Join us for an exclusive tasting as you hear from EFactor's favorite chocolatier Joan Coukos and chocolate expert Clay Gordon on what you’re missing out when buying from the masses. And just in time to impress that special someone, you’ll be walking away with some chocolate swag!
After attending, you’ll have insights on:
● Chocolate entrepreneur industry
● Pros and cons of the industry
● How to compete against the big guys
Speakers:
Joan Coukos, Chocolatier & CEO of CHOCOLAT MODERNE, is a Native New Yorker. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a degree in French and Russian, and received an MBA from UNC Chapel Hill before entering the New York banking scene. Her extensive career included six years in Moscow during the rough and tumble days of Russia’s transition to a market economy, after which she returned to New York and Wall Street in 1999.
Open to new inspiration and challenge, in December 2000, after a trip to Brussels, she began creating recipes back in her tiny Manhattan kitchen. Her co-workers became the first enthusiastic guinea pigs, and upon receiving repeated accolades, she began taking formal steps to becoming a chocolatier.
Joan has studied chocolate and confectionery arts with a coterie of world-class French, Belgian, American and Swiss chocolatiers in NY and at The World Pastry Forum in Las Vegas. She is also a member of the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance. Now, after five years of honing her craft, Joan is creating sumptuous assortments of luxury gift boxed chocolates in her own chocolate laboratory on West 20th Street.
Clay Gordon is an internationally recognized independent authority on chocolate. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and named co-inventor on four patents, Clay Gordon is a veteran of high-tech startups in computer graphics, interactive multimedia, information management, and the Internet -- as well as in the world of chocolate.
Since 2001, Clay has combined his passion for chocolate, his understanding of digital technologies, his experience with cacao and chocolate from the farm to consumers’ mouths, and his abilities as a writer and storyteller to educate people around the world about cacao, chocolate, and pairing.
Clay is most active as a consultant working with chocolate makers and confectioners to help start and grow their chocolate business, and consulting in the areas of product development, marketing and market positioning, equipment and ingredient sourcing, facilities design, distribution, and related business challenges.
