The owners and chocolate makers at Qantu are a husband and wife team. Maxime is a Montrealer and his wife, Elfi, is from Peru, where they met by chance as young travelers. After falling in love, they visited their first cacao plantation in 2014 and fell in love all over again, this time with bean to bar chocolate! Two years later they pursued their dream of crafting chocolate from fine flavor Peruvian beans. They selected the farmers with whom they wanted to partner, bought some chocolate-making equipment, and started racking up gold and silver medals a year later.
Why the unusual name “Qantu” you may wonder? Qantu (pronounced ‘Kantu’) comes from the native Peruvian language, Quechua, and it is the national flower of Peru and Bolivia (see above photo). A symbol of unity and hospitality, this flower embodies the values and sentiment that Maxime and Elfi infuse into their chocolate work.