French expert: Vietnamese cocoa is very delicious, qualified to make high-end chocolate

(Dan Tri) - Vietnamese cocoa has a unique flavor, balanced between light sourness, fruitiness and deep aftertaste. This is the factor that makes Vietnamese cocoa a sought-after ingredient for artisan chocolate makers.

"Vietnamese cocoa is among the most suitable for producing high-end chocolate," Mr. Olivier Nicod - a French chocolate expert with 25 years of experience - shared at the recent Study Tour event.

Vietnamese cocoa is among the most suitable for making high-end chocolate.

Compared to the world’s major cocoa-producing regions – where Africa accounts for 71%, Central America 11% and Asia 18% – Vietnam is among the countries with small output, fluctuating around a few thousand tons per year. However, the most outstanding point, according to expert Olivier Nicod, is that the quality of Vietnamese cocoa is “very delicious”.

Mr. Olivier Nicod said many international producers appreciate the flavor of Vietnamese cocoa thanks to the fermentation and drying processes that have been greatly improved over the past decade, especially in typical raw material areas such as Ben Tre .

According to him, Vietnamese cacao has a unique flavor, balanced between light sourness, fruitiness and deep aftertaste. This is the factor that makes Vietnamese cacao a sought-after ingredient for artisan chocolate makers.

The quality of Vietnamese cocoa is highly appreciated for its special flavor characteristics, suitable for the craft chocolate segment that is booming in the world. Some batches of Vietnamese cocoa have been ranked in the group of “the world’s best flavor cocoa” (Fine Flavor Cocoa) in international evaluations, thereby raising the image of Vietnamese raw materials in the high-end market - where the added value is much greater than the mass cocoa segment.

French chocolate expert Olivier Nicod talks about Vietnamese cocoa (Photo: HVNCLC Association).

Before Olivier Nicod, there were many foreigners who came to Vietnam and made chocolate from cocoa beans in many provinces. For example, the story of Marou - a typical brand of Vietnamese chocolate using cocoa in 6 southern provinces.

Marou is a project of Samuel Maruta and Vincent Morou - two founders who gave up stable jobs at famous French corporations to find new challenges for their careers. Marou started in Ba Ria (formerly Ba Ria - Vung Tau province), then went to Tien Giang , Ben Tre, Dong Nai provinces... discovering that cocoa in each province will produce chocolate with different flavors, from which Marou developed chocolate flavors that are unique to each region.

Marou products were once listed by The Guardian as one of the 50 best foods of the month. The newspaper also wrote: Who knew Vietnam could produce such excellent cocoa? Chocolate made from Vietnamese cocoa has also won many international awards and has successfully penetrated demanding markets such as Europe and the US.

However, the domestic chocolate industry is still small-scale. More artisanal chocolate factories have appeared in the past 5-7 years, but most of them are small workshops, targeting tourists or niche markets, and are not yet competitive enough to compete on a large export scale.

The gap between raw material potential - processing capacity - market potential is preventing the Vietnamese cocoa industry from making a breakthrough. Many international experts say that Vietnam is one of the few countries that has both good conditions for growing cocoa and a strong agricultural export industry, but has not yet taken full advantage to turn cocoa - chocolate into a unified value chain.

What to do to promote the value of "brown gold mine"?

To promote the value of this “brown gold mine”, experts recommend a long-term strategy and coordinated participation. Mr. Olivier Nicod suggests three important groups of solutions.

Firstly, we must improve the quality and value of raw materials right at the growing area. This includes providing technical guidance to farmers, improving fermentation and drying processes, and encouraging suitable intercropping models such as cocoa and coconut. When the quality of cocoa beans is standardized from the beginning, processing enterprises can create high-end products, and farmers will benefit more in the value chain.

Yet, according to Olivier Nicod, farmers, who produce the best ingredients, only receive about 6-7% of the value of a chocolate bar. If the cocoa-chocolate industry is to truly take off, sharing the value more fairly with farmers is not only a moral issue, but also the foundation of sustainability. “If we don’t care about farmers, the chocolate industry won’t be able to develop in the long term,” he said.

Second, investing in technology through importing equipment such as modern roasting machines will help Vietnamese businesses produce chocolate that meets international standards and diversify products.

Third, it is necessary to promote the connection between businesses, international experts and the startup ecosystem.

Mr. Tran Duong Xuan Vu, Founder & CEO of TIM Corp, specializing in F&B solutions (Photo: HVNCLC Association).

Mr. Tran Duong Xuan Vu, Founder & CEO of TIM Corp (a business specializing in F&B solutions) added: "Technology and equipment are vital factors for Vietnamese agricultural products to compete globally."

According to him, to maintain and promote the quality of cocoa, besides the soil, planting and harvesting techniques are also the foundation that determines the final quality. Along with that, to turn high-quality cocoa beans into international-class chocolate, processing technology plays a key role.

Cacao is known as the main ingredient for chocolate - a large-scale industry today. In 2025, the global chocolate market is estimated to reach about 127 billion USD, a slight increase compared to 123 billion USD in 2024, with an average growth rate of about 4.8%/year.

Despite growth, the industry is under pressure from international trade fluctuations – such as US tariffs on Belgian chocolate and Ivory Coast cocoa – which are raising production costs and affecting final prices. At the same time, climate and pest problems in West Africa continue to put cocoa supplies at risk.

In that picture, Vietnamese chocolate emerges as a “potential bright spot”. According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Vietnam currently has 3,471 hectares of cocoa, a harvested area of ​​2,836 hectares, an output of 4,786 tons of dry beans, and a yield of 16.9 quintals of dry beans/hectare.

Cacao is concentrated in the Central Highlands, Southeast, Mekong Delta and South Central Coast. Although still small in scale, domestic brands are growing rapidly in the premium and artisanal segments.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/chuyen-gia-phap-cacao-viet-nam-rat-ngon-du-chuan-lam-chocolate-cao-cap-20251130122923409.htm