Bean to Bar chocolates are the ones, which, as the name suggests, are made starting from cocoa beans! Yes, it is not necessary that every chocolate product you purchase is made from cocoa bean to the final bar by the brand themselves. Hence it is important for you to understand the difference between a Chocolatier, Chocolate Maker, Bean to Bar Chocolate Maker & Tree to Bar Chocolate maker.
Chocolatier
A chocolatier is one who buys chocolate slabs (in 500gms or 1 kg) or small buttons from the market (made by someone else). He/she melts, tempers, adds flavours or ingredients, moulds it and then demoulds it to make the final chocolate. It can be in a small bite sized piece (called as Bon Bons or Pralines depending on which side of the world you are in). The value addition is done at the final mile by the chocolatier. The final chocolate product looks very attractive with various colours and shapes being chosen by the chocolatier. A chocolatier does not have a say in how the bulk chocolate is made. Most bakers in India get trained into being a chocolatier after enrolling for 1 day to 3 month courses. Their baking infrastructure is usually sufficient to carry on the above mentioned tasks in small capacities/batches.
Chocolate Maker
A chocolate maker is usually a firm who buys cocoa beans and starts the process to make that bulk chocolate slab or buttons which a chocolatier buys. A chocolate maker starts from the cocoa beans and roasts them. Then the shells are removed (hopefully!) and the desired ingredients are added. The beans are then refined into cocoa mass. The paste is then moulded into slabs or buttons. These are usually produced in industrial scale and requires large scale infrastructure and equipments. However, many firms in India source Cocoa Mass and simply add ingredients using smaller scale equipment to make the bulk chocolate. This trend is quite prevalent in india.
Bean to Bar Chocolate Maker
A bean to bar chocolate maker is one who starts from buying cocoa beans from the farmer. He/she then roasts them, removes the husk (for sure!), adds the desired ingredients, refines chocolate, tempers it, moulds it, de-moulds it and then packs them as chocolate bars! In short, someone who does the job of both the chocolate maker and chocolatier is called a bean to bar chocolate maker. Bean to bar chocolate makers have followed the trend of speciality coffee. In the last 10 years, bean to bar chocolates have become popular globally and in India over the last 3 years. The infrastructure and equipments required by them are small scale.
The definition of Bean to Bar chocolate makers has been provided for further understanding by Cocoatrait. Please click to read further. We currently have about 15 bean to bar chocolate makers in india and we would have about 35 by the end of 2020 (estimated by Cocoatrait). Success in the bean to bar business depends on various factors. You can click to read further .
Tree to Bar chocolate maker
A tree to bar chocolate maker is one who also owns all the farmland that grow the cocoa trees from whose fruits chocolates are made. This requires an integration of the entire value chain. Expectedly, there are very few firms that do the whole process themselves using ONLY their own cocoa beans. Except Pacari which is an Equodarian firm, no other firm can claim to be truly tree to bar. India does NOT have a tree to bar chocolate maker yet who owns all the plantations from where they source their cocoa.
Bean to Bar Chocolate appreciation is an art (just like wine appreciation) and the trend is catching up in India. We have invested 5 years into making this accessable to the Indian audiences. Click to read more! While it is important to appreciate the efforts of a bean to bar chocolate maker the right way, it is also important to understand what ingredients go into making the chocolate! It is also indeed fascinating to know that our humble south Indian idly grinders are helping bean to bar makers produce luxury chocolates globally! Click to read about this!
We also operate a 3 day Global Bean to Bar certification program in Chennai, India at our institute which is called Cocoashala. Click for details of our workshops: https://cocoatrait.com/product-category/shop/events/. As a testimony of our abilities, we have developed a range of the world’s 1st Zero waste chocolate. Click to explore: https://cocoatrait.com/product-category/shop/kocoatrait-chocolates/. We deliver across india and also include Kocoatrait bars in our . If your love for chocolates goes beyond this, join our chocolate tasters certification course! Click for details: https://cocoatrait.com/product-category/shop/chocolate-taster-certification/. Reach out to us on +919600064846 (Whats app) or nitin@cocoatrait.com for more details.
About L Nitin Chordia
L Nitin Chordia is India’s 1st Certified Cocoa & Chocolate Taster and is based in Chennai, India and operates Cocoatrait which is an initiative to promote knowledge, production and consumption of fine chocolates in India. He hosts the chocolate taster certifications in India in collaboration with IICCT, UK and delivers Level 1 modules for IICCT, in London and Chennai. Along with his wife Poonam (a trained chocolatier and a Level 2 certified chocolate taster) operates Cocoashala, a chocolate school which delivers the basic & advanced levels of Bean to Bar chocolate making training and beyond. Nitin is an active Judge in the International Chocolate Awards in London and has also incubated 2 of India’s most innovative and largest bean to bar chocolate brands at his research & incubation center in Chennai, India. One of them is the world’s most sustainable chocolate called Kocoatrait.