MANILA, Philippines – Can the Chocolate Queen of Cebu expand her empire overseas and conquer premier markets such as North America?
Her “majesty,” Raquel Choa, founder of Cebu’s celebrated chocolate boutique and cafe chain The Chocolate Chamber and Ralfe Gourmet Chocolates, is currently testing the waters as she conducts cacao-making and chocolate tasting presentations in New York City.
One of the highlights of Choa’s trip took place on Dec. 6 at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Manhattan, where she represented the Philippines at the Le Salon Du Chocolat, a U.N.-hosted chocolate tasting fair participated in by a select few countries and attended by numerous traders, diplomats, civic leaders, members of the press and chocoholics.
The confection fair was held just outside of the U.N. General Assembly Hall, with Choa’s eye-catching displays of Philippine cacao (tablea) occupying the event’s prime spot and surrounded by famous chocolate makers from countries like Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, among others.
Choa’s deep-seated passion to elevate the Filipino chocolate to global consciousness was in full view as she eagerly chatted with inquisitive guests and provided them with samples of her rich and complex confections and quick lecture about the Philippine cacao, particularly her own cacao de bola, which is used for garnishing any kind of dish including noodles, pasta, charcuterie, and desserts to jazz up their savory flavors.
“If Europe has queso de bola, I want the world to know that the Philippines has cacao de bola,” Choa told The STAR at the U.N. chocolate fair, with her equally beauteous teen daughter, Hannah (dubbed the Chocolate Princess of Cebu), assisting Choa address queries. The U.N. event occurred just days after Choa mounted a successful presentation at the Philippine Center, also in Manhattan, hosted by Consul General Tess Dizon-De Vega.
“This is our first time to introduce our chocolate to the world,” she said of her cocoa products she also markets as ingredients for chocolate bars and drinks, and garnishes. “This is more like an awareness campaign that the Philippines knows how to make chocolate in our very special way.”
With the market already saturated with all types of top-tier chocolates from all over, Choa said she strongly believes that given the right push and with the help of investors, the rich Philippine cacao can carve a niche in the international commerce without really competing considering the market is too vast for first-rate commodities.
“One of my philosophies is that I don’t really believe in competition because each one of us is unique,” Choa said matter-of-factly. “Each country is unique, and each chocolate from every country is unique in taste and characteristics.”
“The uniqueness of our chocolate is that it has life and soul, and a great story behind it,” she proudly claimed. “This came from our ancestors and it was kept and hidden in the mountains. It came from a very long tradition. It’s not only delectable, the health benefits are also tremendous.”
Choa and her siblings were raised to an impoverished life by their grandparents in the secluded mountains of Balamban, Cebu, where she learned about the luscious cacao and the centuries-old Filipino traditions that harness the cacao-bean to transform it into glorious tablea that she uses to create artisan chocolate.
Through her grandmother, Choa was enamored of the legend of Maria Cacao, the fairy of Cebu’s forests, that inspired the mythical charm of Choa’s tablea.
“Legend says Maria Cacao was the queen of the cacao forest and she lived in a magical tree that fireflies lit up in the darkest of night,” related Choa, whose tablea became famous throughout Cebu that prompted the locals and the media to dub her the “chocolate queen.” “Maria Cacao would harvest the cacao, load them into her ship, travel through the river, then to the open seas and to foreign lands to distribute them.”
“Sharing our chocolate creations made from our humble tablea is my little way of telling the story of Maria Cacao and ensuring that her legend lives on,” she added with a wide smile.
Choa’s ambitious plan is to open a New York branch of The Chocolate Chamber to better market the Philippine cacao in the western hemisphere. She’s getting initial support from businesswoman Rena Avendula, proprietor of the popular Payag restaurant in Queens, N.Y., in finding U.S.-based distributors.
“If it’s necessary, we will knock on every door of potential distributors in the chocolate industry,” Avendula said. “That’s my advocacy now. I believe in the product and I’m not afraid of the competition because the Philippine cacao is one of a kind.”
Choa said she’s likewise getting promotional support from Philippine government agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Tourism, as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs. Her next plan, she said, is to look for investors who will help her elevate the Filipino cacao outside of the Philippines.”
“This is the first time I traveled 18 hours,” shared Choa, referring to her long trip from Cebu to New York. “I’m really scared to fly, but I had to do it and I had to conquer my fear. I’m here to tell my story and my affair with the Philippine cacao, and I want to share it to the world.”
For more on the Philippine cacao, check out The Chocolate Chamber on Facebook.
The Philippine cacao beans take the spotlight at the chocolate fair