The (not too) sweet course

It's wonderful to see how our team's passion and knowledge grows day by day," says Afrikoa's Kyle Hickman. "Many of the colleagues that joined Afrikoa had never worked with chocolate before, and have now developed the skills and knowledge to be confident in their chocolate-making journey."

Choosing locally made chocolate means that you're supporting a value chain with very real benefits for the South Africans and people elsewhere on the continent who are involved in what's been termed the bean-to-bar process. "We believe in ethical sourcing, where we give the best opportunity to our farmers' co-operatives, who do the hardest work," says Kyle.

By now you'd be forgiven for having committed to the concept of locally made chocolate as a smart, ethical shopping choice, but we'd hazard a (possibly cynical) guess that this is not why most people are stocking up. You see, it also tastes exceptionally good. "The wild Tanzanian earth gives our chocolate a wonderfully fruity aroma and taste," says Kyle of Afrikoa's offerings. "On the nose I get burnt red berries and ripe banana and mango from our darker chocolates, with the milk chocolate bringing in lovely floral notes and a rich creaminess.

Most larger producers of chocolate have to source their beans from numerous farms in many different countries. This prevents one from tasting any specific flavour profile that can be defined to one region. Much like wine, every 'vintage' of our chocolate will taste slightly different, depending on what Mother Nature chooses to give us."

"Chocolate has the innate ability to make us happy. We want anyone who indulges in our chocolate to know that we've taken extra care, from growing the cocoa trees, to creating beautiful bon-bons. This process of creating not only beautiful, but delicious chocolate, takes dedication from so many: it passes through the hands of dedicated farmers, efficient logistics, various office functions, and countless suppliers. Each with the same goal in mind, to bring happiness."