Menakao - Dark chocolate 63% with cranberries and orange peel - MADAGASCAR - 75g
Bean-to-Bar
Menakao - Dark chocolate 63% with cranberries and orange peel, or when the mild acidity of oranges and cranberries unite in the dark night of a 63% chocolate... Highly tasty liaisons.
The packaging features a portrait of a young woman from the Antanosy people, "Those of the island", located in the Fort Dauphin region of southeastern Madagascar. This fresh oasis, located at the crossroads of mountains, desert and the Indian Ocean, was frequented by pirates and sailors who deeply marked its history.
Cacao mass (50% Madagascar), cane sugar, cacao butter, cranberries, orange peel, sunflower lecithin, orange oil
Cocoa farmer and chocolate maker
For their range of 75g bars, Menakao has been working with René Julien's family plantation since the beginning of 2020, located near the village of Ampamakia, 30 minutes from Ambanja (on the banks of the Sambirano River).
100 people work on the 150-hectare site where 60T of dry cocoa beans are produced annually. The plantation is located in the shade of large authentic trees that do not undergo any transformation, with 50% sunshine. The types of cocoa harvested are certified organic by ECOCERT: Trinitario (mostly), Forastero and Criollo. Fermentation & drying methods: The shelling and sorting are done manually and the plantation is equipped with fermentation tanks and a drying area; it has plans to expand the latter.
All the plantations Menakao works with are located in Sakalava villages (an ethnic group in the northwest). 60% of the families' income in this region comes from cocoa production.
Menakao Madagascar Chocolate Since 2013, Menakao has been highlighting Malagasy know-how and diversity in a Tree-to-Bar chocolate, using the best beans from Madagascar and selecting the finest local ingredients. An ethically committed brand which, by transforming fine cocoa into chocolate in its country of origin, allows the local added value to be multiplied by four. Less than 5% of the cocoa produced in Madagascar is transformed on the island, and Menakao's bars are part of this. At the heart of Menakao chocolates, there are men and women! It is therefore quite natural that they wished to illustrate their bars by putting forward the faces of the different ethnic groups that represent the Malagasy people. The Tanala, the Betsimisaraka, the Mahafaly, the Antanosy, the Bara or the Merina, all represented in their traditional headdresses and clothes....
Read more ...