HAIKOW /China/, January 10. /TASS/. South China's Hainan province plans to strengthen cooperation with leading chocolate companies and increase the supply of first-grade cocoa to the world market to produce exceptional quality products, China Daily reported.
The article refers to renowned Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini, who has been selling new chocolate called Grand Cru in his stores since June. The chocolate is made from Hainan's cacao beans. "This is a fantastic Grand Cru. I feel a slight bitterness, very pleasant, without astringency, with notes of citrus, grapefruit. It is extraordinary," the confectioner is quoted as saying.
As his American colleague Mark Huestch, who inherited the family chocolate factory, confessed, he was impressed by the qualities of the products made from Hainan's cocoa beans. "Hainan cocoa beans have a very unique flavor," he was quoted as saying. The expert noted that he is ready to recommend this chocolate, which has "strong red fruit and nut flavors", to consumers in the United States.
According to Qin Xiaowei, deputy director of the Spice and Beverage Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), the introduction of these products to markets in other countries "shows that the international public has appreciated the quality and production standards" of Hainan. "This is the first time the PRC has exported cocoa beans of its own production," he said.
For his part, Li Fupeng, director of the Cocoa Research Center at CATAS, noted that the ever-increasing number of orders shows the excessive demand for Hainan raw materials for chocolate. In his opinion, China's southernmost province cannot compete with the leading cocoa-producing countries in terms of supply volume, but has the ability to grow "small batches of exceptional quality products".
Farmers have been growing cocoa in Hainan since the 1950s, when its seeds were imported by Chinese compatriots from abroad. By 2004, the area of plantations on the island devoted to this crop reached 667 hectares, but later for a number of reasons it decreased noticeably. Nevertheless, as international experts believe, this industry "has great prospects and will bring great economic benefits" to the Hainan Free Trade Port.