CF18 Chocolatier

CF18 Chocolatier was founded by Christian Fredrik Furuholmen in 2018. Fredrik used to work as a civil engineer, but decided to change his life and went to study at Cordon Bleu in London, in order to realise his dream of becoming a chocolatier. Our goal was to create an identity that communicated precision, innovation and craft. By customising all elements in the packaging and working with a new highly mouldable paper, we managed to avoid the plastic that usually goes into chocolate packaging.

We have always been fascinated by what happens when disciplines are crossing, and were intrigued by the story of a civil engineer starting an artisanal chocolate production. The art of engineering is one of the oldest applied sciences, intimately linked to geology and building, using stone as the primary material. Stones transform from liquid to solid which is similar to the physical and chemical processes involved in melting and tempering chocolate. We saw an opportunity to connect the narrative of CF 18 and the decor of the chocolates to Norwegian stones and minerals by imitating their patterns and colours.

The trays are made with 100% recycled Eska board, dressed with textile. A padded paper and a glassine with holographic foil, ensures that the chocolate stays in place during transport. Each box has a colour coordinated dépliant in paper doubled with textile, mapping the different chocolates. The customisation also allowed us to avoid using plastics, common in the inlays holding the chocolates in place.

Through a modular construction we optimised the use of materials and tooling, creating one paper inlay with 12 compartments that works for all 3 sizes. To allow the box to have a second life, no glue was used to fix the inlays to the tray. All elements of the packaging are assembled in Sweden, a 2 hour drive from CF 18.

To create a unique experience we decided to custom develop all the elements of the packaging. The ritual of the opening with a 360 tear-off and the gradual revealing of the content, elevates the opening to a performative moment, reflecting both the intangible value and craft of the product.

The outer boxes and the inlays are made in a FSC certified food safe paper called FibreForm that is particularly suitable for moulding. The shadow play of the deep blind embossing on the uncoated paper, together with the opening ritual, imbue the packaging with a sense of modern luxury, with a mindful approach to materials and their afterlife.

We also drew inspiration from how geological museums present collections of stones, in drawers with separate rooms for the stones, reminiscent of chocolate boxes. The boxes come in three stackable sizes with 6, 12 and 24 pieces.

The oval brand mark portrays the tools common to both chocolatiers and geologists, to underline craft and creation. The foiled glassine paper with an extract from the periodic table, creates an additional and subtle link to chemistry and geology. These elements are balancing the contemporary philosophy of CF18, manifested by the white outer box, the tear-off, the monocrome palette and the choice of typography. We used a sans serif font (Adieu) from the Oslo-based foundry Good Type Foundry and a chiseled type (Laica B) from the Swiss foundry ABC Dinamo.