Two
Frenchmen have quietly established a brand for the Vietnamese cacao industry.
They aspire to improve the quality and maintain sustainable development
standards, as well as trademark a brand name of Vietnamese chocolate.
Vincent Mourou-Rochebois and Samuel Maruta are
the two co-founders of Marou Chocolate Company, which has recently been granted
a license by Ho Chi Minh City authorities to produce chocolate in Vietnam.
With a current production capacity of 5,760
tons, Vietnam’s cacao industry is tiny compared with Africa’s, which provides
millions of tons per year. However, Vincent believes that quality and
sustainable development can bring about an auspicious start for Vietnam.
The world’s top cacao-producing countries
include the Ivory Coast with 1.3 million tons per year, and Ghana, with 736,000
tons.
Years ago, the cacao in Vietnam was not
harvested or fermented well and so, its quality has been badly affected.
Arrival
in Vietnam
Advertising executive Vincent and Samuel, a
financial expert, arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in 1996 to nurture their ambition
of founding a chocolate trade name, and a product made entirely by Vietnamese
ingredients.
They started with cacao cultivation, to ensure
meeting the international standards for sustainable development, without the
use of chemical products.
“To reduce insects, we use red ants as a
biological method. We put down organic fertilizer like manure,” said Vincent.
Chocolate production in Vietnam actually began
15 years ago, but the two Frenchmen mark a milestone for professional cacao
plantations and chocolate production.
In 1985, Belgian Gricha Safarian, founder of
Grand-Place -- the first 100% Vietnamese chocolate brand name, and Pham Hong
Duc Phuoc, a PhD of agriculture, produced chocolate in Vietnam, but Grand-Place
was just rough chocolate -- material used by candy factories to create the
final-product.
Now, Vincent and Samuel have followed,
applying the strategy of French wine on Vietnam cacao, using “terroir” -- a
French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics
that the geography and climate of a certain place have bestowed upon particular
produce.
Vincent and Samuel would like to emphasize the
origins of the cacao product, such as calling it “Ben Tre cacao” if it is
harvested in Ben Tre.
Cacao fruits collected
from the 8-year-old cacao garden owned by Nguyen Xuan Ron
(Photo: Tuoi Tre)
“It’s not only marketing. Each “terroir” could
make a difference in the flavor of the cacao pod, such that chocolate made from
different cacao could have a different taste”, Vincent affirmed.
Tien Giang and Ben Tre provinces in the Mekong
Delta have been the land of cacao in Vietnam, recently. The plants also grow
well in the shade of coconut trees.
International demand for ‘clean’ cacao beans,
which are certified by organic-UTZ standards, has surpassed supply. In 2011,
the world could only supply 3.6 million tons while the demand was five million
tons. So, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has plans to
increase the total cacao planting area to up to 60,000 hectares in 2015 and
80,000 hectares in 2020.
Le Thanh Hung, director of Vietnam Cargill
confirmed that, “Farmers could earn much higher incomes from good quality cacao
which is cultivated in an environmentally friendly method”.
Chocolate production at
the Marou Chocolate plant in Thu Duc District in Ho Chi Minh City
(Photo: Tuoi Tre)
TUOI TRE
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