Visit Cioccolateria Veneziana – A traditional Venetian chocolate factory

Cioccolateria Veneziana: visit to the workshop

This is a special offer for the food lovers and the curious ones! Visiting the artisan workshop of Cioccolateria Veneziana is an unmissable opportunity for chocolate lovers to better understand the fantastic world of cocoa and what the secrets of a good artisan chocolate are. You will be accompanied by one of our managers and can discover:

• the history and culture of cocoa, where it originates, the plant and its territories of origin;
• some historical background and legends from the Maya/Aztec world;
• what the various processing steps are to go from the bean to the finished product;
• what are the therapeutic and health properties of chocolate.

With the help of educational material and some videos, we will tell you in a simple way how chocolate is made ‘from bean to bar’ and the different types of chocolate that can be created.

You will see a LIVE demonstration of how chocolate is made in our workshop and, of course, enjoy a taste of our products on display in the shop.

Visits to the Venetian Chocolate Factory are available, by prior arrangement, every Tuesday in June, July and August:

• in the morning, starting at 10:30 a.m;
• in the afternoon, starting at 4 p.m.

Cioccolateria Veneziana: a family history

1 – Grandmother Antonia with father Carlo
At the end of the 19th century, the great-grandmother Antonia Onorin Padoan, traded eggs, chickens and cereals. She left at dawn from Chiesanuova and along the Piave river she reached Caposile and then Portegrandi to finally arrive at the island of Murano. His son Vincenzo also became a wine merchant between San Donà di Piave and Venice.

2 – Carlo Mengo as a young entrepreneur
Carlo Mengo inherited this tradition and entrepreneurial aptitude from his mother’s side of the family and, in 1960, after an experience in a liquor factory as a boy, he decided to open his own company together with a partner. Thus was born the SIL Liquorificio.

3 – The SIL brand’s first trade fairs
Carlo started a real business, developing the SIL brand with both the graphic design and the commercial and advertising part.

4 – Labels dedicated to Venice
Carlo employs professionals to research the company image and wants to maintain a strong link with Venice. He chose to dedicate some labels and liqueur names to the beloved city that has always been fundamental to the family’s livelihood. 

5 – Carlo Mengo at the San Donà di Piave Trade Fair
The production of liqueurs and the marketing of wine led Carlo to travel in Europe and overseas, participating in international trade fairs. He presents the company at local events and participates in important occasions to make his products known.

6 – Francesco and Simone Mengo at the MIG in Longarone
The sons, first Francesco and then Simone, savoured the air of the family business, became passionate and created new products. Their drive and young energy are useful in promoting the company more and more.

7 – Francesco and Simone Mengo create Cioccolateria Veneziana
At the end of the 1990s, the Mengo brothers began to explore the world of cocoa and chocolate: they wanted to offer the market a new product and face a historical crisis in the world of alcoholic beverages.

Thus the Cioccolateria Veneziana brand was born.

8 – Francesco and Simone support the Sil brand
Today the company is a reality that preserves the history of an enterprising family and embodies the same passion as the founders. Along with chocolate, Francesco and Simone also continue to produce spirits and liqueurs, proud to guard those little secrets that are the true heritage of artisanal production and always use their father Carlo’s recipes.