Credits: Cacao Sampaka
Cacao Sampaka puts the most importance. In 1999 there were no other brands that included“ cacao” in their names but us. It is our advantage that we are within the Nederland Group that deals with the whole process of the cocoa industry.
The history of chocolate in Japan, which started from an accessible blended taste at reasonable prices, goes back just over a century. The next step is to get a profound knowledge of chocolate such as the quality and taste of cocoa beans. Actually, I realize that the chocolate culture in Japan has been rapidly growing over the past 10 years since I got involved in the chocolate business.
Japanese people have a delicate sense of taste that appreciates the difference of each kind of cocoa bean, which will be a new discovery for them like I experienced when I first tasted Cacao Sampaka’ s products in Barcelona.
Our product lineup includes a nine-bonbon pack featuring cocoa beans from nine different countries respectively. Also, we have 12 kinds of chocolate bars featuring 12 different cocoa beans ― six from Africa and six from Latin
America. I believe that Japanese people have a delicate sense of taste that appreciates the difference of each kind of cocoa bean, which will be a new discovery for them like I experienced when I first tasted Cacao Sampaka’ s products in Barcelona.
For those who are not chocolate lovers, we have promoted our products in different ways. For example, our store in Marunouchi was the only foreign chocolate brand to sell soft-serve ice cream using chocolate, and that has attracted new clients. Now we have stores in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, and Osaka too.
One of the biggest challenges for us was the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 in 2011. Expensive products are naturally the first target to be cut from the market. At that time, we organized a charity by selling our products at half price and donating our sales to the disaster-hit areas via the Japanese Red Cross Society. Fortunately, the chocolate market has been revitalized in the recent years.
What is the reason behind expanding your business to include a distributing function?
Originating in the United States,“ Bean to Bar” shops are gaining popularity in the chocolate industry in Japan. In recent years, small-scale chocolatiers started manufacturing chocolate from buying cocoa beans and Operating process of roasting, breaking and conching. Complementing their lack of importing function, we are
Cocoa tree and fruit.
going to serve as a distributor of cocoa beans, making the best use of our position within the Nederland Group. We will offer cocoa beans from around the world at a proper price and would like to give them advice on chocolate production from a hygiene perspective as well as on a technical level.
Soft-serve ice cream featuring chocolate
JAPAN AND THE WORLD MAGAZINE