The Gemme d'Arabica were first produced in 1848 upon the special request of Mr. Teixera, one of the wonderful Brazilian coffee planters of the opulent Paraïba valley. A great chocolate connoisseur who was in love with our country, Mr. Texeira was anxious to prepare something special to celebrate the upcoming private visit of Brazilian Emperor, Pierre the 2nd, and wanted to order a chocolate delicacy prepared with the famous Paraiba coffee beans.
The Grains d'Arabica were produced in two different places: France and Brazil. In France they were prepared in our workshops from the coffee beans sent by Mr. Teixera to be delivered to the many good friends he had in Europe, and to the Rue de Bassano's Hotel Particulier of his daughter who was called, "La Brésilenne," a very fashionable young lady impressed by French arts and politics.
Some were shipped to Brazil, though not much because immediately one of our workers, Olivier Certosa (whose father was Portuguese), volunteered to go to Brazil to train Mr. Teixera's staff on the Hacienda Vassouras premises. The local manufacturing there was important because we shipped chocolates to Paraiba for years. However, our customer went bankrupt during the 1880 Brazilian coffee crisis and the local manufacturing stopped. Meanwhile, the Grains d'Arabica were successful in France, especially among our foreign customers. The production was put to a halt after the First World War and resumed only in the 1970s.