Ecole Chocolat announces kickoff celebration for 10 years of teaching professional chocolate making to students from all over the world

'We have the best job. Each day we get to work with students who are as passionate about making fine chocolate as we are!' - Pam Williams, Ecole Chocolat Founder

VANCOUVER, February 26, 2013 - It's been 10 years since Ecole Chocolat, a professional chocolate arts school, first opened its cyber doors and a look back shows both the power and the reach of its online chocolate programs. The list of Ecole Chocolat's graduates includes many high-profile chocolatiers who have received national and international awards and been written up in major magazines and newspapers.

"We can't believe it's been 10 years since we signed on our first student. The time has gone by so fast!" says Pam Williams, Founder and Lead Instructor of Ecole Chocolat, which was launched in 2003.

Williams has been involved in the fine-chocolate industry since 1981 and in February 2003, opened registration for the first Professional Chocolatier Program. Not a week later, the first student registered - from the Netherlands!

That student was followed by others who hailed from more than 74 countries, such as Birgit Church, a graduate from the UK, who recently sent Williams the following:
"Just a quick email . . . to say a big thank you to you and everyone else involved in the courses I completed. You really have made a difference to my life. I've always loved chocolate but now I live chocolate. It has been life changing and I can't wait to share it with everyone!"

Other graduates who have found great success with Ecole Chocolat's online programs are Gail Ambrosius of Madison, Wisconsin whose chocolate creations have been picked as favorites by both Oprah and Martha Stewart in their magazines. As well, EH Chocolatier of Somerville, Maine, Dandelion Chocolate of San Francisco, Ca., Woodblock Chocolate of Portland, Ore., and Veruca Chocolates of Chicago, Ill., - all Ecole Chocolat graduates - were singled out for their fine chocolates in Food&Wine Magazine this past December. Meanwhile, Dessert Professional recently included three Ecole Chocolat grads among its top 10 chocolatiers for 2012: Ambrosius, Shaineal Shah of Xocolatti in New York City, and Rick Jordan of Rick Jordan Chocolatier in St. Louis, Mo.

Over its 10 years, Ecole Chocolat has responded to student request for more extensive training in such areas as making chocolate from the bean, chocolate quality control, and professional masters programs in major chocolate centres across Europe as well as in the tropical forests where chocolate begins its journey. Williams says a new program takes at least a year - and sometimes two - for development and testing of the curriculum, and adds: "Programs focus only on chocolate and chocolate work, nothing else."