On the chocolate trail

Native to the Amazon basin, cocoa is traditionally grown and used by Mesoamerican populations. Introduced to Europe in the 16th century by Spanish colonists, it long remained an exotic luxury product reserved for an elite few. It was in the 19th century that it benefited from the miracles of industrialization. The first factories sprang up in France, Switzerland and England, and a number of innovations revolutionized the sector. The discovery of the conching technique by Rodolphe Lindt in 1879 was fundamental," emphasizes Stéphane Bonnat, master chocolatier at Maison Bonnat. It literally makes chocolate good to eat. "This crucial stage extracts the fat from the beans, transforming a dry, floury product into a paste that takes on its full chocolate flavor. Available in every conceivable form - from spreads and cocoa powder to confectionery and bars - chocolate is becoming widely popular, and is now a staple of Western society.

To keep up with demand, mass production became the prerogative of major industrial groups. While Latin America still dominated production on the international market at the end of the 19th century, European industrialists turned to African colonies in the 20th century. West Africa eventually established itself as the world leader in cocoa production, and still produces 70% of the beans exported today.with Côte d'Ivoire (43%) and Ghana (19%) as the main producing countries - followed by Latin America (18%) and Asia (6%). Cocoa is made from the beans of the cacao tree, which grows in the tropical climates of the equatorial belt. Cocoa pods are harvested once or twice a year when they reach maturity (after five or six months), and contain an average of 30 to 40 beans.

A world of giants

Today, Europe is the world's biggest importer of cocoa products, with consumption of over 10 kg per capita per year, compared with an estimated global average of 0.9 kg. In France, consumption amounts to 13.2 kg per household per year. The world chocolate market, meanwhile, is characterized by a high degree of concentration, with six major manufacturers - Mars, Mondelez International, Nestlé, Ferrero, Hershey and Lindt&Sprüngli - holding 50% of the market. " Cocoa, in the vast majority of what is consumed in France and the European Union, is a commoditized market. explains Marion Feige-Muller, project manager and analyst at the Bureau d'analyse sociale d'intérêt collectif (Basic). It's a product traded on the international stock market where, for the purposes of these transactions, norms and standards have been set to enable cocoa beans to be bought and sold without actually seeing them. All the industrial know-how consists in succeeding, with different bean mixes, in producing a consistent chocolate taste, whatever the origin and production practices. "Bean processing is also in the hands of a handful of international groups, such as Cargill, ADM and Barry Callebaut. The latter, a world leader, also dominates the market for couverture chocolate for professional chefs and pastry chefs, accounting for almost 50% of its sales. These three historic players benefited from the liberalization of the cocoa sector in the late 1980s to strengthen their presence in producer countries by investing in ever more efficient processing plants. Over the last decade, cocoa production has increased by more than 32%, reaching over 5 million tonnes in 2021. The industry sees everything in XXL format. However, cocoa is currently grown by some 5.5 million smallholders worldwide, on plots of no more than ten hectares or so, according to a family farming model.

The "bean to bar" approach

"It all starts with the artisan's desire to reappropriate his know-how by making his own chocolate from cocoa beans ", explains Aurélien Ducloux, chocolatier at La Baleine à Cabosse and founder of Bean to Bar France. Launched in the United States in the 2000s, "bean to bar" claims to select high-quality raw materials from sustainable cultivation in accordance with principles of transparency. The association was created in France two years ago," says its president. The aim is to provide a platform for exchange between professionals, but also to raise awareness among the general public. "