Mélanie Paulau is the founder of the chocolate factory 20°Nord 20°Sud, in Notre-Dame-de-Monts, in Vendée. According to her, it is important to guarantee the “sustainable” character of her product.
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Mélanie Paulau is the founder of the chocolate factory 20° North 20° South. This entrepreneur exhibits his know-how at the Salon du chocolat which is held until November 1st, at the Parc des expositions de la Porte de Versailles in Paris.
franceinfo: More and more chocolatiers are using the “Bean-to-bar” principle. What is it about ?
Melanie Paulau: The Bean-to-bar is a movement that was born in the United States in the 2000s to respond to the industrialization and standardization of the taste of chocolate. It is important to find real aromatic notes in chocolate without adding sweeteners or fats, to find chocolate in its simplest form, cocoa and sugar. This affects the ingredients, of course, but also the selection of raw materials which, today, raise a certain number of issues, whether social or environmental. It is important to change these consumption patterns to sell sustainable chocolate.
How can you guarantee the “sustainable” character of your chocolate?
We work with an agricultural engineer, a cocoa sourcer who travels the world in search of cooperative cocoa producers. It helps them by pre-financing the harvests, which supports them financially because there are two harvests a year. She will set up fermentation and drying processes to get the best price and then resell it to chocolate makers like us.
How can you guarantee a fair income for cocoa farmers?
You should know that chocolate is listed on the stock exchange, so manufacturers will buy cocoa listed on the market. We don’t care about the stock market. We buy it 5 to 20 times the market price without any worries. These are chocolates that are at 20,000 euros per ton. On the price at which we buy cocoa, there is a major part that goes directly to the producers, which precisely allows them to avoid making children work and practicing deforestation.