in Luxembourg’s capital, where you’ll also find Chanel and Louis Vuitton © Photo credit: Sandra Packard

Keen to keep the company rooted as one where she “knows the name of every employee”, Kahn has no desire to push the Genaveh machine much further, at least in terms of production. But don’t talk to her about stagnation: “I’m someone who thrives on challenges,” Kahn replies.

There will be other projects, in areas other than pure expansion. Not necessarily internationally, even though her chocolates are distributed in a number of fine grocers, such as La Grande Épicerie du Bon Marché in Paris, Bayley & Sage in London and Edible Treasures in Amsterdam.

But there’s one thing that’s always constant: a love of food. “And chocolate,” she hastens to add. “Because I couldn’t feel more fulfilled than I am today. I’ve really found my vocation.” Or perhaps her golden ticket.

(This article was originally published by Virgule. Translation and editing by Alex Stevensson.)