Pieter de Villiers, owner and CEO of DV Artisan Chocolate, is the first South African bean-to-bar chocolate maker. What was the inspiration for the business?Before I embarked on a career as a chocolate maker, I spent some time in the Western Cape, specifically at farmers' markets, where all products reflected the passion of the producer. I fell in love with this authentic approach to producing food and other products. At the time I tried my hand at bread and wine-making, and ultimately chocolate-making.I realised that, similar to wine, the flavour profile of the cocoa bean is influenced by the environment and the soil in which it grows, and I was inspired to produce single-origin chocolate bars.How did the business start?It started with an old masala grinder, a hairdryer and a recycled washing machine in the garage of my Hermanus home in 2009.What key milestones have you had along the way?We taught ourselves how to make chocolate, without attending any chocolate-making courses. We learned where and how to source raw materials. We opened our first store at Spice Route, followed by DV Artisan Chocolate at selected Woolworths outlets.What do you love most about chocolate?Chocolate surprises you all the time. For example, I sourced cocoa beans from a specific region five years ago and I didn't like it. Recently we sourced beans from the same region, which now had a different profile and we loved it. To find out more see dvchocolate.com..