It's simple. Cocoa is the key ingredient of dark chocolate. And all good dark chocolate starts with good cocoa.

Experts consider Madagascar cocoa the best in the world, describing it as delicate and complex, with fruity notes of citrus.

It has a lot to do with cultivation. Madagascar exists in a time warp of sorts: the entire island is organic and virtually free of pesticides and herbicides; natural mulch and composts are the only fertilizer; and without machinery or large plantations, everything is done on a small scale, by hand.

Far to the north and west, in one of our favorite parts of Madagascar, there is a river valley called the Sambirano. And this valley has a narrow band of alluvial soils, enriched with clay and other fertile deposits left by water passing through the plains and riverbeds. This is where our cocoa grows.