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Our Sourcing: Premier Cru
You may have heard high-end chocolate companies talk about “single origin” sourcing. Which,
as the name implies, the beans come from one single country.
But have you heard of the French term “premier cru”?
Premier cru is the term for a high-quality product that is directly sourced from one location. Here
at Le Chocolat Des Iles, we source our beans exclusively from only one specific cooperative within any given country. This is because even within the same country, the cacao bean quality and flavor profiles can differ dramatically.
We sample cocoa beans from hundreds of small cooperative farms worldwide to find the best cocoa beans that give smoothest, richest, and most flavorful chocolate! Just like fine wine, each of our Premier Cru chocolates has a unique taste profile and flavor.
Learn about the origins of our chocolate below!
Bali
In Bali, we source cocoa beans from Kerta Semaya Samaniya (KSS), a cooperative set up to help cacao farmers in Jembrana Regency (West Bali) to improve the quality of their cocoa beans production through proper pre- and post-harvest processing (fermentation, etc.).
The cooperative participates in the Sustainable Cacao Program run by the government of Indonesia, a program designed to grow cacao in a more sustainable way that provides better benefits to cacao farmers of Jembrana. There are 609 farmers spread over an area of 800 hectares, practicing a traditional Balinese farming system. This system is based on the Hindu
philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, where farmers join forces and cooperate
on the technical, social, and religious aspects related to farming.
KSS is the only cooperative in Indonesia that has acquired certification of sustainability from various international organizations.
Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, we buy our cocoa beans from a small cooperative called COOPCANOR in the San Francisco de Macoris region. The chocolate produced from beans cultivated in the Dominican Republic will typically have a slight acidity and yellow fruit notes. However, the flavor profiles vary depending on the region of the cacao. The cocoa trees in COOPCANOR are shade-grown, under the leaves of citrus, banana, and avocado trees, which all contribute to the unique flavor profile.
The cacao tree originated in the nearby Amazon or Orinoco River basins of the South American homeland of the ancestors of the Taino, the native inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola. Cacao was introduced into the Dominican Republic by the Spaniards at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Just a few decades later, the French had taken over the island and planted new varieties taken from other colonies.
El Salvador
Cacahuatl, the cooperative where we source our cocoa beans, is in the municipality of San Pedro Nonualco, located in the country's central region.
It is said that by 1550, there was cacao production in San Pedro Nonualco. At that time, the population was only around 1300.
CACAHUATL is a very small cooperative of cocoa farmers with 8 men and 8 women. We chose to source our cocoa beans from there after going through a rigorous sampling of beans from various other cooperatives in El Salvador.
We were impressed by the intense fruity flavors,produced by the ecological microclimate in which they are grown. These cocoa beans have an incredible balance of fruity, earthy, and nutty flavors because of the complex genetic makeup of the growing region .
The chocolate made from these beans is earthy and deep with a malty, almost mocha-like finish. It also has notes of honey, banana, and toasted walnut. In this ancient cocoa farming village, the beans are grown according to traditional farming practices, without using any chemicals.
Haiti
In Haiti, we buy our cocoa beans from the cooperative of cocoa farmers in Grande Riviere du Nord. The river by the same name flows northward in the alluvial plain of rich agricultural lands.
There, smallholders grow cocoa bean trees, creating a particularly flavorful chocolate. The river valley is flat and narrow, surrounded by steep hills and bluffs. As you move away from the river, the terrain has even more rolling hills. The countryside consists of mixed forest and farmland,
with large areas of orchards.
Beans from Grande Riviere du Nord produce a chocolate that is rich and fragrant with a very chocolatey flavor that glides into a light overtone of citrus.
Belize
San Antonio is one of the larger Mopan Maya -speaking communities in the Toledo District of Belize, where the climate is very suitable for producing high -quality cocoa beans. Belize is home to a cocoa industry based on fine flavor varieties carried from South America to Mexico over many centuries
Here numerous cacao varieties grow naturally in the wild. As a country that has been given an Heirloom designation by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association, Belize produces some of the best cocoa beans in the world.
The resulting chocolate has a wonderfully nuanced tasting note of dried fruits like plum and tart cherry and an additional floral note of jasmine, with a creamy and mild nuttiness in the finish.