Anvers Chocolate Factory

Igor Van Gerwen’s childhood obsession with chocolate went further than most Belgian children. From the age of 12, he devoted himself to studying and working under some of Antwerp’s finest pâtissiers and confectioners. When Van Gerwen moved from Belgium to the small town of Latrobe in Tasmania’s north in 1989, he founded Anvers Chocolate Factory, also known as The House of Anvers.

Listed on many of Tasmania’s tasting trails and tours, Anvers Chocolate Factory is almost always bustling with tourists, and for good reason. Van Gerwen’s traditional approach to making Belgian chocolate is focused on using only the best ingredients. It’s now common-place for artisan producers to promote their use of “local produce” and “specialty grade” ingredients, but Van Gerwen has been quietly making chocolate with fresh Tasmanian cream, butter, fruit, nuts and liqueurs and sourcing single-origin cacao for decades.

Viewing windows let you watch the action inside the factory. Smooth chocolate truffles, fudge and pralines are made daily by a small team of six trained chocolatiers. Once watching chocolate dripping and churning has stoked your appetite, head to the cafe for choc-hazelnut Belgian waffles and a hot chocolate.

Ensure you purchase some of Anvers’ most prestigious chocolates, the Fortunato No. 4. It’s a dark chocolate made with Nacional Cacao – a varietal thought to have become extinct in 1916. Van Gerwen’s relationships with Peruvian farmers helped bring this rare breed of cacao to Tasmania.