Qantu’s story starts with a dance in Cusco and ends with some of the most awarded bean-to-bar chocolate on the planet. Founded in 2016 by Elfi Maldonado and Maxime Simard, the Hochelaga-based company focuses exclusively on rare Peruvian cacao, sourced directly from cooperatives and transformed in-house into deeply flavourful bars. The duo travels to Peru twice a year to select beans like Chuncho, Gran Blanco, and Morropon—unmodified heirloom varieties that offer radically different flavour profiles, from bright red fruit to earthy complexity. Their attention to detail extends to single-tree batches like La Première Fois, made from a 100-year-old cacao tree still producing in the Andes. Qantu’s bars have taken home multiple golds at London’s Academy of Chocolate, but despite the international acclaim, the vibe remains grounded: transparent sourcing, small-batch craftsmanship, and a desire to put Peruvian cacao—and Montreal chocolate making—on the global map.
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