About Us

It all started in the 1930s with Willibald ‘Willy’ Brockmann, a master confectioner trained in Cologne, Germany. He and a business partner opened a small confectionary shop in Munich in 1934, specializing in pastries, cakes, and handmade truffles. Willy later opened his own Conditerei Café Brockmann on the outskirts of Munich on the site of an old gravel pit. He managed the café with his wife Elizabeth and they were celebrated for their delectable sweets and treats crafted from quality ingredients. The café soon became a landmark in the community.

Like father, like son. Norbert Brockmann, inspired by his father Willy, began his master confectioner training in 1967. Norbert soon joined the family business and together with his wife Marianne, began managing Café Brockmann and continued the family legacy of producing what many considered the finest confections in the city.

After a decade of running the family business, Norbert and Marianne decided to bring the Brockmann tradition to Canada. In 1986, they opened Brockmann’s Tea Room in Vancouver, British Columbia, serving traditional teas, coffee, and delicious handmade chocolates and pastries. As the Brockmann reputation for quality grew, they were soon asked to produce chocolates for local businesses and hotels. In 1990, Norbert began crafting recipes for a signature line of premium truffles, inspired by his European heritage and decades of family traditions.

Today, Brockmann’s Chocolates Truffini and Crunchetti brands are sold throughout British Columbia and in major retailers across North America. The family business now includes Kathrin Brockmann – a third generation chocolatier – still guided by Willy’s faithful commitment to quality and using only the freshest, natural ingredients.

In simple terms, premium chocolate can be judged on ingredient quality and craftsmanship in preparation. Check the labels. Fine quality chocolate contains cocoa butter as a key ingredient and requires tempering to ensure quality appearance and longer shelf life. While ‘compound chocolate’, on the other hand, substitutes cocoa butter with various vegetable oils and does not temper the chocolate. The results are…well, just not the same.

At Brockmann’s, we take pride in what we do. We only use natural ingredients and carefully tempered chocolate in all our recipes. This chocolate goes through a painstaking 24-hour conching process (the process comes from the Spanish word concha) that takes place in containers shaped like shells to smooth out the chocolate and enhance its already sublime flavour. The result is a chocolate with perfect flavour, finish and texture. It is the only chocolate we use for our carefully crafted truffles and clusters.