At Easter, bean to bar chocolate turns into an egg to serve the market

Did you know that, to be considered chocolate, the Brazilian product only needs to contain 25% total cocoa solids? It means that only ¼ of what you eat comes from the fruits that grow on the feet of Theobroma cacao L.

The other ¾ can be milk and sugar, for example, used generously in the sweeter versions, not to mention hydrogenated vegetable fat, emulsifiers, flavorings and flavorings.

This helps to explain why the bean to bar movement, which literally means “from almond to bar”, is gaining more and more expression in Brazil.

A recent survey from 2021, carried out by Associação Bean to Bar Brasil in partnership with Sebrae, indicates that there are 118 of these small producers established in Brazil, twice as many as in 2019 — and half of them came from 2018 onwards.

More than producing chocolates in an artisanal way, these professionals manipulate recipes where only natural ingredients enter. There is no disguise. The taste depends solely on the way the cocoa was grown and the care taken with the processing of the beans.

They also know how to account for the origin of the raw material, as it is acquired right here, directly from Brazilian cacao farmers, many of them awarded prizes in international competitions. There is even the tree to bar concept, “from tree to bar”, to differentiate chocolatiers who have their own plantation.

At the small Mission Chocolate factory, which operates in the Brooklin district, in the south of São Paulo, North American Arcelia Gallardo receives around 5 tons of almonds a year, from six farms in Bahia, Pará and Espírito Santo, all chosen by finger.

With 46 national and international awards under her belt, she left California for São Paulo six years ago, and brought the brand from there.

“I’ve worked with producers all over the world and I know that Brazilian cocoa is among the best”, he attests. “I keep the almonds separate and identify their origin on the chocolate packaging, so the consumer knows each terroir.”

Inventing chocolates with unusual flavors is his specialty. There are brown sugar bars, guava, honey bread and dulce de leche with fleur de sel, most of them with a high concentration of cocoa. “There are already many people in the world making chocolate with hazelnuts”, he jokes.

Since last year, Mission also has a line of Easter eggs, the production of which is much more time-consuming and complicated than that of bars. They are made one by one: poured over the shapes with embossed bunnies, the chocolate needs to generate a layer of uniform thickness, free of bubbles, strong enough not to break in transport.

“The Brazilian market does not accept an Easter without egg-shaped products, but not every chocolate maker has mastered the technique. Therefore, it is more common to see artisanal chocolate only in bars”, she explains.

The bean to bar segment is providing chocoholics with an unprecedented range of options. At Santiago Padaria Artesanal, in Perdizes, this year’s Easter eggs are vegan, based on chocolate produced by Kalapa. Milk, only of plant origin.

“Last year, we launched the egg line using Belgian chocolate, that’s what we knew at the time. This year, however, we opted for a blend of two Kalapa chocolates. It’s a brand more aligned with our purposes, which uses cocoa grown by Dois Riachões settlement, in Bahia”, recites Lucas Alves, one of Santiago’s partners.

At the head of Kalapa, the biologist from Minas Gerais Luiza Santiago launched the brand in 2018. A resident of Belo Horizonte (MG), she maintains a small production on her land, but is about to move — the 60 kilos per month, which she used to manufacture until December 2021, have already jumped to 200 kilos per month.

In addition to supplying its chocolate to small establishments, such as the bakery in São Paulo, it has its own line of Easter eggs, which are poetically named Camadas de Outrara (61% coconut milk chocolate) and Pluralidade Sucessiva (cassava white chocolate). .

“The challenge of never using animal products makes me more creative,” says Santiago.

Bean-to-bar producers are used to dealing with an inquisitive, demanding clientele that seeks information about the behind-the-scenes of manufacturing and is not satisfied with make-believe storytelling.

It makes a difference, for example, to explain that cocoa was grown in the cabruca system, adopted by Bahian cocoa farmers — cocoa that grows in the shade of native vegetation, helping to preserve the Atlantic Forest, is preferred by Juliana Aquino, owner of the Baianí brand. . Chocolate maker Luisa Abram works with wild Amazonian cacao, harvested by riverside communities.

The list of producing states continues to grow. Although Bahia and Pará compete head-to-head for the lead, almonds that come from Mato Grosso, Ceará, Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais are increasingly appearing in bars and bean-to-bar eggs.

These are products that reach the market with prices still salty, about 50% more expensive than the industrialized versions of the same weight – which does not seem to scare this segment of the public, as demonstrated by the rapid growth of Dengo.

In just five years, the brand opened 31 stores in six states, built a four-story flagship store in Pinheiros and a 3,000 m² factory in Santo Amaro, south of São Paulo.

In addition to buying beans from 148 cocoa farmers in Bahia and paying up to 91% above market remuneration, Dengo follows the guideline by betting on sustainability as a marketing strategy —part of the Easter egg line is packaged in 100% compostable paper, made from cocoa bean husks. In the bean to bar universe, making delicious chocolate is not enough.

Quick guide to discovering the bean to bar world

• The percentage of cocoa is not enough to identify the sugar content of chocolate, because each producer has its own recipe. There are, for example, milk products with 30%, 40% and even 50% cocoa, some more and others less sweet. In general, versions above 60% are bitter.
• Don’t just trust the label: anyone who makes bean to bar chocolate must know the origin of the cocoa and provide information about the cocoa farmers.
• Artisanal chocolate is not always bean to bar: there are confectioners who model their products using industrialized chocolates as raw material.
• The (deserved) fame of Belgian chocolate comes from the manufacturer Callebaut —what few people know is that the famous brand also uses Brazilian cocoa as raw material, in addition to fruits from other producing countries.

Where to find

baiani.com.br

dengo.com.br

kalapachocolate.com.br

luisaabram.com

missionchocolate.com.br

santiagopadariaartesanal.com.br