MICHEL Laline's chocolate eureka moment came to him 10 years ago when he was 45 and at a low point in his career as an architect and interior designer based in Barcelona.

Having spent more than 25 years in Spain, the Belgium-born Laline says he remembers exactly how he felt. 'There was a moment of stress about the profession when I found it hard to convince a client about something - there was a moment I didn't like what I was doing, I didn't like the people,' he says. 'So I decided to put more interest into the gastronomy field.'

Laline, who is not especially partial to chocolate, says he noticed a gap in the Spanish chocolate market, where there were few specialist brands. 'At that time, you had to go to pastry shops - there were no specialty chocolate stores,' he says.

He decided to step in with a product that integrated design, communication and marketing - and the Chocolat Factory was born.

Laline spent a year finding out about chocolate with three pastry chefs. 'It was a new world to me - I just saw it as an opportunity,' he says. Within two years, he was making his own chocolate and in 2000, he opened his first store.

The innovative concept, incorporating high-quality chocolate with sharp packaging and modern marketing techniques, was an immediate success.

The brand's distinctive look, the attractive and slightly quirky packaging - all of it designed by Laline - and of course the quality of the chocolate within, struck a positive chord with Spanish consumers. The Chocolat Factory's products come in tubes, tins and even large boxes. 'It was terrific,' he says. 'There were only two of us in the shop and now we have 16 stores in Spain, where we are No 1 in volume.'

The company has received several hundred requests from potential franchisees but Laline has resisted so far.

Oddly enough, he chose to open Chocolat Factory's first overseas outlet in VivoCity. A second store at Paragon was recently opened and Laline says two more will open here in the near future, in UOB Centre and Terminal 3. 'Singaporeans know about chocolate,' says Laline, who also has an ulterior motive for a retail presence here. 'I want to live in Asia,' he says.

'The Asia market is more attractive than the European one because there are so many brands there - they have a lot of choice,' says Laline, who uses top quality cocoa from single-origin plantations in places like Ghana - a top producer of premium cocoa - and Sao Tome, an island state off the coast of West Africa that was once the world's largest producer of cocoa.

Laline says he never takes notice of other brands, preferring to concentrate on doing his own thing. 'I don't have a reference - I like to go my own way,' he says. 'I'm opening shops and they (his competitors in Spain) are closing shops - that's how I know I'm better.'

He adds that the Catalonia region of Spain is only starting to have a chocolate culture now. 'Ten years ago, they didn't have anything. Now, people are more knowledgeable - they are starting to discover the difference between industrial and artisanal chocolate.'

Chocolate is also making a comeback in gastronomy, says Laline. 'More and more chefs are using chocolate. I made a product called WITH (a hazelnut flavoured liquid chocolate) recently, sent it to all the top chefs in Spain and asked them to send me a recipe using the product - (celebrity chef) Martin Berasategui sent me one for a fish dish. You can use it with anything, such as foie gras - and even on salads.'

It's no surprise that there is a strong element of design with Laline's chocolates. He says his most interesting product so far is The Vase, a large chocolate vase with chocolate sticks that can be displayed as a decorative item before being devoured. 'Combining design with chocolate, that's where I enjoy myself,' he says.

Laline says his products have a certain fashion value too. 'We are going for young people - that's a market I like,' he says. The next product to be launched is called African Stones - a large tin containing three large chocolate stones of one kilo each.

'This one is really for chocolate lovers,' he says. 'I get a lot of ideas so I won't go out of fashion.'