Belgian chocolatier discovers Hainan

China’s tropical island province of Hainan is becoming famous for chocolate. World-class master chocolatier Pierre Marcolini played a big role in this transformation by launching “Grand Cru” Hainan chocolates in his online shops in June. “This is a fantastic Grand Cru. I feel a slight bitterness, very pleasant, without astringency, with notes of citrus and grapefruit. It is extraordinary,” said Marcolini. The Belgian chocolatier spoke to the China Daily via video link about his latest products made with beans grown in Hainan, a place he said he learned about by chance in 2017 in the International Journal of Food Properties, a magazine published in the United States. It said Chinese scientists had developed a new variety of cacao in Hainan, a place already known for tropical fruits.

Late in 2020, 500 kilograms of cocoa beans were shipped to Brussels from Wanning on the eastern coast of the island. “This is the first time China has exported its locally produced cocoa beans,” said Qin Xiaowei, Deputy Director of the Spice and Beverage Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS). After learning that Hainan is building the world’s largest free trade port and has enacted favorable tax-free policies on imports of raw materials and production equipment to encourage investment, Marcolini said he looked forward to visiting Hainan cacao plantations in person. He is considering opening a duty-free shop selling chocolates made with Hainan’s quality cocoa beans.

Mark Huestch, a descendent of an eminent family known for their chocolate business in the U.S., said he was also impressed by the superb quality of the local beans during a recent tour to inspect the planting and fermentation process in Hainan. “Hainan cocoa beans have a very unique flavor, with strong red fruit and nut flavors,” Huestch said, adding that he would recommend chocolate products made with Hainan beans to U.S. consumers. However, “Hainan’s cocoa production cannot meet market demand,” said Li Fupeng, Director of the Cocoa Research Center of CATAS, located at the Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden. The Spice and Beverage Research Institute has reached agreements with international organizations, including Ghent University, to promote exchanges in scientific and technological innovation, talent training and brand development.

The cacao cultivation area in Hainan reached some 667 hectares around 2004, but decreased to about 133 hectares mainly due to slack market demand and insufficient processing equipment and technologies, said Li. Reyin No 4 is China’s first cacao variety with independent intellectual property rights, reaching a yield of 1,600 kg per hectare, 3.5 times higher than the world average. Due to the limited planting area, Hainan is not yet in a good position to compete with big cacao growing countries in output. At present, China’s annual per capita consumption of chocolate is less than 0.1 kg, less than 10% of that in Western countries, but consumption is growing at 15% to 20% annually, the China Daily reports.