Changes

[[File:Chocolaterie Robert 149.jpg]] Chocolaterie Robert has a history of chocolate production dating back to 1937, when a French couple from Réunion Island, Mr and Mrs Robert, set up Madagascar's first chocolate factory in [[Brickaville]], where pralines and chocolate bars were handmade. At the time of the rule of the last Queen of Madagascar, the area around Brickaville was where cacao plantations were first introduced to Madagascar. Following the French colonisation, cocoa production eventually moved to the [[Ambanja]] region which became the preferred location amongst French settlers keen to supply a metropolitan France with agricultural products. In 1958, the factory changed hands to the Berger family and moved to its current location in [[Antananarivo]]. In 1977 the company was sold to the [[Ramanandraibe Group]]. In 1999 the first two La Chocolatière boutiques were launched in Antananarivo. In 2004 two more boutiques opened in [[Antsirabe]] and [[Tamatave]]. In 2008 a La Chocolatière boutique was opened in the departure area of the duty free zone at [[Ivato International Airport]]. In 2011 a small and elegant La Chocolatière boutique opened in the the upmarket shopping and hotel district of Antaninarenina, next to [[Tana Hotel]] and within a short walking distance of [[Hotel Colbert]] and [[Le Louvre Hotel]]. In 2006 Chocolaterie Robert began shipping Mora Mora and Sambirano branded chocolates to Britain, which respectively won the Chocolate Academy's Silver Cup and the Best Buy Ethical Award. However, these two brands are no longer distributed. Since 2009, a range of chocolate bars branded [http://www.ilovao.com VAO VAO] are being exported to the United States through partner distributors. In 2013 Robert began producing a premium range of bars for export branded [[Chocolat Madagascar]].