After masked bunnies, Belgian artisan shifts to chocolate syringes

[May 03, 2021]    By Yves Herman
 
 LONZEE, Belgium (Reuters) - A Belgian chocolate company that put white masks on its Easter bunnies a year ago is now producing large chocolate syringes as it tries to keep step with the evolving trend of the coronavirus pandemic.

Belgian artisan chocolate maker Genevieve Trepant shows a chocolate bunny wearing a protective mask and holding a vaccine syringe called "L'Atch'a Azteka" at her workshop Cocoatree, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Lonzee, Belgium April 30, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

And as Belgium steps up its vaccination campaign against COVID-19, specialist confectioner Cocoatree is also touting the natural health benefits of chocolate as a kind of "vaccine" in its own right against certain conditions.

"It's a symbol of hope and that's why I decided to create the (chocolate) vaccine," said company founder Genevieve Trepant.

Cocoatree, based in Lonzee, a village about 45 kilometres (30 miles) south of Brussels, has dubbed its chocolate syringes "L'Atch'a Azteka", a combination of the sound of a sneeze and ancient chocolate consumers, the Aztecs.

"A chocolate vaccine has a huge number of positive effects," Trepant added. "It's an anti-depressant. It has magnesium. Chocolate has many advantages, as people know, and above all it boosts the morale of the troops."

(Reporting by Yves Herman, writing by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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