It all started as a “little cacao dream.”
A year after, it has grown and made the Filipino “tableya” known not only in Belgium but to the rest of the world.
Tableya or tablea is coin-shaped dark chocolate made from 100 percent pure, roasted cocoa beans. It is melted and mixed together with milk to make the traditional Filipino hot chocolate beverage.
It was Myey Moens, the founder behind Theo & Brom, who made the marriage of the Philippine culture and the Belgian technique of crafting the finest chocolates for the birth of the “Belgian Tableya”.
Moens, a Filipino-American entrepreneur who recently moved to Belgium to settle down with her husband Matthias, shared on Theo & Brom’s Facebook page the idea behind introducing the Tableya.
“Today, when I’m asked, of all startup ideas, why Tableya? I respond: To make it known how hot chocolate is meant to be,” she said.
The name Theo & Brom comes from the scientific root word of cocoa – Theobroma Cacao.
Their Tableyas, according to their page, use Single-Estate De La Serna beans sourced straight from Davao.
Award-winning chocolate maker Mario Vandeneede helped Myey and Matthias developed the recipe.
Recently, their classic box of 4 Belgian Tableya rounds is now being sold also not just in Belgium but in the United States and soon in a cafe in New Zealand.
Also, they’re recently introducing their new product – Tableya Filipina, their take on the traditional ‘tsokolate’ discs.
