Laderach Toronto
Laderach is a Swiss chocolatier with this mall flagship store selling their imported (but still super fresh) chocolate products.
They're especially known for their trademarked FrischSchoggi, which literally translates to fresh chocolate: basically a chocolate bark with different add-ins.
It's on display right at the front of the store, visible through large windows and available in 24 varieties.
FrischSchoggi is made by hand, shipped from Switzerland in a matter of days and sold in bulk or in pre-packaged assortments.
Types on offer include hazelnut, almond, cranberry, cornflakes, mixed fruit, orange-almond and raspberry-blackberry with bases of Swiss milk, dark or white chocolate. There's even a Grand Cru Brazil 70% variety made from cocoa beans from the Cabruca Cooperative in Brazil.
Large, roasted, caramelized Piedmont hazelnuts and whole roasted, caramelized Californian almonds are used, and the chocolate itself is silky smooth.
Chocolate is also available molded into seasonal shapes and hearts with written greetings.
Another display case with its own dedicated attendant is found at the back of the store.
This area primarily displays truffles and Laderach's Mini Mousses.
The Mini Mousses have a biscuit base, a smooth egg white filling and various flavourings.
Types include coconut, hazelnut, apricot, orange, caramel and strawberry.
Truffles and pralines come in varieties like milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, coconut, cappuccino, Baileys, walnut marzipan, pistachio, caramel and dulce de leche.
They also come collected in beautifully packaged assortments for a pretty penny: this wooden box of 32 pralines goes for $102.
Carres Classic is a collection of thin chocolate squares with delicate fillings including milk truffle, hazelnut gianduja and honey caramel. There's also a Grand Cru collection of Carres.
Seasonal items like a 19-centimetre-tall milk chocolate Santa are slightly more affordable at $25.50.
You can also opt for a cute milk chocolate reindeer, apparently named Finn.
Create an assortment of your own from bins of ChocoBijoux: wrapped chocolates in kinds like Macadamia Lait, Blanc Tartufi (white chocolate, hazelnut, and wafer), Caramel Lait (gianduja, caramel pieces, fleur de sel, milk chocolate), Stracciatella Blanc (crispy cocoa pieces, white chocolate) and Orange Noir (orange gianduja, wafer).
The Laderach chocolate family with origins in 1962 spans generations.
Laderach has also now taken over a small York Mills shop, which specialized in Swiss candy and carried their products.
There are also Laderach stores in places like New York City, Germany, South Korea and Qatar.
Hector Vasquez