Local pastry chef Monto in business venture with chocolate creations

Experienced pastry chef Monto Mansour has turned his longstanding love of good chocolate for the luxury desserts he’s created in many of Ireland’s top restaurants into a thriving small business.

The chef, who has worked at the Michelin star Deane’s restaurant in Belfast for 10 years as well as Saphyre, also in Belfast, Salty Dog in Bangor, Harry’s Shack on Portstewart Strand and The Greenhouse on Dublin’s Dawson Street, has just launched his first handcrafted selection under the Monto Chocolate brand from his base in Londonderry.

“Setting up my own chocolate business is a logical development for me and has been on the cards for some time,” he says. “I love creating different and delicate desserts with the very best chocolate and specialised in this role after many years with other responsibilities within restaurant kitchens.

“As a pastry chef, I was charged with the responsibility of creating and preparing all types of desserts and breads for the restaurants where I worked. It was a very challenging role that I found immensely satisfying,” he adds.

“I wanted, however, to do something very different, creative and stimulating and decided to take the plunge and set up my own small venture as an artisan chocolatier earlier in the year. It’s very exciting and challenging, of course, to be running my own small enterprise in Derry, a city which is developing impressively as a quality food and drink hub,” he adds.

Monto (40) was born and raised in Belfast, the son of a Tunisian father. He opted to develop a range of his own branded luxury chocolate bonbons, delicate and deliciously different chocolate creations, from his own recipes and using quality ingredients. He opted, for instance, for high-grade gastronomic chocolate from Valrhona, the market leading French manufacturer.

He chose to develop bonbons as the first product because “they’re a real crowd pleaser from my restaurant days. I opted for Valrhona because it’s the chocolate I’ve been working with for years as a pastry chef for desserts and puddings and is an excellent product,” he explains. Now based in Londonderry’s Culmore Road with wife Jennifer, Monto was also encouraged to strike out on his own by the coronavirus lockdown and the subsequent shuttering of restaurants, hotels and cafes here for so many months. “It was – and is still - an immensely difficult time for everyone in our industry. It led me to look at career options and I saw an opportunity to take greater control over my own career path, my own destiny,” Monto says. It’s a venture that’s also benefiting other local artisans, such as Dromara’s Abernethy Butter, whose products are used as quality ingredients in his delicious range of chocolates.

“They are many superb food and drink products now readily available from energetic and creative producers and suppliers here. Derry, I am delighted to say, is now a very lively food and drink scene with lots of innovative producers being showcased, in particular, by the imaginative LegenDerry promotional initiative,” he continues.

While the talented and ambitious Monto knew everything about making great tasting chocolates, he quickly recognised that he needed help in areas such as production, pricing, packaging, labelling and marketing of his boxes.

“I realised pretty quickly that I needed advice on how effectively to run a small food business to ensure its success and a worthwhile income. While I had learned a lot about ordering and costing from time in restaurants I needed to increase my business knowledge,” adds Monto

He turned to the North West Regional College (NWRC) Business Support Centre (BSC) in Derry and its Foodovation unit which offers expert advice and guidance across a range of activities including essential nutritional data and new product development. Foodovation has an impressive track record in mentoring support for established artisans and new starts.

NWRC’s Business Support Centre is supported through the InnovateUs programme which is funded by Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy.

The support included mentoring for Monto from NWRC’s Culinary Technical Consultant, Rita O’Kane, who provided guidance in chocolate legislation, calculations of milk and cocoa solids within the recipes, allergen labelling including the processing considerations of allergens and relative labelling requirements specific to coatings and fillings.

On completion of the project, Monto successfully launched his range of own branded luxury bonbons and plans to move into new business premises within the next 12 months as sales grows. He is also considering a diversification into other products such as fudge.

“Foodovation has been an invaluable help, offering hands on support with a great depth of knowledge at every stage of my product development,” Monto adds.

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