Like many Spaniards, Pedro Álvarez believes the most interesting thing about tea was the ounce of chocolate you always found inside the bread. Time turned the child into a man and from there into a businessman, but chocolate remained intact in his diet.

 Álvarez was born into a family of entrepreneurs. From his very first day at work, he devoted his time to inventing brands and planting seeds where companies would grow, and one day he decided to apply the trade to himself. He was not want of desire, he just needed to know what to do.

Mmm... Chocolate?!

Yes. “Premium chocolates in a fine, original presentation”, says Álvarez. Chocolates to feast with your eyes before sending them into your stomach.

The boy who ate chocolate sandwiches became the chocolate maker. It wasn't just a matter of business; selling chocolate with elegance and excellence requires starting in the kitchen itself. “You have to get your hands dirty”, he says.

He went to the Culinary Arts Institute (New York), to the Cordon Bleu (London) and Chocovic (Catalonia). He learned to make chocolate and set up a company.

Pancracio was founded in Cadiz in 2003 and has gradually simmered. Business, just like cooking, has to be done with love. “The growth has been very slow, with great affection, taking care of everything and striving to ensure the team enjoy their work and that we are not overwhelmed. You cannot sell something to make people happy if you are not happy yourselves”.

However, Pancracio grew strong and went out to sell around the world, even taking the name of its inventor. “Now many people call me Pancracio”, says Pedro Álvarez, a name that arose from being “a little ugly but pleasant. Pretty, retro and evoking tradition. A rather strange name perceived as something good”.

The chocolate began to be accompanied by vodkas, jams, teas and other Pancracio products... and a philosophy. “It is a question of being happy. We love to be in a good mood. We are from Cadiz! The humour comes on the boxes, in the communication, in the details...”.

— Can you give me an example?

— On the box of chocolate it says, “Keep in a cool, dry and secret place”.