Vanuatu meet the farmer: The cocoa-farming village is in the centre of Malekula island, which you get to by an 8-hour boat journey from Port Vila or flying into a grass strip. The pilot flies over once a day, and if he sees no-one waiting, he will fly on to the next island, so you better not be late for your flight. The main dirt track in the village connects the one store, a church and a well, via a tractor and is as secluded and serene as you can get. The amount of cocoa grown on the island of Malekula doesn’t even register on the cocoa scale of production, which shows how rare it is.
Vanuatu discover the Island: The island is pure paradise, with the only predator being coconut crabs, but as the name suggests and much to our relief, they don’t go after the cocoa pods. In the 1920s cocoa entered the island and through many changes of management and funding and Malekula is now back up and running as a thriving cocoa producing island. And for this, we must champion and support the fine cocoa that grows on the island.
Meet the farmer: Our Guadalcanal cocoa farmers are based along the North coast of the island, not too far from the historical Henderson airport. As education is mandatory on all the islands we buy from, after school, all the children are seen playing around the fermentation boxes and cocoa boxes. Our main farmer has four sisters and a wife that help maintain the farm. Each playing a part in the cocoa production – from finance to fermenting - which means it’s a family discussion when our Chocolate Makers goes out there to meet them and check the crops.
The fermenting of our cocoa beans takes place just 50 metres from the main houses and with the smell of acetic acid (vinegar) aroma that occurs during fermenting of cocoa being present during harvest season. Due to the showery squalls that dash in from the South Seas, our farmers are invested in solar drying enclosures in the form of raised drying beds that can be quickly covered with canvas after the 50-metre dash! This form of drying and not fire-drying - allows the true flavours inherent in the cocoa bean to come through without smokiness being a flavour note.
Discover the Island: The island of Guadalcanal, nestled in the heart of the Solomon Islands, is home to some of the finest cocoa from this region. Honiara is the Capital of the Solomon Islands and main port for all exports, including cocoa, coconut, and tuna. The cocoa trees grow in this rich volcanic soil, protected from the midday sun beneath high coconut palms.
