How a Quebecer became the Kremlin's official chocolatier in Putin's Russia

While Canada's official relations with Russia sometimes seem embittered, one Canadian is quietly sweetening things with the Kremlin — with chocolate.

Dave Munger, a native of Larouche, a village in Quebec's Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, is the Russian government's official supplier of chocolate.

Munger is one of the few foreign-born members of the exclusive Guild of Purveyors to the Moscow Kremlin, who represent the pinnacle of Russian craftsmanship and industry.

His induction into the guild came very soon after he set up his chocolate company.

About how he got there, however, Munger told Quebec AM, "It's a long history."

Byzantine beginnings

Having had an abiding interest in Russian literature and history, Munger studied theology at Université Laval and specialized in Byzantine patrology — the study of early Christian writers considered fathers of the Church. 

After graduating, he went to Russia in 1998 to further study Russian Orthodoxy and hone his Russian language skills at the St. Sergius monastery near Moscow.

A year later, he returned to Canada to work off his student debts.

When his tree-planting job got too tiresome, Munger decided to put his Russian skills to use.

He went to work as a consultant, helping small Canadian and Russian firms conduct business in the two countries. On one business trip, he met and fell in love with a woman selling handicrafts in a Moscow souvenir market.

His dyed-in-the-wool Muscovite wife did not want to move to Canada or have a long-distance relationship.

On her insistence, he put down roots in Moscow and opened a confectionery stall in the market where he had met her.

With little capital to invest, Munger could not sustain that business for long.

Entering the big league

Shortly after that business collapsed, Munger read that a rising Russian entrepreneur named Andrey Korkunov was planning to enter the chocolate business. He wrote to Korkunov, offering his services as a manager.

They met and Korkunov took an instant liking to Munger.

"I see your eyes are burning with energy. You will be the development director of my company," Munger recalled Korkunov remarking.

Realizing that expensive imported fillings were making their chocolates too expensive for most Russians, Munger and Korkunov scoured Europe for cheaper suppliers.

In a dinner conversation during one scouting trip, Munger mentioned that his father had been a chef and restaurateur.

That convinced Korkunov that Munger had the genetic predisposition to produce chocolates in-house.

Munger protested that he knew nothing about chocolate-making, but Korkunov was undeterred.

"He told me, 'Find the best chocolatier in the world, I'll pay for him to teach you,'" Munger said.

Munger trained under the French chocolatier Jean-Dominique Gellé and continued working for Korkunov for three years, as his contract stipulated.

In 2005, a jasmine tea truffle that Munger concocted for Korkunov's company won the top prize at the prestigious Salon du Chocolat in Paris.

Present at the exhibition and suitably impressed with Munger's craft were officials from the Guild of Purveyors to the Kremlin, whom Korkunov had invited.

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From theology to Theobroma

After parting ways with Korkunov, Munger worked for a couple of years for a dairy company and for six years for one of Eastern Europe's largest confectionery companies.

A couple of years ago, he invested his life savings in his own chocolate company. Drawing on his training in theology, he named the company "Theobroma" — Greek for "food of the gods" and part of the scientific name of the cocoa tree.

Theobroma markets its chocolates under the "D. Munger" brand.

Munger could not directly compete with Russia's top chocolate makers whose turnover is in the billions.

"I knew that I can make very high-quality product with premium natural ingredients. That is my niche," he said.

Theobroma's 100-per-cent-natural chocolates soon began attracting attention.

Kremlin calling

As Korkunov's award-winning chocolatier, Munger was already known to Kremlin officials. With his own chocolates finding favour among Moscow connoisseurs, they approached him with a very special order.

"Last year, when President Vladimir Putin visited Japan, he gifted my chocolates to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. I made them with Japanese hibiscus," Munger said, beaming.

In August, Munger was invited to join the Guild of Purveyors to the Kremlin.

As a guild member, he supplies chocolates for official ceremonies and banquets.

Being Russia's official chocolatier is not very lucrative. Orders are small and infrequent and usually accompanied by intrusive security checks.

"The Kremlin wants no nasty surprises," Munger explained.

But there are other perks.

"When I joined the Guild, it was big news in Russia because I was a foreigner," Munger recounted. That media attention helped drive the sales of Munger's more mass-market products.

"Chain buyers receive three to four proposals a day that all go to spam. But when you have such a unique product, it's like a key that opens doors."

With business picking up, Munger is looking to expand into Europe and Japan, where he already has at least one highly placed customer.

He also thinks North America is a market with much potential and one added attraction.

"All my family is there. I would love to start a factory in Larouche one day."