當瑟瑞?穆勒特微笑時，他一側的笑容會融入隱藏在胡須下面的酒窩中，并繼續蔓延至深褐色的眼眸中。臉上的細紋記錄了他在比利時、芝加哥、賓夕法尼亞州雷丁所度過的美好歲月。

穆勒特每天會品嘗至少20塊巧克力。這是他的工作。作為Godiva全球巧克力主廚兼消費科學負責人，他肩負著在北美市場打造新產品的職責，并擔任這家高檔巧克力制作商的食品發言人。他于1988年加入了歌帝梵，自2012年開始擔任上述職務。明天春天，穆勒特將迎來他在公司的第29個年頭。

當見到56歲的穆勒特時，我們很難想象他還曾懷揣其他的夢想。但是他的職業，與眾人一樣，都是抱負、好奇心與機遇共同作用的結果。

When Thierry Muret smiles, one side of his grin disappears into a dimple hidden in his beard. The smile continues up into eyes the color of cocoa beans. Fine lines mark the years he’s enjoyed in Belgium, in Chicago, in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Muret eats at least 20 pieces of chocolate a day. It’s his job. As global executive chef chocolatier and head of consumer sciences at Godiva, he’s is in charge of creating new products for North America and serves as the upscale chocolate maker’s food spokesperson. He’s been in the role since 2012 and with Godiva since 1988. Next spring, Muret will celebrate 29 years with the company.

Looking at Muret, 56, it’s hard to imagine he ever dreamed of doing something else. But his career, like so many others, was equal parts ambition, curiosity, and chance.

穆勒特在布魯塞爾長大，擅長數學和科學。在中學時期，一名老師曾建議他就讀一個特別項目，這樣便可以同時完成高中和大學學業。在第一學期，他便愛上了化學，并于4年后拿到了化學和晶體學學位。

1981年，當穆勒特開始攻讀其工程學學位時，他的妹妹瑪蒂娜問他是否愿意搬到美國，和她一道開設一家比利時巧克力公司。瑪蒂娜當時住在芝加哥，而且當時精品食品也越來越受到人們的青睞。

他對此十分感興趣，但他對于制作巧克力一無所知。在他妹妹的鼓勵下，他四處尋找相關學習機會，然后在比利時找到了一個十分嚴格的學徒項目，由國家政府舉辦。抱著能盡早與妹妹開設公司的希望，他立志要找到一位最嚴厲、最苛刻的老師，并讓他傳授有關巧克力的一切必要知識。他一開始師從瑞內?古森斯（Rene Goossens）這位個頭矮胖、性格強硬、擁有30年經驗的巧克力師。穆勒特在一開始吃了不少苦頭。有一段時間，古森斯一直讓他洗盤子，擦地。隨后，他才讓穆勒特接觸其擁有上百年歷史的鋼制巧克力模具，但是最終，穆勒特開始了其巧克力制作流程的學習。

他的第一課：如何在大理石上調制巧克力。流程包括將融化的巧克力倒在食品級大理石平板上，然后用抹刀攪拌，讓其冷卻；在穆勒特看來，這一流程跟酷圣石冰淇淋連鎖店工作人員的工作沒有什么區別。關鍵在于在什么時候停止攪拌，而且要掌握好時間和溫度。最后，巧克力被放入容器，然后放至能夠讓其保持合適溫度的機器中。

這一流程所蘊含的科學原理讓穆勒特感到吃驚，他迅速地掌握了其訣竅。學徒項目通常長達4年，但在兩年后，古森斯告訴他，該教的都已經教完了。

巧克力夢想

穆勒特于1984年搬到了伊利諾伊州，并與妹妹開設了名為Le Caraque的公司。他們雇了5名雇員，并直接面向消費者銷售。巧克力門店位于海蘭帕克，距離他們位于格倫維尤的巧克力生產作坊20分鐘車程。

1987年，在紐約高檔食品展上，有人來到了穆勒特的展柜前，要求品嘗巧克力。他吃了一塊又一塊，一句話也沒說。穆勒特十分惱火，對他說，如果要是覺得好吃，他可以購買這些巧克力。他記得這個人對他說，“展會后過來見我”，并遞給他一張名片，上面寫著“湯姆?費伊（Tom Fey），歌帝梵巧克力首席執行官”。

穆勒特在展會結束后又在紐約呆了一天，與費伊見了面。歌帝梵當時正在尋找一位巧克力制作大師，執掌其北美甜點業務，費伊想找一位無拘無束、思想開放，并熱衷于食品制作的人。穆勒特對費伊說，他也不知道自己能否勝任這一職務，畢竟，他有自己的公司。

3天后，穆勒特接受了這份工作。他的理由是：能夠自由自在地進行食品創作。在自己的公司中，運輸、賬單和庫存總是會讓他分心。在歌帝梵，他可以全身心地投入到他鐘愛異常的食品制作當中。在穆勒特和妹妹關閉了Le Caraque之后，歌帝梵購買了他在店里廚房所使用的所有設備，而這些設備都是按照古森斯的設備仿制的。如今，穆勒特仍在使用這些設備。

甜美的事業

在歌帝梵，穆勒特成長迅速，最初擔任其產品開發總監，后得到了多次晉升，并于2008年擔任公司全球巧克力制作主廚。他每年有21周都在國外度過，輾轉于日本、中東、上海和韓國。了解不同人群的口味需求已經成為了他的一項工作，而且他也非常享受這一過程。從某種意義上來說，他是歌帝梵全球不同地區6名主廚之間的橋梁。

Growing up in Brussels, Muret excelled in math and science. In middle school, a teacher suggested he enroll in a special program where he could finish high school and college at the same time. During his first semester, he fell in love with chemistry and graduated four years later with degrees in chemistry and crystallography.

In 1981, when Muret was starting his engineering degree, his sister Martine asked if he would consider moving to America to start a Belgian chocolate company with her. She was living in Chicago, and artisanal foods were starting to become more popular.

He was interested, but he didn’t know anything about making chocolate. Encouraged by his sister, he dug around and discovered a strict apprenticeship program in Belgium that’s run by the state. Hoping to start his career as soon as possible, he set out to find the hardest, meanest boss he could to teach him everything he needed to know about chocolate. He began as the apprentice to Rene Goossens, a tough, stocky chocolatier with 30 years of experience. It was a rough start — Goossens made him wash dishes and clean the floors for a while before he let him near his hundred-year-old steel chocolate molds — but eventually Muret began learning the chocolate-making process.

His first lesson: how to temper chocolate on marble. The process involves pouring melted chocolate on a food-grade marble slab and mixing it with a spatula to cool it down; Muret likens it to what workers at the ice-cream chain Coldstone Creamery do. The key is to know when to stop mixing — a matter of time and temperature. Finally, the chocolate is put into a container, which goes into a machine that keeps it at the proper temperature.

Muret was surprised at how scientific it was and caught on quickly. Apprenticeship programs usually last four years, but after two, Goossens told him he couldn’t teach him anything more.

Sugar high

Muret moved to Illinois in 1984 and started a company with his sister called Le Caraque. They had five employees, and they sold directly to consumers. The chocolate stop was located in Highland Park, about a 20-minute drive from their own kitchen in Glenview.

In 1987, at the New York Fancy Food Fair, a man approached Muret’s booth and asked to taste some chocolate. He ate one piece after the other without saying a word. Annoyed by this, Muret told him he could buy the chocolate if he wanted to. He remembers the man saying “Come see me after” and handing him a business card that read “Tom Fey, CEO of Godiva Chocolatier.”

Muret stayed an extra day after the show to meet with Fey. Godiva was looking for a master chocolatier to lead development of their candies in North America, and Fey had someone relaxed, open-minded and driven by the food in mind. Muret told Fey he wasn’t sure it was the right role for him — he had his own business, after all.

Three days later, Muret accepted. His reason: the prospect of creating freely. In running a business, he was often distracted by shipping, bills, and inventory. With Godiva, he could turn his complete attention to creating the pieces he so loved.

After Muret and his sister closed Le Caraque, Godiva bought all the equipment he used in his store’s kitchen, which he had modeled after Goossens’ own. Muret still uses them to this day.

A sweet career

Muret rose quickly through Godiva, starting out as supervisor of product development and being promoted several times before becoming a global executive chef chocolatier in 2008. He spent up to 21 weeks abroad every year, working from Japan, the Middle East, Shanghai, South Korea. It became his job to learn about the flavor expectations of different populations — and he’s enjoyed the learning process tremendously. At one point, he was a sort of bridge between six different Godiva chefs located in different parts of the world.

在其任職期間，歌帝梵也經歷了數次的轉型。當他加入公司時，歌帝梵是Campbell’s Soup Co.的子公司。2008年，土耳其食品巨頭Yildiz Holding以8.5億美元購買了該公司，并將其并入其餅干和糖果子公司Pladis。6月，Yildiz將Pladis拆分為一個獨立的公司，后者預計于2020年前在倫敦交易所上市。歌帝梵計劃在2019年前在中國大陸開設近200個店面，其2017年銷售額有望達到10億美元。

未來會怎么樣，穆勒特無法做出定論，但他希望能夠在有生之年繼續打造這一品牌。他說：“我愿意從公司退休。我唯一能夠留下的遺產就是，這一美妙的食品中包含著我微小的身影。” （財富中文網）

譯者：馮豐

審校：夏林

The company he works for has also undergone several transitions during his tenure. When he started, it was owned by the Campbell’s Soup Co. In 2008, it was bought by Turkish food giant Yildiz Holding for $850 million, and became part of its biscuit and confectionary division, Pladis.

In June, Yildiz split Pladis into a separate company that’s expected to list on the London Stock Exchange by 2020. Godiva plans to open nearly 200 stores in mainland China by 2019 and sees sales topping $1 billion for 2017.

Muret isn’t sure exactly what the future holds for him, but hopes to keep building the brand for as long as he can.

“I would love to retire from the company,” he says. “The legacy would just be that I was a little part of this beauty.”