Exquisite Chocolates from Our Finest Cocoa House
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Two business initiatives of The facilities of its labs at the CRU and its University of the West Indies are expertise. For The UWI, it will be an underway that may further opportunity to help provide funding demonstrate its unique position in for the CRU, which has generally terms of the international value of come from international agencies its Cocoa Research Unit (CRU), recognising the value of its work, custodian of the International Cocoa and of course the significance of its Genebank, Trinidad (ICG, T). prestigious ICG, T. Earlier this year, following Hoping to encourage economic initiatives led by Trinidad and Tobago’s diversification regionally, The UWI Ambassador to Venezuela, Razia Ali, a has also offered similar services to group of executives from the company, Grenada, another of the exclusive Chocolates El Rey (CER), visited the eight countries, whose cocoa industry St Augustine Campus as part of a collapsed after being ravaged by recent mission to locate a new home for their hurricanes. operations. Meeting with representatives Ambassador Ali, a former director from the Ministry of Agriculture of the International Trade and and other relevant parties, Principal Economic Relations Division of the Sankat and a team including Dr David Ministry of Foreign Affairs, advised Rampersad. the chocolate producers, who have Director of Business Development, been in business since 1929, that discussed helping Grenada to rebuild the political and economic climate Sweet Deals its economy with technical and other in T&T, coupled with outstanding Exquisite Chocolates from assistance. Grenada’s cocoa industry, technological resources at the CRU, like T&T’s primarily comprises could provide them with advantages to Our Finest Cocoa House farmers with small holdings, but be had nowhere else in the world. unlike T&T, it suffers from inadequate So in January, a team, led by the training in processing and marketing President and CEO of CER Jorge away’ Venezuela), ensures a transition primarily for export, it will be able its product. Redmond, met with a UWI team led by softened by climatic and cultural to enter the largest market for high The UWI will seek funding to Campus Principal Professor Clement similarities. quality chocolates, the European enable the transfer of knowledge and Sankat to discuss the possibilities of a Statements from the Second Union, to which T&T has access. to help rebuild the Grenadian economy, joint venture. Although it has not yet Roundtable Meeting for a Sustainable It would also benefit from a supply which has suffered tremendously been finalised, the prospects look good Cocoa Economy, held in T&T in of cocoa from one of the eight countries in the past decade. It sees this as an as the meeting provided only positive March, indicate that the Government worldwide classified (according to the opportunity to offer these services to reasons for a partnership. of Trinidad and Tobago is intent on International Cocoa Agreement of other countries in the region, such as For CER, relocating their revitalising the local cocoa industry 1993) as an exclusive producer of fine others belonging to the exclusive eight operations to a country with such close and this augurs well for any company or flavour cocoa. (Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, geographical proximity (remember, entering this sector. As a business service, The UWI St Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, we are said to be a chunk of ‘broken As a producer of fine chocolates can provide technological support, the Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago). STUDENT SPORT – 05 RESEARCH – 10 HEALTH – 11 NEWS – 04 FIFA Cocoa for King Olive Oil Student and Tilling the chocolate soil Is extra Award UWI virgin really better? Purdy Passion, takes the prize games and benefits AD#1 SUNDAY 26TH APRIL, 2009 – UWI TODAY 3 RESEARCH EDITORIAL promote cocoa, increase cocoa production and make cocoa production more economically viable. What we need now is THE SUMMits cheaper labour and research into labour-saving devices to make cocoa production less labour intensive,” he said. at OUR doors Cocoa production issues aside, on the international market, there are fine examples of exquisite chocolates using Apart from being sites of research and teaching, local Trinitario beans, branded especially to recognise their universities have traditionally functioned as centres origins. The San Juan Estate in Gran Couva supplies beans of discourse, places where ideas meet, collide and for the European gourmet Valrhona chocolates, with one reverberate off each other as they take practical of its brands being called Gran Couva. shape. In reality, according to Sukha, “chocolate production As you read this, the events surrounding the has always been a very skilled task, requiring extensive various versions of the Summit of the Americas capital outlay for machinery that was not small scale… would have ended. Hopefully, the ideas raised will Only recently has small scale machinery become available resonate more powerfully for having been bounced Where’s the Local so that the capital risk in entering into chocolate production around in such a refreshingly diverse series of has decreased.” chambers, and will move past being conceptual He has observed more people venturing into “chocolate creatures and take the shape of real projects and Fine Chocolate? and cocoa value-added products locally,” but he cautions programmes that yield benefits to the general that the quality of these products must be high to compete citizenry. with what is already out there. “I am only now seeing some At The University of the West Indies, we It is legitimate to ask if Trinidad and Tobago is recognised attention being paid to high quality and this is as a result of understand the importance of providing that as one of the world’s eight exclusive producers of fine increased consumer awareness about quality issues.” interstice for differing views. The UWI hosted the or flavour cocoa, why it has not been a producer of fine Another option for local chocolate production was “Forum of the Workers of the Americas” which chocolates. Two years ago, Prof John Spence, in a series of successfully explored at the recent Second Roundtable for was organised by the National Trade Union Centre newspaper columns on reviving the cocoa industry, said it a Sustainable Cocoa Economy (RSCE2). For the RSCE2 of Trinidad and Tobago (NATUC), headed by was high time for Trinidad and Tobago to seriously consider meeting, the CCIB partnered with the Guittard Chocolate Michael Annisette. The Coalition of Civil Society manufacturing premium quality chocolates from locally Company of California, USA, to produce a premium organisations for the Summit of the Americas produced beans. Prof Spence had pointed to the increase in gourmet dark chocolate bar from 100 percent Trinitario planned its Civil Society Forum, at our Daaga Hall world demand for fine or flavour cocoa, especially as dark beans from two (La Louisa Estate in Tamana and La Auditorium. chocolates had been scientifically proven to be healthier Maraquita Estate in Gran Couva) of four cocoa estates (two And although The UWI did not organise or and loaded with anti-oxidants (but require more beans to in Moruga) owned by Lawrence Duprey and managed by structure the events, its St Augustine campus was produce than milk chocolate). Prism Agri Estates Co Ltd. the location for what came to be known as The According to Dr Darin Sukha, a Research Fellow at the By entering into an exclusive contractual processing IV People’s Summit of the Americas, held by the Cocoa Research Unit (CRU), the response to this view is arrangement with an established dark or gourmet chocolate Federation of Independent Trade Unions and mixed, indicating the complexity of the issue. producer capable of handling small batches of beans, this Non Governmental Organisations (FITUN), “One school of thought states that producing countries option overcomes the prohibitive start-up costs and stringent led by David Abdulah in partnership with the should only focus on producing high quality cocoa for quality criteria in setting up a chocolate manufacturing plant Hemispheric Social Alliance and the Assembly of export in the most efficient manner possible and leave any locally. This also allows low-risk testing of the local and Caribbean People further processing to be done at the traditional countries export market for such a product until the critical mass and Indeed, several members of the academic of export. Our current production volume is small and we demand for the product are established. staff and students were participants at the various have had no problem getting it sold at premium prices. We With the urgency to diversify the economy, and add events: our Students Guild Council President Hillan can double our present production levels without affecting value to our primary production, and the evidence available Morean and others attended the Youth Forum. price, so the incentive to produce chocolates has not been that cocoa and fine chocolates are still in demand, The UWI As a citizen actively committed to serving our there,” he said. has a crucial role to play. Sukha concluded that, “the CRU stakeholders, The UWI was happy to accommodate The main premise for this argument is that any local and UWI can facilitate in this drive to add value to cocoa these discussions and will work towards seeing those value-added production will distract from the local cocoa production by partnering with entrepreneurs in research ideas recorded, considered, and where appropriate, production task at hand and will potentially divert valuable applied to chocolate formulation, product development and put into action. As participants and observers of the cocoa production to less lucrative local enterprises. production, quality assessment as well as marketing.” process, we remain vigilant to ensure that even in a “The other school of thought states that there are society whose equilibrium has been shaken, ideas potentially lucrative local markets for a wide range of value- and discourse continue to be treated as valuable added products made from otherwise discarded primary foundations and must always be nurtured.