1 of 3 2 of 3 These three Vancouver-based chocolate makers are not only creating (extremely) good chocolates—they’re also doing good for people and for communities. Koko Monk For Paul Dincer, chocolate was originally plan B. After teaching pastry in Australia, he arrived in Canada in 2008 to pursue a PhD in film studies.
Instead, he became fascinated by the creative aspects of working with raw chocolate and its myriad health benefits, which led him to open Koko Monk in 2013. His philosophy was simple: create ethically- and organically-sourced bean-to-bar chocolate, with a minimum of fillers and sweeteners, from unprocessed, raw cacao grown in Central and South America. “Cacao is a sacred food,” explains Dincer of that part of the world.
“It’s a pillar of the civilization; they created a whole religion around it. We work strictly with cooperatives or directly with the farmers.” The growers he works with “understand the importance of agro-forestry—of the symbiotic nature between the environment and how the cacao trees grow.
” Dincer stresses the importance of maintaining the bean’s nutrients by avoiding traditional processing methods. When it’s raw, he says, “you can clearly see the pure identity of the bean.” That identity is not uniform across batches, which for him is a benefit, as it emphasizes the unique flavour characteristics of each tree, each farm, each harvest.
The terroir of the bean, if you will. Koko Monk. Sweetened mainly with honey, dat.