The Ivory Coast has a unique chocolate factory that uses a ‘grinding bike’ to turn cocoa beans into a paste. Mon Choco’s factory is run by Dana Mroueh, a 40-year-old Ivorian entrepreneur who keeps a watchful eye on the entire chocolate-making process.
Mon Choco prides itself on its unique sustainability practices. A grinding bike sits in the centre of the factory and is the crux of the chocolate production. ‘The bicycle grinder is an opportunity for us to practice our eco-friendly philosophy. We really want to have a minimal impact on the environment by using minimal electricity, and combine it with a short workout which also makes it a playful process,’ Mroueh explained to Reuters Africa.
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What adds to this unique practice is the flavour of the chocolate. Instead of including additives to the to the beans or roasting them, Mon Choco simply creates raw chocolate. This allows the flavour to be as authentic as possible.
‘We are artisanal chocolatiers, so our process is manual, from the cocoa pods to the final product of packaging the chocolate tablets. One of our trademarks is that we do not roast the cocoa pods, we use raw chocolate. That enables the cocoa pods to retain its flavours and nutritional values,’ says Mroueh.
These practices come at a time where the commercial cocoa industry poses a major threat to the natural forests of the Ivory Coast. Reuters Africa reports that environmental campaign groups have estimated that by 2034 all the forests will disappear in the Ivory Coast. This will be a direct result of deforestation from the cacao industry.
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