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GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com n JANUARY 2018 n GOURMET NEWS 7 6 The Untold Story of Manhattan's Oldest Chocolate House For nearly 100 years, Li-Lac Chocolates has been handcrafting gourmet, small batch chocolate and confections in New York City using the same old-world cooking methods and time-honored recipes. Since 1923 — when French-trained founder George Demetrious made and sold his chocolate out of the original Christopher Street location — Li-Lac has built a loving, loyal following which appreciates the company's obsession with quality, freshness and adherence to treasured traditions over fleeting trends. Over the past six years, however, current owners Anthony Cirone, Chris Taylor and Master Chocolatier Anwar Khoder have taken Manhattan's oldest chocolate house to grand new heights. With one of the largest selections of fresh, gourmet chocolate in the country — over 120 unique items — and a growing roster of locations, the brand is poised to remain a New York favorite for generations to come. Anthony Cirone's relationship with Li-Lac began as so many others have: with an emo- tional connection to the chocolate. He was a Global Brand Director at Unilever for 13 years, and as a West Village resident, a fre- quent patron of the Christopher Street store. Cirone had always dreamed of owning his own business, so when his interest in corpo- rate life waned, he began looking for a com- pany he believed in enough to purchase. At wit's end after five years of searching, he de- cided to write his favorite chocolate com- pany a letter inquiring if it was for sale. He received no answer, and it would be another two and a half years before he made any progress, but in 2011 he finally purchased Li-Lac with the mission of making it an iconic New York brand. His contributions have been dramatic, from refreshing the branding to opening three new locations with plans for additional New York City expan- sion. When Cirone arrived, he found that Li- Lac's Master Chocolatier, Anwar Khoder, was the glue holding everything together. Khoder had originally come to the U.S. from Lebanon to study computer programming, but when the economy crashed in the late 1980s, his job as a Yellow Cab driver wasn't enough to support his education. In 1989, a family member got him a job at Li-Lac as a favor, and he fell in love with the company immediately. He climbed the ranks swiftly and used his natural affinity for business to make significant contributions to the effi- ciency of the operation. When the candy maker at the time could no longer keep up, Khoder took over, adding chocolatier to his growing list of titles, and becoming fiercely protective of the original recipes. He ran the retail efforts and candy making under numer- ous owners, ensuring that Li-Lac's Old World standards and processes were upheld. When Cirone came into the picture, he rec- ognized Khoder's value and dedication, and made him part owner. Khoder's only condition was that Cirone leave the original recipes un- touched and continue craft- ing in small batches by hand. The team has since grown Li-Lac to five locations: West Village, Greenwich Village, Chelsea Market, Grand Central Market, and the Sunset Park Industry City factory/store. The factory is a buzzing chocolate wonder- land where glass windows allow visitors to watch Li-Lac candy being made using tech- niques unchanged for nearly a century. From here, the chocolate is delivered daily to Li-Lac's other retail locations, ensuring that the product is uncommonly fresh. The front entrance of the factory is lined with gift boxes, seasonal treats and year-round mainstays like the popular New York- themed pieces, the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building, to name a few. A glass display showcases classics including salted caramels, butter crunch, marzipan acorns, cream patties, coconut clusters, glace orange peels and French mints. Aside from the visible treats at the counter, what most people aren't aware of is the sheer number of unique items available for pur- chase – more than 120, which is one of the largest selections in the country. And as Khoder will happily divulge, the secret to his high-quality chocolate is comparatively high levels of real cocoa and cocoa butter in the recipe. PB&J Bars, Chocolate Oreos, nonpareils, Molasses Crunch and legendary fudge are just some of the other options, all handmade fresh to order, and completely kosher. Past the display and into the factory, two original, thick marble slabs trans- ported from the Christopher Street location are still used daily for candy creation. Here, handmade ganache is mixed and pounded with a wooden beater to soften it, while marzipan is rolled into acorn shapes using an antique wooden apparatus. Large copper kettles like the ones George Demetri- ous used in the 1920s are still employed to painstakingly cook fudge. Hidden in a safe is Demetrious' original notebook containing his hand-written recipes. A team of 20 pas- sionate employees can be found at different stations squeezing nonpareils into shape, fill- ing custom molds, sprinkling salt onto fresh caramels, hand-wrapping orders, and guid- ing fillings through the conveyor belt choco- late coating machine that runs the length of the front window. Li-Lac also has a large selection of spe- cialty molds, including some antiques that date back to the company's origins. The col- lection offers options tailored to a vast array of hobbies and interests, from chocolate lip- stick to full chess sets, animals, cars, letters, numbers and more. They can produce pocket-sized treats all the way up to life-size renditions of holiday favorites like turkeys and champagne bottles. Natural Foods Companies Band Together to Combat Global Warming By Lorrie Baumann Natural food producers are mobilizing to take the lead in the fight to reverse climate change caused by human activity. It's just good business to reduce the potential risks of global catastrophe, they say. "Growing food is dependent on a climate that's conducive to growing food," said Sheila Ongie, Sustain- ability Specialist for the National Co-Op Grocers Association. "Our entire industry in food is dependent on a stable and predictable climate." "It's important that we bring our philo- sophical understanding into the heart of com- merce," added Gary Hirshberg, Chairman and former Chief Executive Officer of or- ganic dairy producer Stonyfield Farm. "Until November 8, we thought we were winning. This shows us how fragile it is." March 8 marked the official launch of a new Climate Collaborative, an association of natural food manufacturers, retailers, distrib- utors and suppliers from the natural foods in- dustry who have banded together to take action on a problem that's already having negative impacts on their particular busi- nesses as well as on the planet in general. "You know that things are happening, and climate is changing," said Katherine DeMat- teo, the Executive Director of the Sustainable Food Trade Association and a leader in the Climate Collaborative, which announced its initiative in Anaheim, California, during a conference day leading off the annual Natu- ral Products Expo West. "There's opportuni- ties in there for us to take the initiative.... Our idea is to inspire and ignite." The Climate Collaborative is drawing its leadership from a range of natural products manufacturers, business and policy consult- ants and non-profit organizations already working on issues related to food sustainabil- ity and climate change. They found a ready audience among the Natural Products Expo West attendees, which include many compa- nies that had already set themselves goals for energy conservation and reduction of their carbon footprints and who were eager to make their commitments with respect to cli- mate change public in this forum. "We clearly have a consensus for action – maybe not a unanimous agreement," said Tobias Schultz, the Manager of Corporate Sustain- ability Services for SCS Global Services, which provides third-party certification and auditing for companies pursuing sustainabil- ity objectives. "If you think of tackling the climate change puzzle that has to be solved, we have begun to put together some of the pieces." Schultz noted that scientists across the globe agree that the Earth has been warming since the Industrial Revolution began around 1750, and that warming accelerated around the time of World War II, leaving us today with average temperatures shattering all records. They also have a strong consensus on what we can expect the Earth's climate to do over the next few decades, he said. "We probably have five or 10 years at the most" to control greenhouse gas emissions before desperate measures would be required to stop the Earth from becoming unlivable, he suggested. The Climate Collaborative is urging com- panies to take action on climate change in nine areas: agriculture, energy efficiency, food waste, forestry practices and deforesta- tion, packaging, engagement in climate pol- icy, renewable energy, emissions of climate pollutants and transportation. Each of those areas has been identified as an area in which natural products business leaders can make decisions and take actions that have an im- pact on the future of climate change, accord- ing to the Collaborative. Schultz noted that globally, agriculture is responsible for about 35 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, freight transport accounts for about 6 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and food waste is estimated to create about 2 to 3 percent of greenhouse gases, mainly as methane result- ing from food decomposition. SCS Global Services recommends a five- step process relative to climate change, start- ing with measuring a company's carbon footprint, Schultz said. Once a company has collected data and calculated the magnitude of its carbon footprint, it's in a position to set targets for reduction and to set policies to re- duce emissions. SCS Global Services gener- ally recommends that companies consider using carbon offsets to achieve carbon neu- trality and then to verify neutrality and report that to the public as part of a corporate trans- parency initiative that can drive business value. "You have to be able to connect it to business values," Shultz said. "There's no reason you can't do that." Companies have three avenues for en- hancing their business value with public commitments to action on climate change, according to Schultz. They can use climate- friendly marketing to boost sales, they can use climate-friendly messages to enhance brand recognition, and they can anticipate and mitigate supply chain disruptions that result from climate change. Examples of companies using their greenhouse gas emis- sion planning to enhance their brand in- clude Delta Airlines and Biogen, a pharmaceuticals manufacturer, while Guayaki, a producer of yerba mate, is gain- ing recognition for its commitment to re- store 200,000 acres of rainforest by 2020, which will produce 1,000 new jobs in the areas of South America in which its yerba mate is grown. Target issued responsible sourcing goals just last November that in- clude a climate change plank, and the mass market retailer is currently developing plans to align its global supply chain with that program, said Jennifer Silberman, Target's Vice President, Corporate Social Responsi- bility. Stonyfield Farm, Inc. has measured more than $40 million in savings due to in- vestments in climate change, Hirshberg said. Those investments include redesigning product packaging to reduce weight and measures to improve supply chain security, he said. "It isn't just supply availability – it's price," he said. The savings also come from improved em- ployee retention and recruitment, Hirshberg said, adding that data suggest that 70 percent to 80 percent of Millennials make their pur- chasing decisions based partly on issues like climate change. Those values are also re- flected in their decisions about where they'll make a living, he said. "They want to work for companies that are part of the solution," Hirshberg said. "This is a very powerful re- tention tool."