TIMELINE:

Always on the search to discover new miracles and to explore the beauty of the medium chocolate for more than 30 years already.
 
It all started with my Master exam for Confectionery and Pastry Arts (1994) in Austria, then I have worked as a Pastry Chef for some of the best hotels in the world on 4 continents, like Raffles Hotel in Singapore, Palace hotel in Switzerland, Hotel Arlberg, Hotel Almhof Schneider, Hotel Salzburger Hof etc. in Austria, Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, USA and also on a cruise liner, the MS Europa which is considered as one of the best vessels in the world.
 
As a member of the National Team of Singapore, I won Gold at the Culinary Olympics (2000) in Berlin, for 'Best chocolate showpiece'.
I have also attended the Masterclasses of Art & Design (2005) in Austria, section 'Sculpturing', where I have received a diploma.
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Then I returned to the culinary world again and opened a production facility in the US, specialising in confections and speciality cakes. Within the first year, my creations won
21 awards at the Luxury Chocolate Salons and 3x gold medals for 'Best Truffle' in Las Vegas, Boston and Chicago. 
The 'Master Award' followed and at that time, I was awarded as one of the best 25 Chocolatiers in the US (2011).
 
After that, I moved to Australia and started working as Head Chocolatier and Pastry Consultant for a Premium bean-to-bar producer near Sydney.
Within the first year, we received the award 'Best Dark Chocolate' in Australia.
Another 2 gold medals followed for my artwork 'Best Showpiece' and 'Champion Winner Novelty Exhibit' (2011).
I also competed at the 'World Chocolate Masters' in Australia (2012) as one of the five national finalists there.
In 2013 I've created for an exhibition at a gallery a  five-meter long "Royal feast baroque table" in chocolate with more than 2500 single pieces assembled to one giant masterpiece. Shown at luxury-shopping mall Harbour City in Hong Kong, China and it attracted more than 25 000 visitors.
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From 2014-2018, I have worked in Switzerland as an R&D Senior Confiseur at the "Chocolate Centre of Excellence" for Nestlé and I was also an active member and driver of the Front-end Innovation team. We have developed chocolate and chocolate products on a global scale for different markets and needs - another creative way of life.
 
For a chocolate museum in Germany, I completed in 2017 an interesting and almost record-breaking project, a whole room made out of chocolate, where 1500 kg (3306 lbs) of chocolate were used.
 
Another Master recognition followed, the 'Master Chocolatier of the year' (2017) Golden Tier award in New York, USA, which is a special honour for me as "heavy-weights" of the Pastry- and chocolate industry like Jaques Torres and Susan Notter have been in the jury.
 
Three book launches followed:  1) "The chocolate table" (2018)
                                                          2) "Chocolate Crystals - the soul of chocolate" (2018) 
                                                          3)  "Science meets chocolate art" (2020),
where chocolate artworks are paired with science experts from NIHS (CH), AMOLF (NL), Stanford University (US) and many others. A Novum.
 
Presentations:     -  Frankfurt Book Fair, Germany
                                -  ChocoClassico, Dresden, Germany
                                -  ORF, TV, Austria
                                -  NIHS (Nestlé-Institute for Health Sciences), Lausanne, Switzerland                                                     -  ETH (Federal Technical University), Zurich, Switzerland
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As you can already imagine, there is a lot of chocolate around me every day here in Switzerland, as a professional Chocolatier, chocolate expert, product developer, lecturer or as an artist.
 
I do a lot of individual projects, presentations and performances around the globe for corporate companies, wealthy clients, TV-stations, Academies, Institutes, festivals, shows, and galleries.
 
I have received  8 gold medals,
                             23 awards and 
                         250+ publications in several media on 4 continents so far.
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Besides that, I enjoy working as a concept artist, photographer, product designer, with new media and graphics, to create sculptures in bronze, stone, clay, sugar, wood and other materials and exhibit them in solo- or group exhibitions.
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Any feedback, comments, and suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Hopefully, I can continue inspiring people around the world.
 
 
Best regards,
 
Gerhard Petzl
 
 
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Gerhard Petzl
1814 La Tour-de-Peilz
Switzerland
 
UID number.:  CHE-207.791.467
Place of jurisdiction: Vevey, Switzerland
 
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