chocolaterie
History
The founding
Confiserie-chocolaterie Roma was founded on July 1, 1966, by Jan Mertens and his wife Paula Van der beeck.
Jan Mertens came from a bakery family and trained as a pastry chef.
To avoid the night work associated with the baking profession, he decided to specialize in chocolate products. At that time, there was no separate training to become a Chocolatier.
Jan therefore began experimenting on his own and interned with several renowned chocolatiers. It was during this period that the first Roma chocolate flake truffles were created.
In 1984, Jan's daughter Linda joined the team. She took the production department under her wing and further expanded it. Later she, along with her colleagues, rolled out the quality systems.
history
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1966
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19xx
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19xx
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200x
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20xx
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202x
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The operation
Son Benny initially also trained as a pastry chef, but with a specialization in chocolate. In 1986, he joined his father and sister in the company.
In the years following, he refined his knowledge through internships with renowned chocolatiers like Del Rey in Antwerp and then followed several courses at Callebaut.
The recipes for the chocolate flake truffles were continuously improved and refined into the authentic recipe that makes Roma so unique. For the production process, only the highest quality raw materials are used, with exclusively Belgian Chocolate.
By limiting itself to a single product and with the expertise built up over the years, the company has become the reference for quality chocolate flake truffles from Belgium.
Together with 22 employees, Roma currently produces 750,000 kg of chocolate flake truffles per year.
The present
In 2024, Herman Wellens joined the capital. Together with Benny, who remains responsible for the quality of the truffles and the development of new recipes, a decision was made to also put the company on the international map. In the coming years, further focus will be on new recipes, flavors, and internationalization.
Made in Belgium
