“99% of people love chocolate, the other 1% are lying” or haven’t visited La Chocolatera.
There are experiences for your senses that have to be lived, and if that experience consists of tasting La Chocolatera’s chocolates, then even more so. Nevertheless, we will try to describe it.
Located in the Havana municipality of La Lisa, far from the center of the city, and not in a very commercial area, a trip to this establishment is nonetheless well worth it. La Chocolatera opened its doors only 6 months before the COVID-19 pandemic reached Cuba, meaning it is a business that has had to constantly reinvent itself. Some services have had to be discontinued, others launched, in order to reach its almost 2 years of existence still enjoying great popularity among the chocolate lovers of the island.
Under the guidance of Carlos Menéndez, creativity and resilience are constant in La Chocolatera. When you walk through the door of the store, the first impact is the smell, which is captivating. Then the eye is drawn to the display counters, full of the most diverse products (24 in the artisan chocolate branch), full of surprises. There is also a small pastry area also related to chocolate.
They may look like simple bonbons, but inside they combine the most diverse ingredients: peanuts, coffee, rum, honey, cocktails, fruits, piña colada, are just some of the fillings, not to mention the shapes and colors!
At first bite the flavors jump out at you, and although it is easy to differentiate them, because Carlos and his team take good care with the proportions, the combination of each chocolate is perfectly harmonious and pleasing to the palate.
“La Chocolatera is a dream,” Carlos assures. His love for chocolate runs in his family, which is why he has not stopped believing in his project, which today boosts a distinctive business model.
Carlos aspires to be able to work with Cuban chocolate, from Baracoa, in the eastern part of the country, but that factory (the only one on the island) has been closed for repairs for some time, so he has been forced to import the raw material. Although he notes this is not economical, it is what has allowed him to keep his business open.
He would also like to make more sophisticated products, such as chocolate with salt, chocolate vinegar, as well as drinks, but currently, he explains, the main obstacle they face at La Chocolatera is access to packaging.
“If today, many of the people who want to engage in a business like this do not have access to raw materials, it is due to lack of knowledge… The problem we have in the country is the packaging rather than the raw material. There is a lack of knowledge on this subject… There is raw material: sugar, flour, chocolate, whipping creams, pastry creams; there is everything, but you have to go through the existing channels. It is not cheap, it is not economical, but they are there and it can be done.”
Another point in favor of this enterprise is the durability of the chocolates: the solid chocolate lasts 1 year, and the filled chocolates last between 3 and 4 months. In addition, it employs 22 workers, who do not interrupt their routine, even as the owner is at their side granting this interview, while also asking about the measurements, the amount of raw material they process each day, or which bonbon is the next to be assembled.
Their processing capacity will soon be much greater, when they install a new machine that will allow them to process up to 90 kilograms of chocolate per hour. This makes them dream of establishing links with the state sector.
“We could be in the coffee shops, in the flower shops, in hotels, as souvenirs in the rooms, we can be in all those places, and I am certain that today we need this. It would be pitiful if, for example, in the hotel room where an Italian arrives, there is an Italian chocolate, and not one of ours, when we have this product here, which is of high quality, is different and identifies us.”
Another of Carlos’ dreams is to close his production cycle. Yes, he aspires to grow his own cacao.
“We know what we want, we know the type of plant we want, we have the specialists. Cacao planting is very interesting, and it gives us an identity. We could develop a product where we manage our fermentation, roasting, drying, and the formulation of paste, with that we would be great, with that no one could stop us, because we will have our very own chocolate.”
This is currently a working progress, as Carlos says, as despite having the necessary permits from the provincial government, the process has been “frozen” in his municipality.
And while the permit arrives, Carlos and his workers continue making chocolates, handmade, one by one, taking care of every detail, because in the end, that is their hallmark.
