INTERVIEW: Emily Paek, Founder of Public Chocolatory

Emily Paek was one of the first craft chocolate makers in Korea (https://damecacao.com/eat-chocolate-seoul/), and quite frankly, it’s been a long road to journey down. Over the last few years I’ve had the honor of watching Emily’s chocolate brand, Public Chocolatory, grow into its space and educate the Korean public as to the merits of craft chocolate. Being located outside of Seoul, where the majority of tourists stay, has been both a blessing and a curse. While Emily has no chocolate competition in Chuncheon, the local market is about 2% the size of Seoul (https://damecacao.com/where-to-stay-in-seoul-itinerary-5-days/) (an unfair comparison, but still). Other than a recently-hired employee, the shop has been a one-woman show for almost 3 years. So how does one bring fine chocolate (https://damecacao.com/what-is-craft-chocolate-bean-to-bar/) to a populace still getting used to the idea of dessert, but fully willing to pay $6 for a cup of coffee? Note that the topic of the Korean chocolate market plays heavily in my questions thanks to the podcast episode (https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-south-korea/) for which I was interviewing Emily. Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/) Show Notes: https://damecacao.com/interview-emily-paek-founder-of-public-chocolatory/