When thinking of Vietnamese cuisine, foreigners often immediately think of beef phở, fried spring rolls, and bánh mì... But recently, they have also thought of... chocolate: a premium product from Vietnam, ‘the best chocolate, unlike any tried before.’
Vietnamese chocolate has appeared in the foreign press in recent years as a premium chocolate product. Most recently, the New York Times (United States) even generously devoted an article to Vietnamese chocolate with the striking headline: “The Best Chocolate You Have Never Tasted.”
At the start of its article, The New York Times said that the world's finest chocolate bars were being made at a small, modest facility in Ho Chi Minh City.
Female reporter Lawrence Osborne said she visited Marou’s workshop on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City to see firsthand a small, artisanal facility where every cacao bean was harvested, sorted and processed by hand.
The cocoa beans purchased by chocolate maker Marou come from Tân Phú Đông District, Tiền Giang Province, in the Mekong Delta. The New York Times described Vietnam-made Marou chocolate as unlike any other.
Marou chocolate is said to taste more distinctive than other chocolates because the most desirable cacao beans are selected as ingredients. This means the producer manages everything, from raw materials on the farm to the final finished product. The result is a chocolate range with exceptionally refined flavors.
Chocolate manufacturer Marou was founded in 2011 by two men: Samuel Maruta, of French and Japanese heritage, who initially came to Vietnam as a teacher, and Vincent Mourou, a French-American former advertising professional.
The two men, both of French descent, decided to make a “truly French” chocolate together. Interestingly, as a pure chocolate with almost no added flavorings or additives, Marou chocolate is loved by chocolate connoisseurs around the world, but many Vietnamese people cannot eat it because it is too bitter.
Therefore, the New York Times article ended with a paradox: strangely, this authentic chocolate could not create a craze in Vietnam.
Samuel Maruta and Vincent Mourou (left photo) and cacao pods (right photo)
Nevertheless, the article's author said she bought 20 bars to take on her trip to Thailand: ‘Although these chocolate bars may not be highly valued by people in their homeland, they will certainly accompany me.’
American business magazine Forbes has also written about chocolate brand Marou. Forbes noted that the Vietnamese brand’s growth in the global chocolate market was becoming increasingly recognized—a journey American news outlet NPR described as ‘slow but sweet.’
NPR opened its article with an interesting question: when you think of Vietnamese cuisine, you surely think of beef phở, but what about chocolate?
As global demand for chocolate continues to grow, Vietnam, according to NPR, is gradually becoming an emerging supplier of high-quality chocolate. This was followed by an introduction to the two owners of artisanal chocolate maker Marou, Samuel Maruta and Vincent Mourou.
NPR also learned that Maruta and Mourou met on an exploratory trip and shared an interest in pursuing a new project. They heard about efforts to turn the Mekong Delta into a cacao-growing region. The two immediately decided to experiment together with a craft chocolate production project in Vietnam.
When these two Frenchmen first tasted cocoa beans grown in Vietnam, both were surprised by the flavor. They decided to put all other work aside and devote themselves to making “truly French” chocolate on Vietnamese soil.
After tasting Marou chocolate, Belgian master chocolatier Pierre Marcolini even asked Mourou and Maruta to help select premium Vietnamese cacao for his own high-end chocolate bars.
Marou chocolate bars have now established a certain position in the global chocolate market, with the brand appearing in renowned Western shops and supermarkets such as Britain’s Harvey Nichols chain and America’s Whole Foods.
According to Cafebiz.vn
