A WOMAN from the country renowned for chocolate has opened her own shop in Brighton.

Linda Develdas, from Belgium, is now living near Brighton Marina and has set up her own chocolate shop there.

The luxury store, Develdas, is on the main Strand and sells an exclusive range of 100 types of carefully crafted Belgian chocolates.

They are made in Valentino’s Chocolatier, just outside Brussels in Schepdaal, Belgium, and handpicked by Linda.

She said: “The range we have is excellent. I love these chocolates because they just taste freshly made, and it’s a family owned business.

“I’m a Belgian, I know good chocolate. I know really good chocolate when I taste it. Also a lot of the work to create them is done by hand.”

The shop has a chocolate to cater to everyone’s taste and the selection includes white, milk and dark chocolate.

Customers will also find dairy free chocolate for vegans, alcohol-free chocolate for the non-drinkers and sugar-free chocolate for those on a diet who have a sweet tooth.

Linda said: “There just has to be a chocolate for everyone, no matter what you eat or what you need to watch eating.

“Here at the shop we want everyone to be able to find their chocolate.”

She said it can be a challenge working in the shop and not trying a few herself, given their delicious flavours.

She said: “Of course it’s hard to resist. But I call it quality control.

“I need to try a few just to make sure they are up to scratch.”

Her most popular chocolate so far since opening the shop is the cerise kirsch, a cherry flavoured treat.

She said: “It’s so interesting to see what people go for but my cerise range I am down to the last box.

“I didn’t think that would be the most popular over here but I have been proved wrong.”

Linda’s husband Peter has also played his part in setting up the business.

He said: “I am more in the background, it’s Linda’s passion and it’s just great to see her running her own chocolate shop which is what she has always wanted.

“It is very exciting and we are looking forward to welcoming more people.”

The shop used to be Bijoux, a handbag and gift shop, but it is now sugar-coated with some of Belgian’s finest.