From bean to bar
The smell of chocolate wafts from the door of an artisanal shop that would not be out of place in a trendy North American neighbourhood. Founder Dana Mroueh takes in the sun while riding her stationary bicycle-turned-cocoa grinder on an ambitious journey that began just four months ago. She wants to introduce Ivory Coast, the world’s leading cocoa producer, to the taste of processed cocoa beans, in the form of chocolate bars she says are 100 per cent local.
Mroueh, 27, is among an emerging group of chocolate makers trying to show this steamy West African country it can take more control over its cocoa industry, from bean to bar, and win over the local market.
“I think it’s criminal for the planters and for the Ivorians who don’t know the taste of chocolate,” said Mroueh, an Ivorian of Lebanese descent who grew up watching her grandfather, a former pastry shop owner, have a difficult time selling his chocolate.
Mroueh’s MonChoco Chocolate bars are priced for upper-class consumers, with prices of around $5 apiece and experimental flavours including chili and sea salt.
Fellow chocolate maker Axel Emmanuel is aiming at the other end of the market. The 32-year-old says he wants to dispel the myth that chocolate is exclusively for the rich.
“We’ve decided to officially make the most inexpensive chocolate bar on the African continent,” said Emmanuel. His Instant Chocolate bars go for about 30 cents apiece.
As with many of Africa’s agricultural resources, the true earnings come from their transformation, he said, and farmers ought to benefit from the growing locally made chocolate market as well.
Ivory Coast has long been known for its raw cocoa production, producing about 35 per cent of the world’s supply. But less than a third of what it produces is turned into finished products at home.
“It’s a lot easier to teach farmers good agricultural practices,” said Suzanne Ndongo-Seh, director of the World Cocoa Foundation’s Cocoa Livelihoods Program.
She warned that chocolate makers will have to work hard to expand their clientele in Africa, especially among more rural populations.
Some of Ivory Coast’s young chocolate makers are pitching the healthy side of their products.
“Our products are raw, not cooked, not roasted to conserve all the benefits of the cocoa bean because it’s a product very, very rich in nutrients, to conserve also the antioxidants, minerals, and that’s essential,” Mroueh said.