Inspired by chocolate

MANILA, Philippines - When you drink hot chocolate or eat a Theo & Philo specialty chocolate bar, do you ever think of how the chocolate came to be? Or ask how a “chocolate” tree can actually exist? My friends from Peace and Equity Foundation and my co-authors of “CACAO: Bean to Bar” did a road trip to an ever inspiring cacao producer cooperative in Subasta, Davao.

The Subasta Cooperative was first showcased abroad by Askinosie Chocolates of Missouri, USA when its owner, Shaun Askinosie, got to taste samples of the cacao beans the cooperative sent him for evaluation. I have heard of Askinosie, having seen their products in a chocolate show in Hong Kong not too long ago. I was proud they identified the chocolates as coming from a single origin – Davao, Philippines.

How wonderful that specialty chocolate makers now look for fair trade, single-origin chocolates to give our cocoa farmers the impetus to process their cacao and come up with quality cocoa, cocoa butter and eventually powder made from pure cacao.

Unfortunately, the domestic market is flooded with a lot of  chocolate “discards” which are combined with palm oil, sugar and just a hint of chocolate and then sold as chocolate candies. In essence they are not pure cacao but are variants of candies with a hint of chocolate in them. If the market is willing to pay premium price, there are quality and gourmet chocolates such as Theo and Philo, Malagos, Sikwate and a few others who endeavor to show the better side of Philippine cacao.

We are underproducing cacao, just like coffee. The demand is about 40,000 metric tons and all we produce is 10,000 metric tons, as confirmed with cacao farmers and stakeholders in our recent cacao kapihan in Davao City.

But back to Subasta. I was very happy to meet the leaders of a group made up of 105 farmers who know about quality. They observe the highest standards, and export directly to Askinosie and supply local specialty processors. Askinosie, in recognition of the group’s efforts, returns a fair share of his profits to Subasta. And Subasta pays it forward by donating 10 percent of their rebates to the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda. How wonderful is that?

Further, this coop has two women among nine board members and makes for a profitable enterprise, in keeping with global statistics on diversity of having both women and men in a board – even in the provincial board room. Other good practices this coop observes is making sure all ages are represented (their members range from 23 to 72 years of age), about half of the membership are women, and everyone is focused on quality and not just a fast buck.

They proudly sold us some high quality cocoa tablets, chocolate callets or tableya made with mostly Trinitario cacao beans and which we then served at our “CACAO: Bean to Bar” kapihan and book launch at Hotel Vicente. Very good quality, indeed.

One of the members, the oldest one at 72, Julius Zaragosa, started planting cacao only after retirement. He looks young for his age because he claims he drinks hot chocolate everyday. Another senior, at 70 years old, looks a bit older than Julius and the joke is that he does not have his daily dose of cocoa – which is believed to be rich in antioxidants.

The cooperative is one of the most well-run groups in the cacao sector in Davao. They have regular meetings, have grown their member’s patronage refunds and have also gone into other related businesses such as selling planting materials and fertilizers for farmers’ and members’ use.

Their dream is to export more of their quality products to the likes of Askinosie, so they can help put Davao on the chocolate map of the world.

They deal directly with buyers, to ensure that only their quality of cacao will be properly labeled as “Subasta cacao.” They fear that their name and origin may be used by unscrupulous traders or buyers who just want to capitalize on their brand, which has gained quite a good reputation. 

Subasta happens to be in an area where the cacao variety planted and grown are of a high-yielding, good tasting variety. The others, they say, are of new varieties and may need a different process to approximate their export-quality flavor.

All cacao seems to be good as long as proper fermentation and roasting are done. And this is where experience, equipment and technology are important. In the end, all chocolate can be good and end up as specialty chocolates if the farmers themselves appreciate that cacao is not just a commodity but a specialty product needing care from bean to bar.

So next time you drink hot chocolate or eat a chocolate bar, stop for a moment and think – this could very well be Philippine cacao, just wearing another color or flavor, because many of our cacao beans are exported and return to the country as another brand from another country – Belgian, Swiss or Italian.  With a group like Subasta, however, it won’t be long and we shall soon have Theo & Philo drinking chocolate, Subasta single origin dark chocolates as we now have ECHOstore’s Choco Loco flavored with cashew nuts and mangoes or the ones flavored with real Philippine Arabica coffee.

Philippine cacao beans that become Philippine specialty chocolates – it is quite a journey from bean to bar.