Bomboneria Pons, or the expansion of the little chocolate house in Sants

It has been more than 65 years that it smells of chocolate and sweets on Olzinelles street. It was in 1960 when Urcisina and Juan Ramón began to sell the candies that she knew so well how to prepare after years working at the Mauri Sweet Factory. They started selling them from their home, where their children still live, and where their grandson continues to sell the chocolate that still floods the Sants neighborhood with sweet smells, under the iconic sign of Bomboneria Pons.

The entrepreneurial spirit of that first generation led from candies to chocolate, and the second was in charge of taking it beyond the Sants chocolate shop. Juan Ramón Jr. raised the level of the family business by studying chocolate formulation and experimenting with new products. He left with his briefcase full of samples of chocolate nougats of different flavors, and conquered a large firm that began to buy their product. And the Pons, already with Juanra Jr. and his wife Maribel at the helm, had it clear: they allocated the income to modernize their workshop, with machines that are still used today, now by their son, Àlex Pons.

"The first generation founded the Bomboneria; the second consolidated it, and the third is expanding it," summarizes the right-hand woman of this third generation, Carla Jodar. This expansion, moreover, is occurring in multiple dimensions: Bomboneria Pons is growing through online sales, more physical stores, wholesale sales, and even export. This growth is also translating into turnover: the last two years have grown by 30% compared to the previous one, coinciding with the opening two years ago of their second location, in Les Corts. Now, they are already exploring areas of the city and premises for their third physical store, which will reproduce the same traditional atmosphere as the first two: wood and glass for a warm environment full of sweets. "The little chocolate house," as Jodar says.

This little chocolate house (or this box of chocolates converted into a shop) has also started to cross borders, exporting its chocolates throughout Europe and America (and, soon, to East Asia). From the chocolate shop, they do not suffer from the transfer of their chocolates, as Jodar highlights: "Without vegetable oils or added flours, in good temperature and humidity conditions, our chocolate can remain perfect for up to a year." Given the forecast of continued growth in exports, the family business is also working on its workshop, to ensure that "it has the flexibility to receive unexpected orders and be able to respond to them."

And it is that, in addition to exporting, there are many local bakeries that sell Bomboneria Pons chocolate. "It is a sector in which it is difficult to find talent and qualified labor. As there is a lack of hands, some tasks are outsourced," such as chocolate making, whether in the form of bars, chocolates or chocolate bars. This difficulty in finding talent is a constant in the sector, in which, furthermore, "the cost of training is very high". Jodar attributes it to the fact that the year is structured in seasons, and the cycle to consolidate the learning of each one is long: "You start making 'monas' for three months, then you make chocolates for a season, then the panellets come… and you spend between six and eight months until you touch the same product again. The first year you spend processing information; the second, remembering and consolidating it, and the third is when you acquire autonomous performance."

Aware of this extended learning cycle, the chocolate shop is already preparing for retirements that will arrive in the coming years, incorporating young talent. Ten people work in the workshop, in addition to the shop and warehouse staff, Jodar details. She was also an addition: she used to be a supplier to Àlex Pons, until he came looking for her, and she fell in love with the challenge. Now she is in charge of management and, as Pons says, the area of business success.

The lack of talent is not the only difficulty faced by the chocolate shop, shared with many other family businesses that once filled a street in Sants, now very different. "The problem is that SMEs are not being helped. It is complicated to run a family business, due to bureaucracy, inspections, duplications between administrations… Luckily, our clientele values our work and our product."

And what is this customer like? "Upper-middle class, and very prone to giving gifts. Many are lifelong customers, who often come even to chat and buy four chocolates." And, just like on the other side of the counter, there are also third generations among the customers: "Some of those who came years ago are now grandparents, and they come with their children and grandchildren."

And they keep going to the same place, the same little chocolate house in Sants where Urcisina and Juan Ramón began selling candies and chocolate. Meanwhile, they lived in the back room, now converted into the central offices of a chocolate shop that aspires to continue taking its chocolate even further.