About us
Here at Barú we love to dream up dazzling creations. Made for people with curious minds like ours, we call them chocolates with extra.
As kids Gunther and Maarten used to love munching on marshmallows. They would go through a bag or 10 a day, more on their birthdays. But when they tried them again as adult kids they couldn't believe these used to be their favourite treats. "ghastly" said one, "absolutely delightful" said the other, by which he meant "quite horrible".
"I wager my weight in old shoes that we could whisk up marshmallows so good people would stand in queus to buy 'em" said one. '"I've never placed a bet in my life" said the other, by which he meant "I'll call my bookie".
After plenty of whisking and chocolate dipping they came up with a perfectly fluffy vanilla bean marshmallow.
"Should we top 'em with salted caramel?" asked one. "Absurd" said the other, by which he meant "definitely".
"Maybe make bars out of 'em?" asked one. "Now you've completely lost it" said the other, by which he meant "I already made some".
Gunther and Maarten would create many more choccy products. They invented the smallest chocolate bar in the world. So small in fact nobody was able to spot it on the shelf, let alone buy one. Left with heaps of these bars they started adding them to their hot chocolates. Now people did notice them floating around in their cups and before long they couldn't imagine their hot chocolates without them.
A trip to the Antwerp zoo inspired them to make full sized chocolate hippos, filled with salted caramel. They imagined every chocolate shop in the world would want at least two. At that point Imke and Evelien had to step in of course. "One hippo per store is surely enough" they said.
We love making fabulous sweets for you. Thanks to the great and enthusiastic team at Barú we're able to do so. Our mad hats are always filled with ideas and we can't wait to show you what's next.
But enough about us. We'd love to hear about your ideas, no matter how kooky. Don't be shy!
There's a 'leave us a message' button scrolling along with you. Yes, that one! Would be perfect to share an idea, maybe try it?
Did you Know...
... why we love hippos?
A hippopotamus is an absolutely absurd animal. It's massive, yet superfast. A land animal that spends most of it's day underwater. On top of that it doesn't even eat any chocolate!
...our office pets are a monkey and a magpie?
Wilbur and Maggie are two peas in a pod but they also love raising a ruckus. They're a bit shy and keep to themselves when we have visitors. You wouldn't even notice they're there.
... our marshmallow bar was the first of its kind?
We must have heard "you're mad" a dozen times when we first presented our bars. "Naturally" we said, "but what do you think about the bars?"
... marshmallows were first created as a cure for a sore throat?
The medicinal power of the ‘marsh mallow’ plant (Althaea Officinalis) was discovered by the Ancient Egyptians. A spoonful of sugar made the medicine go down, didn't it? Clever folk those Egyptians...