The Klima family moved to Costa Blanca and the idea of ​​making chocolate occurred to them: their delicacies not only fascinate the Spanish | Lifetime

“We thought it would be fun to live in a warmer place. So we came to Spain for the weather and for some change. And sometimes we jokingly say that we came here for the sake of beauty ”, the interlocutors, who are full of good humor, start the conversation and ask what winds of life have brought them to Spain.

Here they moved with two daughters: the eldest was 15 years old, the other 5, and a few months later the third family offspring in Spain was born: a son. Giedrė and Nerijus, laughing, say that they moved here not only with all the children, but also with the dog and the cat: “After all, the whole family must be together.”

According to Giedrė, her life has hardly changed in the sense of work, a woman who works as a psychologist in Spain consults remotely. And Nerijus, who had left public service before moving to a foreign country, spent the first years raising his son and at the same time discovered a new hobby that became a business: he was interested in cocoa beans and began to make natural handmade chocolate.

We didn’t feel like we were having trouble adapting. Only our oldest daughter did not stay in this place.

Giedre and Nerius talk about life on the sunny Mediterranean coast, if more sun really means more happiness and chocolate, how it came about in the couple’s life, why Nerius started doing it and how their chocolate is so special that the Spanish admire it so much.

– Tell us, how did you manage to adapt?

Giedrė: We chose the most beautiful town in the province of Alicante – Altea. Until then, we have lived in Vilnius, and this city is so small that you can walk everywhere. And of course it’s fun to get hot here even in winter.

Nerijus: And the people here are more relaxed, friendly.

Giedrė: There are many tourists here, so the festive atmosphere prevails, because we live next to the Mediterranean Sea, from home up to 100 meters.

Nerijus: And to the chocolate factory – 80 (laughs)

Giedrė: We think about how things would be, because generally abroad is not an easy start. But it was not difficult for us. I did not change anything: my work remained the same, only remotely. Now I am also studying psychology at a Spanish university to deepen my knowledge, get the recognition I need and then be able to work here too.

In the first year, as soon as we got here, so many friends came that we met more often than when we lived in Lithuania. So we didn’t feel like we were having a hard time adjusting. Only our oldest daughter did not stay in this place, she returned to study and live in Lithuania.

– Did you learn Spanish there or did you come to pay?

Nerijus: I’m still not teaching well. Maybe I have no talent for languages. I went to courses in Lithuania, I also went here, but I still don’t feel free to speak, my wife always speaks.

Giedrė: He knows the language better than I do, but he always pushes me forward (laughs)

– How has your own life changed emotionally during the few years you spent in Spain?

Giedrė: We were also very good in Lithuania.

Nerijus: Maybe here we are together more often, because Giedrė works at home, I am also around all the time. It is great that we can always organize time, especially when there is a young child in the house that needs attention. So here we could have gotten even closer as a family, but that’s fine.

– Lithuanians are said to be upset because we have little sun. Have you felt with your fur that more sun a year really gives a good effect and a feeling of happiness?

Nerijus: Vitamin D undoubtedly gives.

Giedrė: I don’t think the Lithuanians are angry, they are very angry. faini. The only difference I noticed is that here in Spain, people pay more attention to children, they express it more, everyone greets, they communicate, they are not so restricted.

– Spain is a favorite country of Lithuanians. Did you have to meet your compatriots who live there?

Nerijus: Yes, there is a Lithuanian community in Alicante, and it is quite active. We don’t participate in these activities as often, but sometimes we meet Lithuanians somewhere.

Giedrė: There is also a Lithuanian school in Alicante, which is attended by our little ones, myself on my way to Pilates training with a Lithuanian coach.

While hitting online, I stumbled upon cocoa beans, became interested in them, and am now a chocolate master (laughs)

– It’s good to have a good time there. So, you went for the change, it really happened: a new activity, a business, appeared in your life. I wonder how interested you are in making chocolate.

Nerijus: While still living in Lithuania, I considered changing jobs and wanted changes. After coming here for two years, I had taken paternity leave, looked after the little one, and kept looking for what I could do.

I wanted something that was enjoyable instead of going to construction or orange groves as standard. I have tried various activities in my life, I sewed Indian tents in one stage, because I also have a specialty in sewing technology, and I also produced delicacies, which were highly praised by my friends.

In general, I really like cooking, especially experimenting in this area, so naturally, already here in Spain, I stumbled upon cocoa beans while hitting on the Internet, became interested in them and now I am a master of chocolate (laughs)

There is no supplier of high quality beans from South America in Spain. We downloaded them for testing and we were very surprised that they all tasted so different. It was very interesting and intriguing.

– Did you originally make chocolate in your kitchen at home?

Nerijus: We tried it because it was such a naive idea that you could buy beans and make chocolate yourself at home. Clearly, with the primitive appliances, the texture of the chocolate did not come out, it was very rough. During those experiments, we put fresh dates in place of sugar. The whole process really involved him, so there was a desire to take him more seriously.

– How did it all start: did you buy the necessary equipment, rent the production facilities? Where did you get your knowledge from?

Nerijus: I mainly drew my knowledge from the internet, the chat rooms of American chocolate makers were still very helpful where we got all the answers to the questions that came up.

And we buy the equipment, but not from professional chocolate manufacturers, more precisely, our equipment is not even intended for the production of chocolate, we simply adapt those devices for that. Probably the way we do it, only South Americans do it because they taste our chocolate and for some reason it reminds them of home (laughs)

Giedrė: There are many processes in the production of chocolate, we process ours less. Our idea was to process the cocoa beans as little as possible to keep as many beneficial elements as possible in them.

Nerijus: And, of course, we have all the permits to do this, we are controlled, everything is in accordance with the procedures and laws of Spain.

Our idea was to process the cocoa beans as little as possible to keep as many beneficial elements as possible in them.

– What’s so special about the chocolate you make?

Giedrė: We buy beans from a region of Venezuela. We try to process them as little as possible. Also, the beans are not alkalized. Generally, the cocoa mass from which chocolate we buy in stores is treated with chemicals, alkalis and therefore loses significant amounts of antioxidants. And our chocolate retains many good qualities.

Nerijus: It is worth mentioning that not all beans are suitable for making our chocolate. Most of them are too acidic. Because we process them very briefly, the acid cannot evaporate. Therefore, only soft, non-bitter, and non-bitter beans are suitable for our chocolate.

And the most interesting thing is that when we first tried a few different unroasted beans, they were the ones we used now that we didn’t like anymore, they seemed the most tasteless. However, baking them revealed a great taste and only when using them does such a delicious chocolate come out.

Giedrė: We do not add any emulsifiers or lecithin to our chocolate. We do not sweeten it with sugar, but with dry dates. As far as we know, our chocolate is the only one in Europe, and perhaps in the world, made from chocolates made directly from beans (rather than alkaline cocoa mass) that is sweetened with dates.

It does not contain strong allergens or their residues: milk, soy, gluten, nuts, making it suitable for most people with allergies.

We also do not use artificial flavors or extracts. If it is chocolate with oranges – we add orange peel, if it is with mint – we add dried mint leaves, if it is with vanilla – we add vanilla beans. We have a total of four chocolate flavors, one with cinnamon.

Now that we have started cooperating with the “Labu” delicacies, I really liked that they make their products from natural fruit purees, because we always want to add only natural ingredients to our chocolate. So we have four more types of chocolate with these delicacies.

Nerijus: And we still have 85 percent. chocolate. Everyone here is so crazy and here is a very common myth that the more chocolate there is in cocoa, the better and healthier it is.

– Why do you say “myth”? Isn’t that true?

Nerijus: It is true, because the more cocoa, the less sugar is in the chocolate. But this is not very true for our chocolate. Even if there is a lower concentration of cocoa, it is still healthier and more beneficial than industrial cocoa because it is not treated with alkali and is processed less. Dated sugar also has its benefits, because sugar has nothing useful, and dates contain minerals, vitamins, and fiber.

BTW, when it comes to chocolate texture, our chocolate texture is thicker. At first, we thought we’d have to find ways to achieve the usual texture with a little bit of processing, because we thought consumers would want that. But when we started caring for people in Lithuania, everyone said, “Oh, different! Leave this texture.

For the Spanish, our chocolate is reminiscent of their chocolate, which was once made in an ancient way by rubbing cocoa beans between the stones.

And for the Spanish, our chocolate is reminiscent of their chocolate, which was once made in an ancient way by rubbing cocoa beans between the stones: the Spanish were the first in Europe to start making chocolate by bringing beans from South America and the production method. And now they value that old chocolate, only to the extent that their chocolate, which is made in an old-fashioned way, is rich in sugar and still adds rice flour to it.

– What have you learned about chocolate since you became interested in cocoa beans?

Giedrė: We have known for a long time that chocolate lifts our spirits. And we’ve always loved chocolate, but we haven’t been interested much before. And during this time we learned that it greatly improves cognitive function, has a positive effect on memory, cardiac function, as well as a lot of good qualities, a lot of antioxidants.

– I wonder if I’m aware that you make chocolate alone.

Nerijus: Yes, one, micro lots in a micro factory (smiling) My wife comes to help me pack.

Amber: By the way, we only pack chocolate in paper, we do not use aluminum foil and plastic. Of course, this makes it more difficult, but ecology is important to us.

– Tell us, how is the chocolate production process going? How long does it take?

Nerijus: A long time because I use non-industrial equipment. Regardless, the cocoa bean turns into chocolate fairly quickly. As for the process, first I re-select the grains so that they are not damaged, there are no debris, stones between them. Then I baked them, mashed them, then cleaned them, turned off the shells, and ground them.

The resulting cocoa mass is mixed with dry dates and other ingredients, depending on the type of chocolate. Then I treat the dough at temperatures to make the chocolate crystallize on a crisp, smooth surface. Then I poured the dough into the molds and placed it in a 12-degree refrigerator. The chocolate hardens for about an hour and a half. Then it bounces very well on the molds and can be packaged.

– You called your chocolate “Gguni Dates Cacao “. Why exactly?

Giedrė: It can be translated as cocoa dated “Gguni” or “Gguni” has an appointment with cocoa, an ambiguity in English. And “Gguni” means: G – Giedrė, G – Gitė – 9 year old daughter, U – Ugnius – 3 year old son, N – Nerijus and I – Ilze – 19 year old daughter.

– And you yourself designed the packaging?

Giedrė: No, the packaging was created by Austė Dzikaraitė, a student at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, she just needed to do that job, and we needed a package. And now the Spanish designer helps us with the packaging.

– Where can you buy your chocolate?

Amber: We have our own online store, we ship the products to all the countries of the European Union, as well as to Lithuania. Sometimes we participate in fairs in Spain, we have also participated in Lithuania, and our chocolate is also sold in some Spanish stores. We are also negotiating trade with Germany. So we are expanding geography a little bit.

– What business plans do you have for the future?

Nerijus: I would like to buy more efficient equipment so that I can make chocolate more easily and more because I have to put a lot of physical work into the equipment that I have.

– This is your chocolate, the most authentic handmade.

Nerijus: Done (laughs) But you already want to reduce that manual work.

– Do you think Spain will return to Lithuania forever or when?

Giedrė: Since there were never any plans to leave Lithuania, now when someone asks this question, I reply, “I don’t know.” Because I once said that I would never live anywhere else, only in Lithuania, but come on, there was a desire to live in Spain (smiling)

Nerijus: I think we should also ask if we are planning more, because maybe we will go to South America again (laughs) And anyway, we don’t feel very far from Lithuania, we can communicate with everyone with modern technologies and we don’t feel disconnected.

Giedrė: Now we feel very good and we will see if other thoughts and desires arise.