For weeks after the beginning of winter about three years ago, Robert Booth spent night after night making special

batches of the finest Belgian chocolate, perfecting it for the two women he loved most in his life. When Valentine’s Day arrived, he had in front of him the perfect gifts. Booth presented the elegantly wrapped, dark chocolate truffles to his wife and stepmother.
The gifts of truffles marked the beginning of taste tests by family, friends and patrons of the Beneficial Foods Natural Market. After refining his chocolatier skills in Switzerland, Booth and the commercial kitchen of Beneficial Foods added more staff, and Jacqueline Chocolat, a new line of artisan chocolate, was launched.
This year, Jacqueline Chocolat offers seven flavors of chocolate bars, two hot chocolate powders and a caramel dipping sauce. A new dark chocolate bar with chili peppers was recently released. In the spring, hot chocolate with mint will be added to the line of chocolate powders.
Merchandising has expanded to four Earth Fare stores, two gourmet food stores in Michigan and the Hendersonville Community Co-Op, with more to come.
For more information, visit www.jchocolat.com, stop by Beneficial Foods Natural Market on Adawehi Lane, off Fox Mountain Road in Columbus or call 828-894-0737.
– article submitted by Roulettei Gildersleeve