BENOIT JANSSEN / NEWTREE - www.newtree.be
 Could you tell us something about yourself?
I'm Benoit Janssen, living in Brussels, 27 year's old, married and since June father of a beautiful daughter Eline. I’m passionate about travelling and meeting new people and cultures.
Being export manager for NewTree is the perfect job for me.
What is your average working day like?
When I’m in Belgium, I usually start at 8h30. I react as soon as possible to whole the e-mail I receive, prepare and follow the orders in progress, prospect some new key customers and
after a phone call send them information about NewTree health chocolates, prepare my coming international meetings (fairs and prospects) and finally make some internal follow up of the work.
My working days do often stop after 19h30.
What did you do before working in the chocolate industry at Newtree?
I was Key account manager for Danone, working in the dairy products.
When and why did you decide to work at Newtree?
I started to work in august 2006 for NewTree because I wanted to become a key member of NewTree history.
Could you please describe your range of chocolates?
After years of research and development, we have launched chocolate bars made with only 100% natural ingredients and containing plant extracts, fruit extracts and spices each praised for
their beneficial health properties.
 Every chocolate has a specific flavour and health property. Lavender, blackcurrant, ginger, cinnamon, mint, apricot, are all unique flavours you will find in our chocolates bars. The range of
NewTree comprises relaxing, stimulating, digestive and antioxidant properties and some chocolates even reduce women hormonal imbalances!
To each bar, a name has been given in order to create an identity and to highlight their healthy benefits. For example dark with cherry has been named: "Young" as the cherry, the extract of
grape and the cocoa (min 73%) are extremely rich in antioxidants helping to slow down the ageing process of the organism.
The NewTree range of products has also two revolutionary chocolate spreads to offer, with 70% less fat and 40% fewer calories than any other chocolate spread on the market.
What is the difference between your chocolates and other manufacturer's chocolates?
NewTree chocolates differ from other manufacturer’s chocolate by overlapping three markets, namely functional food, gastronomic food and natural food. We have a unique concept of healthy
wellness provided through gorgeous tasting chocolates.
Is there a special "hit product" in your range?
The Sexy chocolate bar. It contains guarana (little red fruit used in some energy drinks) and ginger having energising properties but also aphrodisiac effect since ginger is known for its
aphrodisiac properties.
 Which of your own products is your personal favourite?
My favourite product is the Eternity chocolate bar, with blackcurrant and grape extract rich in antioxidants.
When has NewTree been founded?
NewTree was created in march 2001 by Benoit De Bruyn, a bio-chemical engineer.
Do you currently have any competitors in the healthy chocolate business?
There’s currently no other company selling the same concept of combining health and pleasure in premium natural chocolates.
Can your products be bought in Finland?
It will be soon (in the coming weeks) possible to by our product in Stockmann, Kaakaopuu Ky (Urho Kekkosenkatu 1 A, 00100 Helsinki), Keittiöelämää (Aleksis Kiven Katu 13, 33200 Tampere) and
in the shop of Kirsti Karhumäki (Vanha Kauppahalli, Eteläranta, 00130 Helsinki).
By looking at your website, it seems that health is a big issue in Newtree's chocolates. Why is this?
People are spending less and less time in caring for a healthy nutrition. Snacking, rushing, on-the-go, ready-to-eat… all trends that drive people to an often unbalanced nutrition. Therefore,
we try to put a little "plus" for the health in products that everybody (nearly) is happy to consume. So, their health is a little supported, and they are pleased.
 Furthermore, chocolate is the perfect food to bring more wellness to everybody, and combine it with gastronomy. It has always been THE pleasure food, and it can be related, if we speak of
gourmet chocolate, with very high quality tasting experience. But it is not only delicious! Science is more and more showing that cocoa, hence chocolate, has natural positive effect on
health, mostly cardiovascular, but also brain, skin, etc… this is mostly due to its content in antioxidants, more precisely flavonoids.
Also, all the traditional criticism are falling apart. For example:
- Chocolate is full with sugar! - Glycaemic index (GI) of chocolate is low
- Chocolate is full with fats! - The fat balance in cocoa butter is healthy, since there is more, at the end, unsaturated fat
- Chocolate is bad for the teeth - Chocolate contains some compounds that seem to protect you from tooth decay
And so on! So you see, chocolate is naturally healthy, and we give it a little push!
Do you think that people in Europe (including Finland) are aware of chocolate's health issues?
Few people know about the healthy properties of chocolate. Hopefully people are becoming more and more aware of it due to a lot of press releases, conferences and scientific information on
the subject.
What, in your opinion, are the strengths of NewTree on the global chocolate market?
The main strength of NewTree is our unique concept that adds a real value to the chocolate category. People highly appreciate the health properties but also the great and special taste of
our chocolates.
"Dark chocolate vs Milk chocolate". This is currently a hot issue in Finland. What are your thought on this?
The more cocoa the chocolate contains, the more beneficial effects on health it will have. But we can add healthy plant extracts to milk chocolate as well. It is mostly a matter of taste.
 Do you enjoy chocolate yourself? Do you eat chocolate made by other manufacturers?
I love chocolate, it give moment of evasion during tasting. I’m always trying other manufacturer’s chocolate for my chocolate culture.
What was your first thought when you found Oulu Chocolate Society's website?
A website for people passionate about chocolate. It’s so good to have others that share the same hobbies and get the opportunity to exchange impression thanks to your website.
Thank you for this interview. Would you like to say something to our readers?
I wish you all to have the opportunity to try our chocolates. I promise it will give you feelings you’ll never had before and take care of your health.
Interview: Jarkko Karhunen
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