Harbour City Hong Kong – Chocolate Trail 2015

Here’s an event which will make chocolate lovers go gaga – the sixth annual “Chocolate Trail” hosted by Hong Kong’s largest and most diverse shopping destination, Harbour City!

If you happen to be in Hong Kong between 23 Jan to 1 Mar, do pop over Harbour City for a chocolaty surprise. The five-week long mega event will see Harbour City transform into a “ChocoLand”, offering visitors a unique “Bean-To-Bar” journey to deepen appreciation of how premium chocolate is produced and how to attain maximum chocolate tasting pleasure.

Harbour City’s “Chocolate Trail” will feature highlights such as an immersive and educational “Chocolate Factory” installation, chocolate workshops and seminars, live demonstrations by Hong Kong and visiting chocolate master chefs, and interactive art exhibitions – all set against a backdrop of close to 30 participating Asian and European chocolate brands.

For a perspective of how large this event is, check out this event map.

In addition to featuring Hong Kong’s largest selection of premium chocolate through 17 existing branded chocolate stores, “Chocolate Trail” will showcase 10 pop-up stores from chocolate brands originating in France, Belgium, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. “Chocolate Trail” will also celebrate the Hong Kong launch of The Royal Touch by Carolyn Robb (England) and zChocolat (France), and showcase exclusive-to-Harbour City brands such as Bulgari Il Cioccolato (Italy), DALLOYAU (France), The Library Café – Prestat Chocolates (England), Chapon (France) and Frederic Blondeel (Belgium).

To tease my tastebuds, the awesome marketing team at Harbour City couriered me a whole lot of chocolates which can be found at the exhibition:

Super cool isn’t it?

I almost wanted to book tickets to Hong Kong just to attend the “Chocolate Trail”!

Chocolate Guided Tour

With a focus on the “Bean-to-Bar” journey, visitors to Harbour City’s “Chocolate Trail” can look forward to an exciting range of “Chocolate Guided Tours”. Highlights include:

“Chocolate Factory”

A signature installation of “Chocolate Trail”, the Harbour City “Chocolate Factory” takes visitors of all ages on an interactive step-by-step “Bear-to-Bar” journey where they can experience the full chocolate production process – from planting a cocoa tree, fermentation and drying, to roasting, cracking, moulding and packaging. The “Chocolate Factory” is located at the Atrium II and the Gateway Arcade, and incorporates an interactive Chocolate Experience Gallery as well as a ChocoVan Café for visitors to sample a wide range of premium chocolate.

Live Demonstrations from Chocolate Master Chefs

Chocolate Master Chefs from brands such as agnès b. DÉLICES, DALLOYAU and GODIVA will host live chocolate making demonstrations and offer visitors expert tips and the chance to witness what goes into the preparation and production of some of their signature creations.

Interactive Art Exhibition by Belgian Artist Ben Heine @ Gallery by the Harbour

With his original “Pencil vs Camera” and “Flesh and Acrylic” art forms, renowned Belgian multi-disciplinary digital artist Ben Heine will be showcasing a new series of artwork exclusively for Harbour City’s “Chocolate Trail”.

“Pencil vs Camera” will lead visitors on a mesmerizing journey around the birth of chocolate, through a 3D art installation which combines pencil sketching with photography, illusion with actual chocolate ingredients. Visitors will also be invited to step in and be immersed as part of his creation. “Pencil vs Camera” is showcased at Gallery by the Harbour at Ocean Centre.

Ben Heine will also be present at “Chocolate Trail” from 21 to 25 Jan to lead an impromptu performance titled “Flesh and Acrylic”, which integrates a living person and moving chocolate fluid within an abstract acrylic painting. Combining various medium including chocolate by Galler Chocolatier, official chocolate supplier to the Belgian royal family, Ben will create a colourful, wild and eye-catching installation which visitors can not only visualise but taste!

Chocolate Workshops and Seminars

Harbour City also hosted a schedule of chocolate workshops and seminars led by experts such as Hong Kong chocolate lover and tutor Ms. Katie Chan, visiting nutritionist and author Ms. Gloria Tsang, and tea Master-in-Chief of Chinese tea brand Fook Ming Tong Ms. Ji Yu Qin. The workshops and seminars provided comprehensive insights on subjects such as chocolate culture, chocolate nutrition, chocolate tasting and chocolate and Chinese tea pairing recommendations.

Participating brands at Harbour City’s “Chocolate Trail” include:

Chocolate Shops at Harbour City

1. agnès b. DÉLICES (France)
2. Amedei (Italy)
3. BVLGARI IL CIOCCOLATO (Italy) – [Available in HK exclusively at Harbour City]
4. COVA Pasticceria & Confetteria (Italy)
5. DALLOYAU (France) – [Available in HK exclusively at Harbour City]
6. Fauchon (France)
7. GODIVA (Belgium)
8. Jean-Paul Hévin (France)
9. LE CAFÉ de Joël Robuchon (France)
10. Forestry – Bright Chocolate (Australia)
11. Ladurée (France)
12. Leonidas Pralines (Belgium)
13. Paul Lafayet (Hong Kong)
14. Pierre Hermé Paris (France)
15. ROYCE’ (Japan)
16. The Library Café – Prestat Chocolates (England) – [Available in HK exclusively at Harbour City]
17. Venchi (Italy)

Pop-up Stores in conjunction with Harbour City’s “Chocolate Trail”

1. Chapon (France) – [Available in HK exclusively at Harbour City]
2. De Neuville (France)
3. Frederic Blondeel (Belgium) – [Available in HK exclusively at Harbour City]
4. MiO MiKO (Belgium)
5. Peninsula (Hong Kong)
6. The Royal Touch (England) – [Launching in HK at Harbour City’s “Chocolate Trail”]
7. twelve cupcakes (Singapore)
8. Vero Chocolate (Hong Kong)
9. YOKU MOKU (Japan)
   zChocolat (France) – [Launching in HK at Harbour City’s “Chocolate Trail”]

Harbour City Customer Hotline: 2118 8666

Visit the official Harbour City website or their Facebook page for more details. 🙂