It might be more appropriate to say that Madécasse is “tree to bean to bar” in Madagascar. We do everything in at the source, from harvesting and curing the cocoa in the Sambirano valley to crafting our finished chocolate bars in the highlands of Madagascar. There are only about 30 bean-to-bar chocolate makers in the world!

Cocoa cannot be eaten straight off the branch. Curing is essential to producing quality cocoa beans.

Fermenting – When harvest time rolls around, farmers’ select the ripest cocoa pods and split them open, uncovering a thick pulp that encases the precious cocoa beans. Pulp and beans are cured in wooden containers for 4-6 days, unlocking the flavor profiles hidden within the cocoa beans.

Sun Drying – Once fermentation is complete, Madécasse cocoa beans are sun dried.

Dried cocoa is usually prepared for export to the northern hemisphere, thousands of miles away. Madécasse cocoa beans take a much shorter trip, traveling just a few hundred miles to the highlands of Madagascar.

Roast, winnow (shell), refine, blend, conch, temper, mould and wrap… and you’ve got chocolate. That’s a mouthful, so we’ll take it one step at a time!

Roasting & Winnowing – Intense, smoky, mild, smooth… cocoa needs to be roasted with the same precision as coffee to obtain the desired aroma and flavor. After roasting, the cocoa bean shells are removed (winnowing) to uncover the nibs (cocoa).

Refine & Blend – Nibs are broken down into a paste, which is blended with a little bit of sugar.

Conch – Conching is a refining process that gives chocolate a smooth and creamy finish.

Tempering & Moulding – Conched chocolate paste is heated, cooled and heated again so it can be moulded into finished bars that are smooth and shiny. Another indicator of well-tempered chocolate is the crisp snap heard when the squares are broken apart!

Wrapping – Carefully removed from its mould, finished chocolate is wrapped to lock in the aromas and flavor of the treasured cocoa!

Tree to bean to bar, all in Madagascar.