*This article was updated on 22/08/2022*
The History of Prestat
Enjoyed by the royal, the noble, the famous and the fashionable since 1902.
Prestat was founded in 1902 by French émigré Antoine Dufour who came from a family of highly proficient confectioners and chocolatiers.
Crystallising fruits was very much in vogue and he lovingly recorded his purchases of raspberries, strawberries, cherries, grapes and blackcurrants.
Nick Crean, Previous Co-owner of Prestat
Prestat’s current owners, Italian coffee producers illy, acquired Prestat from Nick Crean and Bill Keeling, who ran Prestat for almost 2 decades.
Nick and Bill still kept Antoine's recipes for chocolate caramels, coffee caramels, Turkish Delight, chocolate fudge, violet fondant, rose fondant and, of course, chocolate truffles.
Antoine’s family were the first to create the Chocolate Truffle in Chambery, France, in December 1895 so he swiftly took advantage of the growing popularity for fine chocolate in England.
Prestat quickly became famous for its cocoa-dusted truffles, which Antoine Dufour wittily named ‘Napoleon III’ after the 19th Century rotund gourmand French emperor who spent his exile in London with his loyal chef.
"I do so adore chocolate truffles as Prestat makes them" Roald Dahl.
Their First Shop
The first Prestat shop was opened at 24 South Molton Street in London and the business clearly thrived.
Antoine soon opened a more eye-catching store a few hundred yards away at 405 Oxford Street which is now one of London’s more fashionable shopping streets.
With quality remaining at its core for more than a century, Prestat, for many years supplied the British royal family and was granted a Royal Warrant as Purveyors of Chocolates to Her Majesty The Queen.
They now have a lovely chocolate shop in Piccadilly and a concession in Harrods.
Prestat's at British Hamper
Here at British Hamper, we have two notable favourites from the Prestat range, their Union Jack Truffle selection box which contains a mouth-watering array of gourmet chocolate truffle combinations and their gorgeous sea salt caramel truffles, their best-selling truffles of all time.
Their caramel truffles are created using a creamy sea salt caramel ganache encased within a velvety fine dark chocolate truffle shell.
We include Prestat in many of our Luxury Gift Hampers so if you're looking for the ultimate chocolate present view our Chocolate Gift Hampers by clicking here.
If you’d like to know more about the Prestat story pop along to their shop at 14 Princes Arcade in Piccadilly, London or visit their site at www.prestat.co.uk