Sold Out
Two wandering Frenchmen, ex-banker Sam Maruta and former adman Vincent Mourou, met in the jungles of Vietnam. After searching out cacao farms on a whim (and with no chocolate-making experience whatsoever), they began creating bean-to-bar chocolate in the French tradition in their Saigon workshop. Luckily for us they seem to have a knack for it.
Vietnamese cacao dates back to the colonial era when the French ministry tried to encourage its growth in the late 1800’s. Unfortunately these efforts soon petered out and the industry remained dormant until the 1980s when Russia suggested exporting cacao for the Moscow market. This too proved short-lived as trade with Russia dried up after the fall of communism. Despite these setbacks, a growing number of small farms are planting cacao alongside cashew and coconut trees and the world is beginning to take note of Vietnam’s unique terroir.