Chocolate:
people have been enjoying the versatile ambrosia made from cacao beans for
centuries.
However, despite possessing an ideal climate,
Vietnam has never been known for its production of quality chocolate. Now,
thanks to two chocolate-obsessed expatriates, Vietnam has the chance to become
an internationally recognized hot spot for gourmet cacao production.
Vincent Mourou-Rochebois, a tall, congenial
39-year-old French-American man, is often seen at Saigon art exhibitions,
enthralled in conversation as he shares samples of his company’s rich,
unadorned chocolate bars.
In just one year, Vincent and his French
business partner, Samuel Maruta, visited Vietnamese cacao farms to test for
quality, found investors, and established Marou Chocolate Company. And now the
duo has begun producing high-quality chocolate from cacao bean and sugar grown
exclusively in Vietnam.
However, Marou’s founders were mere chocolate
novices when they undertook the project. They had to learn the entire process
online until they convinced a chocolate specialist from France to visit Vietnam
to help.
The company’s founders are its toughest
critics and they’re quite pleased with their product. “Marou chocolate is not
only the best I have found in Vietnam, but ranks among the highest quality in
the world,” said Tomaso Andreatta, an Italian banker and vice chairman of
Eurocham in Ho Chi Minh City. The decision to make Marou “single cru”
(chocolate made from beans specific to one geographic region) gives the
chocolate a distinctiveness Vincent attributes to his own good luck, as well as
the skill of the farmers who grow the exquisite cacao beans he buys.
“My favorite type of cacao bean is Ben Tre,
which has an aftertaste reminiscent of red berries, with that good crispy
consistency characteristic of good pure chocolate,” continued Tomaso. “Marou is
for serious chocolate lovers or those who wish to become connoisseurs; its high
cacao content (over 70 percent), places it on the ‘bitter’ end of the chocolate
spectrum. The experience of eating it, however, is far from bitter, as the
taste is always smooth.”
Like wine, the different varieties of cacao
all have their own subtle nuances, which depend upon the climate, and the soil
in which they’re grown, as well as the farmer who tends them.
“For example, the taste of cacao in Ba Ria is
fruitier. And hope to find something special in Dac Lak Province,” Vincent
explained. “We live [in Vietnam] and spend a lot of time finding the country’s
best cacao beans, and sell our chocolate locally, as well as exporting it.”
Vincent's chocolate obsession began as an
adventure. “The first contact we made with a Vietnamese cacao farmer was in Ba
Ria-Vung Tau Province. One day Samuel and I headed out on motorcycles into the
countryside looking for cacao farms. We didn’t know exactly where we were
going, but had been told that cacao was grown in that region. We had a map and
found our way there, searching the roadside for cacao trees.
“At one point, Samuel saw a sign that read:
‘mua hat cacao’ (cacao beans trade here). We stopped and met the farmer, who
gave us a tour of his farm. It was well kept, with cacao drying in the sun. We
left that day with two kilos of his cacao, not really knowing what we would do
with it. On the Dong Nai River ferry on our way back to Saigon, I turned to Sam
and asked him, “So, what's next?”
“Let's start a company!” he responded. I was
pleased, but curious what exactly was running through his head, as my mind was
ablaze with ideas,” Vincent recalled.
According to Vincent, what makes the chocolate
business interesting is getting to know individual cacao farmers. “We are
always very well received by the farmers. As our company develops we are able
to bring back finished chocolate that was made exclusively from that farmer's
cacao beans. It's often the first time they have tasted quality chocolate.
Often, they are surprised by the taste which is a far reach from the initially
bitter dried cacao bean that we bought from them,” he said.
Vincent and Samuel has spent months traveling
through Vietnam’s southern provinces and central highlands, visiting cacao
farmers to find the perfect ingredients for his chocolate.
Vietnamese cacao farms tend to be small scale
operations, usually covering less than two hectares. The harvesting process
takes three years, but cacao trees can live as long as 30 years.
According to Vincent, 99.9 percent of cacao
beans grown in Vietnam are exported, while most local chocolate producers buy
processed cacao from outside Vietnam.
For him, the words chocolate made in Vietnam
do not connote inexpensiveness, but something produced 100 percent locally with
the power to penetrate the demanding markets of Europe and the US.
Marou has just introduced their Ba Ria new
chocolate bar (100 grams; VND85,000) to food outlets in Hong Kong and the Salon
de Chocolat exhibition in Paris.
Vincent admitted, “At first we didn’t know the
best way to roast cacao beans. But we had faith in our potential to end up with
something we could market successfully.”
Vincent and Samuel have spent a year
experimenting with different roasting processes, finally settling on the
perfect temperature and duration. After they are roasted, cacao beans are
ground for two days before sugar is added. It takes about three days for cacao
beans to become chocolate bars.
Marou is the first artisan chocolate company
based in Vietnam. Through close collaboration with farmers, cooperatives and
cacao experts, Marou aims to make Vietnam a world famous origin of gourmet
chocolate.
Vincent deals primarily with production, while
Samuel handles the company’s finances. When it comes to products, all final
decisions are made mutually.
Long
winding road to Saigon
Vincent studied neuroscience at the University
of Michigan, one of the most prestigious public universities in the US and then
spent 9 years in Hollywood and London making films and advertisements.
“I always wanted to travel to South East Asia.
Then a friend in Vietnam invited me to visit, and in 2010 I traveled through
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.”
To Vincent, the film and chocolate industries
share similar prerequisites for success: a grand vision and attention to
detail.
“Everything about chocolate makes people
happy. To me, chocolate brings great memories of my grandmother. I came here
looking for something new to do which I would enjoy.”
Vietnam’s
cacao roots
According to Samuel Maruta, the famous
scientist Alexandre Yersin, a disciple of Louis Pasteur, introduced cacao to
Vietnam in the early twentieth century. But cacao beans failed to become a
mainstay of Vietnamese agriculture.
A few trees remained in some Mekong Delta
provinces, where the fruit was occasionally enjoyed fresh and sometimes turned
into cocoa, but without any significant investment or know-how, cocoa remained
a marginal product in Vietnam.
Ten years ago, cacao trees were reintroduced
in Vietnam’s southern provinces by Dr. Phuoc of the Nong Lam University. Then
the emerging cacao industry was given a boost from international trading
companies and public development projects like the US Aid and Success Alliance
programs.
“Last year the price of cacao in Vietnam
reached its highest price: US$3,500 per ton,” Samuel informed.
Vincent says what is needed to effectively
establish high-end cacao farming in a country where it’s never been before, is
farmers and consumers appreciating how crucial it is to produce only the
highest quality beans.
“If the farmers start to develop sustainable
approaches toward cacao production, and use the techniques that the experts are
recommending, Vietnam could start producing better cacao quite quickly. If this
realization does not occur, and the farmers are content with average quality,
Vietnam will miss a great opportunity to distinguish itself,” he said. Taking
the same exhaustive approach that was adopted for coffee, Vincent explained,
will lead to a low quality cacao, destined to be purchased by foreign buyers
for dirt cheap. Eventually, the consequence will be the further destruction of
the land and rivers via pesticides and fertilizers.
“Fortunately, we are not an industrial-sized
chocolate company, in need of thousands of tons of cacao each year. We are
about making the finest single origin chocolate and we only need small
quantities of high quality cacao to achieve our goals. We dedicate a lot of
time and effort to finding quality farmers and the best tasting cacao,” he
concluded.
By To Van Nga, Thanh Nien News
Business & Investment Opportunities
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