When it comes to business, you might say Pierre Marcolini knows a thing or two. The renowned chocolatier is one of Belgium’s most successful entrepreneurs and a bona fide star of the culinary world.
Born in Charleroi 1964, Marcolini built a global luxury brand from scratch, introducing his trademark “bean-to-bar” production, which enables him to control quality at every step of the chocolate-making process.
His journey to the top started right here in Brussels. In 1997, he opened his first chocolate shop in the Grand Sablon, across from road from the store owned by his former mentor, Henri Wittamer III.
Today, there are dozens of stores bearing Marcolini’s name in cities across the world, from Paris to Tokyo. Yet Brussels remains his home base - the place where he continues to live, work and invest.
He wants the city and its businesses to flourish, and has put his money where his mouth is on this. For the past four years, he has been president of Brussels Expertise Label (BEL), an organisation dedicated to promoting Belgian products, expertise and creativity.
Marcolini is, in short, exceptionally well-placed to comment on Brussels as a creative and entrepreneurial city. “I’m a Bruxellois at heart, I love this city,” he told The Brussels Times in an interview earlier this week.
“When I come back to Brussels, all the ingredients are there to make visiting Brussels simply magnificent. If you treat it as it is, with its distinctiveness, with its neighbourhoods, it's almost like an assemblage of villages, each with something unique.
“And above all, compared to London, compared to Paris, it's the kindness you encounter here [that makes the city special]. It's the kindness in the shops where people speak to you in all languages.”
‘We're in an absolutely catastrophic situation’
Alongside his love for Brussels, he admits “there is disillusionment too” – not least over the ongoing political impasse in the city.
It is nearly 18 months since the regional elections in June 2024 – and there is still no sign of a new Brussels Government after repeated rounds of failed talks.
Pierre Marcolini owns stores throughout the world. Credit: Jon Verhoeft
In Marcolini’s view, the situation is disastrous for business owners, because they are prevented from having a "clear vision for investment" by the deadlock.
“Speaking as president of the BEL, I can say that it's a catastrophe. It's a catastrophe because the only thing we need for commercial growth - and even for the well-being of our citizens - is stability,” he says.
“How can our companies begin to plan a series of investments when you don't have visibility on what the government will do? What will the government's policy be? How will they implement it? It's quite distressing when you're the capital of Europe - the capital of Europe - and you can't even have a government. We're in an absolutely catastrophic situation.”
'It's the motivation that matters'
Still, he does not believe that today’s budding entrepreneurs face greater difficulties than he did when he was starting out in the business world.
“I think the difficulty in starting a business lies in willpower,” he says. “Thirty years ago, when I started out in a 30-square-meter space, the challenges were there too. It was quite difficult, it was complicated. I'd even say that today, I feel it's perhaps a little easier because you're connected to so many things.
“For example, let's say you want to launch your own business, if you want to do crowdfunding, you can do crowdfunding. Back then, you had a bank, and that was it. Whereas today, I think the interest in a project is important, but it's the motivation that matters. It's really about saying to yourself, ‘I want to launch this’.”
Marcolini does not fear the advent of new technology, and disputes the notion that artificial intelligence might have an inhibiting or destructive effect on human creativity.
"There are two ways of looking at it,” he argues. “The first way is to bury your head in the sand and say, ‘Oh well, it'll pass.’ Perhaps our jobs are in danger, how are we going to manage?
“Or, [the second way] is to say it's good to discuss how we can work with artificial intelligence. I think that today we can no longer avoid it. I think it's already entered our lives.
“The challenges of tomorrow are precisely what I enjoy dealing with, which is what we call modern craftsmanship. We have to stop thinking that a craftsman is someone in their cellar, making their bar of chocolate. No: they are open-eyed, open to the world, and they know how it's managed, how it can be done.”
‘The soul of a city is its small shopkeepers’
Marcolini talks at length about the incredible entrepreneurial and creative expertise in the Brussels – from toyshop Serneels, to artisanal coffee producer Corica. “These businesses represent, at a given moment, a certain know-how, a certain gesture, a certain tradition,” he says.
He wants the city to retain the traditional shops and characterful businesses that make it unique. “I think that in Brussels, we're increasingly lacking small shops and restaurants with character," he adds. "Today, I feel that Brussels is overrun by big chains that, to me, have no soul. The heart of a city is its architecture, but the soul of a city is its small shopkeepers.”
Through BEL, Marcolini is championing these businesses, as well as highlighting the work of young, creative entrepreneurs in Brussels. “We have a lot of young people here," he says. "They're here to shake things up, to tease you, to challenge you too. And I think what's fabulous about young people is that nothing is set in stone.”
Credit: Brussels Expertise Labels
His one piece of advice to young people is to get out and see the world before starting a business. “Take the time to think about it, the time to let your idea mature before settling down,” he says. “What I missed most is this frustration of not being able to speak English properly. I think if I had a magic wand to change the last 30 years, if I could relive them, there's one thing I would have done: learn languages.”
Even if his English isn’t perfect, it doesn’t seem to have hindered Marcolini too much. He and his team are now gearing up for Christmas, the busiest time of the year. “The Christmas period is intense," he admits. “It's endless hours. It's about satisfying as many customers as possible, and it's not always easy. It's exhilarating, though, because I'm driven by passion.”
Brussels Expertise Labels (BEL) is organising the 4th edition of the BEL Prizes, designed to honour the city's expertise, creativity and innovation. A temporary exhibition, 'When Expertise Meets Art', will be held this weekend (14-16 November) at Autoworld Brussels featuring the work of almost 60 collaborations between BEL members and artists or designers.
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