World-bound Calinan cacao to be manufactured in Vietnam

Puratos Philippines Inc., the local arm of the Belgian-based producer of bakery, patisserie and chocolate ingredients, will be manufacturing single-origin chocolates from the cacao beans grown in Calinan, Davao City.
“It will be branded single-origin Philippines, all sourced-out in Davao ,” Puratos Philippines country manager Luisito Medina-Cue Jr. told reporters at the sidelines of the Taste Tomorrow event at the SMX Davao Convention Center last Friday.
Medina-Cue said he is now in talk with the operators of the factory in Vietnam owned by Puratos whose chocolate products are marketed internationally.
“We will be manufacturing single–origin chocolates from the Philippines in the next two months,” he said. Single –origin chocolates are used to identify the geographic origin and traceability of the cacao beans used to make the product.
Medina-Cue said the plant in Vietnam will tasked to manufacture of the single-origin chocolate since the firm has still no facilities in the Philippines.
This will be the first time that the world’s biggest manufacturer of Belgian chocolate will make single-origin chocolate product from the Philippines.
Medina-Cue bared the firm will help farmers in the fermentation process, saying some farmers forget that fermentation is an important process that gives the chocolate one-third of its flavor.
Through its program of bean to bar, Puratos can assist cacao farmers through transfer of technology.
Davao-based Tri-Foods Bakery Supplies Inc., sole distributor of Puratos in Mindanao, has been in talk with the Cacao Industry Development Association of Mindanao (CIDAMI) for the consolidation of cacao beans produced in areas planted to cacao in Calinan.
Juan Miguel M. Avanceña, CEO of Tri-Foods, said the researchers and analysts from Puratos Vietnam had conducted experimentation on Davao’s cacao beans for chocolate production. The batches of trial chocolates were brought to Davao City for tasting last March 14.
“They were satisfied with the result. The fruity notes in the chocolate produced from Davao’s cacao beans are what they are looking for,” Avanceña added.
The increasing demand for quality chocolates in the future, he said, inspires farmers to plant more of Criollo variety of cacao because of its capacity to produce better tasting chocolate products.
Meanwhile, Malagos Chocolate is also producing single-origin chocolates from Davao which has been exported to different countries for years. Known for its tastes, Malagos chocolates was recently awarded as the world’s best chocolate.
Davao City ranked second in terms of cacao plantation with more than 6,000 hectares of areas planted to cacao, only second to Davao del Norte. CHENEEN R. CAPON