Belgian Chocolate Guide

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Belgian chocolate has a reputation to live up to, and in our experience it does. The quality in even an ordinary shop is remarkable, the variety is dizzying, and a box to take home is one of the best souvenirs the country offers, if it survives the journey. This is our complete guide to Belgian chocolate: what makes it special, the praline that Belgium gave the world, the types worth trying, every major brand you will come across, and how to buy the best of it. It is part of our wider what to eat in Belgium guide and our Paris and Belgium itinerary by Eurostar.

What makes Belgian chocolate special

Belgium does not grow a single cocoa bean, yet it is synonymous with chocolate, and that comes down to craft rather than climate. Belgian chocolatiers built their reputation on smooth, finely ground chocolate with a high cocoa content and, above all, on the filled praline. Traditional houses still make their pralines fresh in small batches, which is why a chocolate bought from a counter in Brussels tastes different from a mass-produced bar. There is even a long-standing tradition, no longer a strict legal rule, that proper Belgian chocolate uses pure cocoa butter with no vegetable-fat substitutes. The result is chocolate treated as a craft rather than a commodity.

The praline: Belgium’s great invention

The filled chocolate, or praline, was invented in Brussels. In 1912 Jean Neuhaus created the first praline by filling a hard chocolate shell with a soft centre, and a few years later his wife designed the ballotin, the elegant boxed packaging that chocolates are still sold in today. A Belgian praline is not the praline paste you might know from elsewhere; it is a bite-sized filled chocolate, and the fillings run from ganache and gianduja to caramel, coffee, liqueur and fruit.

The types of chocolate to try

The praline is the headline, but the counter holds more than that. Pralines themselves come in endless fillings, and truffles, dusted in cocoa, are richer and softer. The manon, a cream-filled white chocolate often with a walnut, is a Belgian speciality, as are orangettes, strips of candied orange peel dipped in dark chocolate. You will find filled chocolate batons, marzipan, and in winter thick drinking chocolate that is a world away from a packet of cocoa. If you are buying to take home, a mixed ballotin lets you taste across the whole range in one box.

The major Belgian chocolate brands

Belgium has more chocolate names than any traveller can get through, from global household brands to tiny artisan shops. Here are the major ones you will come across, grouped by the kind of chocolate they make, so you know what you are buying.

The household names

• Neuhaus is the oldest and most famous. Founded in Brussels in 1857, it was Jean Neuhaus who invented the filled praline here in 1912, and the house still holds a royal warrant. Its boxed ballotins are a Belgian icon.
• Leonidas is the everyday favourite, founded by the Greek-American confectioner Leonidas Kestekides in the early twentieth century. Affordable, sold fresh by weight and on seemingly every high street, it is where many Belgians buy their pralines.
• Godiva is the premium household name, founded in Brussels in 1926. Known for its gold boxes and glossy pralines, it grew into a global luxury brand and is still one of the first names people abroad associate with Belgian chocolate.

The classic bar brands

• Côte d’Or, with its elephant logo, has been making classic Belgian chocolate bars since 1883. If you want an everyday Belgian bar rather than a praline, this is the supermarket staple to reach for.
• Jacques is another long-running bar brand, from the east of the country, found in every supermarket alongside Côte d’Or.
• Guylian is famous worldwide for its seashell-shaped chocolates filled with hazelnut praliné, a fixture of airport and gift shops.
• Galler, founded by Jean Galler near Liège, is a royal warrant holder known for both its praline-filled batons and its boxed pralines.

The royal warrant chocolatiers

• Mary is a Brussels house founded in 1919 and a long-standing purveyor to the Belgian royal court, known for refined, traditional pralines.
• Wittamer, on the Sablon in Brussels, is a patisserie and chocolatier and another royal warrant holder, as good for cakes as for chocolate.
• Corné, in its Port-Royal and de la Toison d’Or houses, is a classic Brussels chocolatier with a long and loyal following.

The modern artisans

• Pierre Marcolini is the best known of the new generation, a bean-to-bar chocolatier who treats chocolate like haute couture, with elegant shops and seasonal collections.
• The Chocolate Line, Dominique Persoone’s house in Bruges and Antwerp, is famous for daring flavours and his notorious chocolate shooter, and is where Belgian chocolate gets experimental.
• Laurent Gerbaud, a Brussels chocolatier, is known for pairing chocolate with fruit and spice and for using no added sugar in his fillings.
• Jean-Philippe Darcis, from the Liège region, is a chocolatier and pâtissier sometimes called an ambassador of Belgian chocolate, known for macarons as well as pralines.
• Frederic Blondeel and Zaabär are two more Brussels artisans worth seeking out, the latter known for bold spiced bars you can watch being made in the shop.

Callebaut: the chocolate behind the chocolate

One name you will not see on a praline box but should know is Callebaut. Founded in the Belgian town of Wieze in 1911, it makes couverture, the melting chocolate that chocolatiers and bakers use as their raw material, and it supplies kitchens around the world. Much of the chocolate you eat, in Belgium and far beyond, starts its life as Callebaut.

Chocolate in Brussels and Bruges

Two cities stand out for chocolate. Brussels, where the praline was invented, has the grand historic houses, and the arcade of the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert and the Sablon quarter are lined with chocolatiers. Bruges takes it just as seriously, with a chocolatier on what feels like every corner. Both cities have a Choco-Story chocolate museum where you can see how it is made, and both are covered in detail in our Brussels travel guide and Bruges travel guide.

How to buy chocolate in Belgium

A few tips make for a better box. Fresh pralines are best eaten within a week or two, so buy them near the end of your trip rather than the start. Keep them cool, out of the sun and away from a hot car or bag, as good chocolate melts easily. A mixed ballotin is the classic gift and lets you try a range, and most shops will make one up for you by the piece. For an everyday treat, the supermarket bars from Côte d’Or or Jacques are excellent value; for a gift, a boxed selection from one of the praline houses is the move. And do not overthink the brand: in Belgium, even a modest shop is usually very good.

Book a chocolate experience

If you want to go beyond tasting and make your own, a chocolate workshop is a genuinely fun hour. You can book the Choco-Story Brussels chocolate workshop, with a museum visit included, on Klook, and browse other Brussels tours and tastings below.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Belgian chocolate so famous?

Belgium built its reputation on craft rather than cocoa farming: smooth, high-quality chocolate, the invention of the filled praline, and traditional houses that still make their pralines fresh in small batches.

What is a Belgian praline?

A bite-sized filled chocolate: a hard chocolate shell around a soft centre such as ganache, gianduja, caramel or liqueur. It was invented in Brussels by Jean Neuhaus in 1912.

What are the major Belgian chocolate brands?

The famous household names are Neuhaus, Leonidas and Godiva. The classic bar brands are Côte d’Or, Jacques, Guylian and Galler. Royal warrant chocolatiers include Mary, Wittamer and Corné, and leading modern artisans include Pierre Marcolini, The Chocolate Line, Laurent Gerbaud and Jean-Philippe Darcis. Callebaut makes the couverture many of them use.

What is the best Belgian chocolate brand?

It depends what you want. Neuhaus and Wittamer for tradition, Pierre Marcolini and The Chocolate Line for artisan flair, Leonidas for everyday value, and Côte d’Or for a classic bar. In practice, the small local chocolatiers are often just as good, so it is worth trying a few.

Where should you buy chocolate in Belgium?

Brussels and Bruges are the two best cities for it, both packed with chocolatiers, but you will find good chocolate in every town. Buy from a shop that makes its own rather than a tourist stall.

How long does Belgian chocolate last?

Fresh pralines are best within a week or two, so buy them towards the end of your trip. Keep them cool and out of direct sun, and they will travel home fine.

Is Belgian chocolate worth buying?

Absolutely. It is one of the best and most affordable souvenirs Belgium offers, and the quality is high even in ordinary shops. A mixed ballotin makes an easy gift.

Belgian chocolate lives up to its reputation, and a slow afternoon of tasting your way between a few chocolatiers is one of the great small pleasures of a trip here. For the rest of the food and where to eat it, see our what to eat in Belgium guide.