CHOCOLATE, EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL IN MADAGASCAR

When you consider that chocolate is a fruit, its health claims become more believable. These colorful cocoa pods, indigenous to Madagascar, are loaded with supernatural-looking white beans, which when fermented and dried, turn to the rich color we know as chocolate brown.

One chocolate we recently discovered delivers an extraordinary natural fruity flavor. Madécasse chocolate is unique in this way and in others. While most of the world’s cocoa is grown in Africa, only 1% of the world’s chocolate is made there. Madécasse is crafted, bean to bar, in Madagascar.

Tim McCollum and Brett Beach founded Madécasse in 2008, when they fell in love with the land and the people of this tropical island, off the eastern coast of central Africa, after serving there as Peace Corps volunteers. Their mission was to develop a business in this tiny country which would not only sustain the native people, but also the native species. Madécasse pays its farmers and producers considerably more than Fair Trade, and keeps most of the value-add right there in a remote corner of northwest Madagascar.

Named one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World in 2011 by Fast Company, and awarded numerous epicurean, social impact, and business honors, Madécasse is beautiful on many levels.

Discover Madécasse’s gorgeously handwrapped chocolate bars, rare cocoa powders, and ethereal bourbon vanilla extracts at purveyors who know their stuff and/or www.madecsse.com. We especially love and crave their Pink Pepper & Citrus, Sea Salt & Nibs, and Cinnamon & Sakay chocolate bars.