From Working 'Boring Jobs' to Becoming A Chocolatier
Chef Christian Valdes' Career Journey
Hey there,
It's been a while!
Quick personal update: I took a short break — my sister got married, and I visited Japan. Now I'm back with a lineup of fascinating interviews ready to share: a New York-based food journalist, a French chef in Hong Kong, and a chef from Greece.
These conversations are just the beginning. My goal is to introduce you to remarkable people in the food world who all share one thing in common: none of them followed a straight path. Their careers twist, turn, and sometimes double back — proving there's no single route to success in food.
First up, a chocolatier whose journey from data entry to crafting Filipino-inspired luxury chocolates might just change how you think about your own career path.
⏯️ Podcast
1. Challenge Family Expectations When Your Path Feels Different.
Christian Valdes was living the American work ethic—school by day, multiple jobs by night. "I was a very industrious student because not only was I in school full time, I was also working two to three jobs at any given time," he explained. "That was the American dream. You work while in school, so when you're 17 or 18 you can move out and be independent."
His parents in the Philippines saw it differently. "You're corrupted by work," they told him, urging him to prioritize education in the Philippines instead.
Christian agreed, assuming he wouldn't meet Philippine education standards and could quickly return to America. "I'll keep them happy. I'll go out there and go back to the States," he recalled thinking. To his surprise, he excelled in the entrance exams.
This unexpected success kept him in the Philippines, reconnecting him with family and shifting his mindset. It eventually steered him away from unfulfilling jobs like medical insurance data encoding—"Eight hours of staring at a computer screen, reading applications and doctor's handwriting... that's not fun."
2. One Meaningful Gift Can Change Your Career Trajectory.
The turning point came when a friend interning at Mandarin Oriental gave Christian a box of handmade chocolates. "I was flabbergasted," Christian shared. "I was like, wow, this is beautiful. I want to be able to make it."
This same friend taught him the craft, igniting a passion that began with making chocolates for friends and family. What started as a hobby expanded into formal training in Belgium and France, eventually becoming CMV Txokolat.
3. Your Cultural Heritage Is Your Greatest Innovation Asset.
Christian's chocolates stand out through his bold incorporation of Filipino flavors:
Green Mango Bagoong Bon Bon: Dark chocolate with green mango gel, bagoong ganache, and homemade patis salt.
Etag: Smoked pork fat ganache with tomato gel, capturing the essence of Baguio.
Gumamela: Inspired by childhood memories of Filipino youth playing with gelatin flour
These aren't just confections but cultural narratives, connecting consumers with Filipino heritage through unexpected combinations.
4. Great Teams Need Cultivation, Not Just Management.
When managing his team of 12, Christian applies a natural approach:
"Your business is the garden. If you as a gardener have the right seeds, the right inputs to help your garden grow—your team is like the plants and the trees. With the right sunlight, the right environment, the right materials, they will grow."
This perspective transforms team development from management into cultivation. He puts this philosophy into practice through daily check-ins at the beginning and end of each workday, creating a rhythm that nurtures both accountability and growth.
5. Transparency About Challenges Builds Customer Trust.
On sustainability, Christian is refreshingly straightforward:
"In the chocolate industry, sustainability is quite difficult. The larger you get, the less sustainable because you have more need for materials, for packaging, your carbon footprint goes up."
Yet he remains committed to finding balanced solutions, recognizing that tomorrow's chocolate brands must reconcile luxury with responsibility.
6. Even Passion Projects Require Deliberate Disconnection
For all his passion, Christian understands the importance of disconnecting. Despite a previous article mistakenly describing him as a surfer (he's only surfed twice), his outlet is swimming. Whether for 20 minutes or four hours, it helps him reset.
Topics we cover:
Learning chocolate craftsmanship in Belgium and France
How Filipino heritage shapes innovative flavor combinations
The viral Dubai chocolate controversy and creating alternatives
Managing a team of 12 using the "garden" philosophy
Sustainability challenges in the chocolate industry
Finding balance through swimming and avoiding burnout
Pricing strategy for luxury chocolate in a price-conscious market
👉Try his chocolates (I love the Pomelo Dark Chocolate bar!)
Footnotes:
Chef Bram - His instructor in Antwerp, Belgium at Chocolate World, who taught him traditional Belgian chocolate techniques and design methods for efficiency.
Chloe Doutre Roussel -The instructor in Paris who taught him to appreciate fine cacao quality, sustainability, and the creation of unique chocolates.
Plaq Chocolate - Christian notes that they were one of the first brands to champion fine cacao.
Chef Amado (Luis Amado) - A chocolatier whose designs Christian greatly admires. He mentioned wanting to take classes with him when Chef Amado visits Southeast Asia.
Scharffen Berger - A formative influence from his childhood (before they sold to Hershey's), whose chocolate variety box showed him how different percentages could create complex flavor profiles "like fine wine."
💎What I’m Loving Right Now
Simple Marketing for Smart People by Tiago Forte and Billy Broas - I’ve been geeking on marketing principles applicable to food businesses. A summary will be in the following newsletter.
1,387 Cakes in One Picnic in San Francisco - This struck a cord with many people on Instagram. This is a perfect example of how food events can stand out.
ChatGPT’s image generator - You would’ve seen all the Studio Ghibli images online, but these are my favorite ways to use the tool in the food space (from X).
🎯Two Actions You Can Take:
✅ Trace Your Food Memories: What childhood food experiences still resonate with you? Could they inspire your next creation?
✅ Create Your "Inspiration Library": Collect flavors, techniques, or concepts that intrigue you, even if they seem disconnected from your current work. Christian draws inspiration from varied sources, from taxi conversations about gin pomelo to traditional ingredients like kiniing and bagoong.
Until next time,
Bea
P.S. Have you experimented with unusual flavor combinations in your cooking?
What’s On Your Plate is a compilation of stories and insights from inside the food and hospitality industry. Every two weeks, I profile chefs, founders, and industry players shaping how we eat, cook, and do business. It is for culinary students, entrepreneurs, and food-obsessed readers who want more than pretty plates.