Feel-good chocolate that does good, too

DIVINE TASTES Andrew Baker looks at São Tomé’s cacao industry and gets to indulge his sweet tooth

One hundred years ago the island of São Tomé, off the coast of central Africa, was (with its neighbour Principe) the largest producer of cocoa in the world: the archipelago they share was known as “the chocolate islands”. The 20th century was not easy for cacao growers on the islands, though, and the plantations suffered through inattentive and often absentee landowners; often the plantation labourers suffered too.

After a deep decline into the Eighties, the cacao industry in the islands is now back in great health, and communities are involved in the production of their own crops. Small-scale farmers are networking to share ideas and education, and the marketing of their crops – and the results are celebrated in two ways this month: an exhibition on the Southbank in London and a range of excellent bars.

First, the bars, which have been produced in collaboration with London-based ethical chocolate company Divine. This is an operation that has a long track record of making chocolate that not only tastes good but is produced with the interests of cocoa growers in mind, and these days Divine is majority-owned by the cocoa farmers of Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana. The company is approaching its 20th anniversary, so the chance to extend their range – and their network of knowledge – to a new African community was too good to pass up. Sophi Tranchell, Divine’s CEO, travelled to São Tomé to visit the cocoa-growing communities and was delighted by what she found. “It was very impressive to see the farmers’ engagement,” she says. “They worked closely together to agree their priorities and have very clear ideas about what projects would benefit the whole organisation most.”

The revenue from the new bars will be spent to improve the lives – and the working practices – of the people who grow the raw materials, which is just the kind of business approach that Divine has always espoused. Those that consume the bars can do so safe in the knowledge that they are supporting communities rather than a faceless international conglomerate. And consumers who appreciate such things are also likely to approve of bars that are not only certified Fairtrade but also organic, GMO and vegan.

Relish the virtue. But relish also the taste, for the São Tomé bars, four of them with flavourings at 85 per cent cocoa content and a plain bar at 95 per cent, taste really good too. The low-sugar content is balanced nicely by the flavourings – turmeric with ginger, blueberry and popped quinoa, lemon, and cocoa nibs – and the bars are distinctly snackable and moreish, in particular the sweet, sharp and crunchy blueberry and quinoa.

The cultural side of the story of São Tomé’s resurgence as a chocolate power can be seen in photographic form as part of the exhibition The World, which opened on Friday at the Bargehouse Gallery on the Southbank in London.

Photographer David Chancellor visited the São Tomé plantations and his images form part of a global portrait of small-scale food producers from all over the world.

The exhibition is coordinated by the Gaia Foundation and, as well as Chancellor, has involved other eminent photographers such as Rankin, Martin Parr and Gabriela Iturbide. The aim is to present a positive celebration of farming systems – and, primarily, people – that produce food without harming their local environment or the planet in general. Francesca Price, the project director, says that she hopes the images help to “replace the image of the poor, struggling farmer with a truer, more resilient picture”.

Hortência Silva Pina, a cocoa farmer from Monte Bello, a small farming community deep in São Tomé’s rainforest, is featured in photographs in the exhibition. She is visiting London to help spread awareness of what her community has achieved.

A mother of six, Hortência has picked up new skills since joining the CECAQ-11 cooperative which supplies Divine with cocoa. She has trained in the grafting of seedlings, in pruning and in shade management, acquiring expertise that she is giving to young farmers – including her own children. She has been passionate about empowering women and helping to protect them against domestic abuse, which has been a problem among farmers. “Some years ago the government more formally divided land between the farmers – which was good news,” she says. “Except they only handed out one land title per married couple. So although both the man and the woman may have land, there is only one land title, and the husbands are often bad at sharing the income, even when they are both equally working the land. And this leads to a lot of conflict.”

Hortencia complained about the situation to the government, and was pleasantly surprised by the speed with which they responded. But more remains to be done for other women who are disadvantaged. In Hortencia’s community of Monte Bello there are 22 female farmers. She would like to see more women playing a part.

“If more women got involved it would make them more active,” she says. “And it would make sure more actually got done!”

Sunday 14 October 2018

Sunday 14 October 2018