Grenada Chocolate Company
Encyclopedia
The Grenada Chocolate Company is a cooperative in Grenada
making organic
dark chocolate
from bean to bar as well as growing the cocoa in Grenada (tree-to-bar).
.
cocoa beans, processed in small batches. Grenada grows almost entirely Trinitario
cocoa with a few Forasteros and has one of the strongest, richest cocoas in the world partially due to the super-rich volcanic soil here and the hot sun. Producing chocolate where the cocoa grows allows the Grenada Chocolate Company to do their own fermenting
, which is unique in the chocolate industry and which permits the creation of the finest, most complex taste from the beans. Use of their own (relatively low-pressure cocoa butter
press) extracted cocoa butter enables extra richness and chocolaty flavor that has been recognised with a Silver Award from The Academy of Chocolate.
provide their "dash" of vanilla
; organic soy lecithin is used as emulsifier in extremely small amounts. As the ingredients are so pure and simple, all chocolate is guaranteed to be free of any nuts, fruit or dairy, even in trace amounts.
chocolate companies still, almost exclusively, process the value-added product in the first world with raw materials they import from the equatorial belt where cocoa grows. In that way, even the fair-trade system perpetuates a cycle the founders of the Grenada Chocolate Co. are determined to break. "They're buying cocoa from the south part of the world to bring it to the north part of the world," Green said. "But what we're doing can effectively make sure that the people doing the work are actually part of the process."
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
making organic
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
dark chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
from bean to bar as well as growing the cocoa in Grenada (tree-to-bar).
History
The Grenada Chocolate Company Ltd. was established in 1999 with the idea of creating an organic cocoa farmers' and chocolate-makers' cooperative. Its founding partners were Mott Green, Doug Browne and Edmond Brown. Two of the three founders live on the island and work cooperatively with a handful of workers, all locals. It produces high quality organic dark chocolate in Grenada with its own cocoa beans. These are certified according to the USDA-NOP final rule by CERES (Certfier of Environmental Standards) GmbH and certified according to regulation EEC 2092/91 by CERES Gmbh. The factory is located in Grenada's rainforestRainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
.
Cultivation
Grenada dark chocolate reflects the complex flavor of Grenada's fine-flavored organicOrganic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
cocoa beans, processed in small batches. Grenada grows almost entirely Trinitario
Trinitario
The Trinitarios/3ni are a violent New York-based multinational organization composed of Hispanics. Trinitario was established in 1989 within the New York state prison system and since spilled into the streets, with chapters in all five boroughs of New York City...
cocoa with a few Forasteros and has one of the strongest, richest cocoas in the world partially due to the super-rich volcanic soil here and the hot sun. Producing chocolate where the cocoa grows allows the Grenada Chocolate Company to do their own fermenting
Fermentation (food)
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
, which is unique in the chocolate industry and which permits the creation of the finest, most complex taste from the beans. Use of their own (relatively low-pressure cocoa butter
Cocoa butter
Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, pure edible vegetable fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, biscuits, and baked goods, as well as some pharmaceuticals, ointments, and toiletries...
press) extracted cocoa butter enables extra richness and chocolaty flavor that has been recognised with a Silver Award from The Academy of Chocolate.
Manufacture
The Grenada Chocolate Company has over 150 acre (0.607029 km²) of organic cocoa farms in its cooperative and operates its own cocoa fermentry, located one mile (1.6 km) from their small factory. This allows all activities involved in the production of chocolate to be local, from the planting and growing of the cocoa trees to the fermenting of the fresh cocoa beans to the processing of chocolate. The Grenada Chocolate Company grows cocoa naturally without the use of any chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers.Products
- Organic chocolate bars
- SweetyPodsTM, organic chocolate pieces in the shape of cocoa pods
- Smilo cocoa powder (only available locally)
Ingredients
The Grenada Chocolate Company sugar is a fine organic raw sugar produced and milled by an organic growers' cooperative in Paraguy. Whole organic vanilla beans grown biodynamically in Costa RicaCosta Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
provide their "dash" of vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
; organic soy lecithin is used as emulsifier in extremely small amounts. As the ingredients are so pure and simple, all chocolate is guaranteed to be free of any nuts, fruit or dairy, even in trace amounts.
Context
The Grenada Chocolate Company is one of the only small-scale chocolate-makers producing fine chocolate right where the cocoa grows. Because small batch chocolate-making is very rare, they created their own processing methods, designing machines and refurbishing antique equipment to meet the requirements of their unique situation. Most of their machines are based on designs from the early 1900s, a time when quality had precedence over quantity in chocolate-making. About 25% of the energy needed to power their machinery is generated from photovoltaic solar panels.Objectives
The stated aim of the cooperative company is to revolutionize the cocoa-chocolate system that typically keeps cocoa production separate from chocolate-making and therefore takes advantage of cocoa farmers. The Grenada Chocolate Company claim that the cocoa farmers should benefit as much as the chocolate-makers.Fair Trade
According to one of the founders, it's more than procrastination that's kept them from filing the paperwork: Fair tradeFair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
chocolate companies still, almost exclusively, process the value-added product in the first world with raw materials they import from the equatorial belt where cocoa grows. In that way, even the fair-trade system perpetuates a cycle the founders of the Grenada Chocolate Co. are determined to break. "They're buying cocoa from the south part of the world to bring it to the north part of the world," Green said. "But what we're doing can effectively make sure that the people doing the work are actually part of the process."