We cannot shout it often enough: things must change in the cocoa sector! Last week, a new study which shows why. In "The Dark Side of Chocolate," they do an analysis of conventional vs sustainable vs Fairtrade cocoa. In it, they zoom in on Ivory Coast and Peru. Extra interesting for us, since we are from Peru get our cocoa beans for the Awajun bar.
What goes wrong and how can it be done better? Required reading we would almost say. If you are tight on time, skip to p.17 of the report (executive summary) or read our short version below 🙂 .
The highlights
- The industry is dominated by a handful of multinationals that hold the power with it and set the rules in the market. And that is not a good thing.
- Labels still make far too little difference. Despite their 'premium prices', most cocoa farmers still live below the poverty line. Unbelievable but true.
- Deforestation, land degradation and child labour will not be reduced. What? Even more! This applies particularly to the Ivory Coast; Peru is doing much better.
What contributes to a solution?
- A higher price for the cocoa. So not a "less bad" price. No, a really higher, fair price.
- Well-organised farmers' cooperatives (and support for them) that can ensure that the money is invested in the right way.
- A strong agriculture & forestry policy.
- A (short) chain in which the value of the cocoa origin & cocoa farmer is central.
What do we do?
- We are building a cocoa factory together with farmers in Peru. This will allow the farmers to add more value to their product locally and become less dependent on the dominant players.
- We only carry the organic label. We pay the price directly to the farmers and determine it ourselves. It is substantially higher than the market price.
- We are contributing to new plantings (e.g. converting rice fields to cocoa). And we have just started a project to bring nutrient-rich raw material (struvite, who doesn't know it) from Dutch groundwater back to the cocoa plantations in the Dominican Republic. Results will follow soon!
- And of course real chocolate made in our traditional factory, which makes the world a little better. So you can enjoy it threefold.
In this Special we let chefs Onno Kokmeijer (executive chef & manager) and Arjan Speelman (chef de cuisine) of star restaurant Ciel Bleu in Amsterdam, have their say. They have been working with our couverture for a while now and we are very curious about their opinion. Uncensored. What do they think of our products? The quality, the taste, and what is it like to work with them in the kitchen?
'CHOCOLATE AS A CHILDHOOD MEMORY'
Both men are real chocolate lovers. Fortunately for someone from Chocolatemakers, they like to make time in their busy schedule. I meet the chefs of the two-Michelin-starred kitchen on the 23rd floor of the Hotel Okura. With Amsterdam as the backdrop.
How did you come into contact with the Chocolatemakers?
Onno: We came into contact with the Chocolatemakers about five years ago, when they had just started. We called them ourselves. We find it important to use real Amsterdam products in our kitchen. We are proud of this city, it is vibrant, and we want to show our many international guests what Amsterdam has to offer. Few people know that Amsterdam has the largest cocoa port in the world! The Chocolatemakers' chocolate comes from Amsterdam Noord, how close to home do you want it. And in the end the whole picture turned out to be correct.
Arjan: We want to help small and good suppliers to become bigger. That's why we invited Enver. The taste of the chocolate fitted well in our authentic kitchen. The chocolate tastes like a childhood memory!
How does a dish come about and how do you choose the perfect chocolate to go with it?
Onno: Dishes come into being by themselves, which can sometimes take a long time. The power of a good dish is that you have to be able to put emotion in it. We have a menu with 13 dishes, we never change the whole menu at once but one dish at a time or sometimes several at once. We look at the seasons a lot, of course. In winter, the strong flavours are allowed again!
Arjan: We are always looking for unique ingredients and we like to make sure we have firsts. We use the Chocolatemakers' chocolate in our sweet and savoury dishes. We always revert to the powerful flavours of the Virunga 68%. This one is on the menu with a goose liver. We use the milk chocolate Virunga 37% in a dessert with blackberries and a 23-year old rum.
What kind of feedback do you get from guests?
Onno: Positive reactions! We clearly state on the menu where we get our chocolate from, and we are proud of that. Our team is also good at conveying the story. For example, about the Très Hombres, a sailing boat that picks up the beans in the Dominican Republic and brings them to Amsterdam where the beans are made into chocolate. Good story! Recently I was asked by a guest where the cocoa in his dish comes from. From Congo, I said, but I did not know the specific part. So I went and looked it up to tell the guest. I think it is a good development that people are becoming more curious about the origin of products.
What is important to a chef when it comes to couverture?
Arjan: The taste is the most important thing! But we also think uniqueness is important. Chocolatemakers chocolate is not always 100 percent the same. That gives it an edge. It remains a handmade product with character. For example, you can hardly taste that character in Callebaut couverture, which most chefs use. This also contains a lot of extra cocoa butter and lecithin, which causes a structural change. With Chocolatemakers chocolate, you need less because it is more powerful and specific in flavor.
Onno: Yes, and storytelling is important! We are working more and more on unique Amsterdam products. It is wonderful when our many international guests walk out of the door, on their way home, with a piece of real Amsterdam chocolate in their pockets.
In 2 weeks time, the Très Hombres sailboat will arrive in Amsterdam. Will you be there?
We would love that, but this is a very busy time for us. We are busy with all kinds of new dishes in development. And next month, in early December, our new book is coming out. The Chocolatemakers have a nice place of honor in it.
With this beautiful prospect I leave the gentlemen of Ciel Bleu. On to a beautiful continuation of our cooperation!
Today is already the last day of the Chocoa Festival 2016. We will be there from 10:00-18:00. Will you come and taste too?
Faye (age 10) from Samsam Magazine also came to sample. She made a very nice movie reportage and interviewed Enver.