“Kamili” means “Absolutely” in Swahili.
It is in the heart of Tanzania, in the Kilombero Valley west of the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, that the cocoa trees are grown. In this major agricultural region, which is very fertile and has a hot and humid climate, Kamili cocoa has been cultivated since 2015.
The beans are grown by 4,000 independent farms averaging 2 hectares each, using agroforestry methods, 1,200 of which are certified organic.
Kamili cocoa beans are made up of Trinitario beans, a hybrid variety resulting from a cross between Criollo and Forastero beans, and Neo-Nacional beans. Kamili is a smooth, tangy cocoa with notes of red fruits (cherries, berries, and plums) and floral notes reminiscent of violet or rose.
Used since 2020 in the production of our Kamili 76% chocolate, it is particularly well suited for baking, pâtisserie, and pairing with dried fruits in our coated nuts and clusters.
We had the opportunity to take part in the September 2022 harvest, during which we met Simrane Bindra, the founder, and all his teams.
Once fermented and dried, the beans are packed into 62-kilo bags before being shipped to Antwerp to our partner Silva Cacao and then delivered to the Manufacture.
Each delivered bag is processed individually into chocolate following a Bean-to-Bar philosophy, in “micro-batches”, in order to stay as close as possible to the aromatic characteristics, which can vary from one lot to another.
The beans are tasted, sorted, roasted at low temperature, mixed with unrefined cane sugar, stone-conched for 3 days, and then rested for 3 weeks.
The resulting pure chocolate is then melted, molded, and packaged into bars, or used to coat our dried fruits and clusters, or in pâtisserie (fondant, soft cakes, cookies, etc.).