Chocolate and coffee. Similarities and differences. A podcast with Christoph Inauen of Choba Choba
For many, chocolate and coffee simply belong together – as a luxury product. But the similarities and challenges of the two products begin as early as cultivation. The transition to a better chocolate future for producers requires a different approach – Choba Choba presents a revolutionary alternative to this.
Often, a "Schöggeli" (small piece of chocolate) is served with coffee, because for many, they just go so well together. Coffee itself is often described as chocolatey, and both products also look good together. It seems as if chocolate and coffee were siblings.
There are also many similarities on the production side – cocoa trees also grow in the subtropics, like sun but not too much heat, like shade, and come in four original varieties.
"The distinction between Criollo and Trinitario is too simplistic," says Christoph Inauen, explaining that they have established a variety garden in Peru to cultivate rare, old, forgotten, and rediscovered varieties. They, that is Inauen's company Choba Choba, which has its legal seat in Switzerland, operates as a company in Peru, and the producers in Peru themselves are shareholders.
The mentioned variety garden strongly reminds me of our project "1000 Variedades" in Nicaragua – an experimental plot slightly above our Finca Santa Rita, where we plant various varieties and want to observe their behavior.
Christoph Inauen, Co-founder of Choba Choba. Image: Provided by Choba Choba
The Choba Choba Model
Christoph Inauen knows the cocoa and chocolate world inside out. At 26, he built sustainable supply chains for one of Switzerland's largest chocolate corporations, which are still in place today.
Shortly thereafter, he joined the management board – an impressive fact that a company made sustainability a core concern as early as 2007. "Yes," says Inauen, "he doesn't know many other companies that started so early."
Inauen traveled extensively to cocoa regions and established new partnerships. After several years, when a producer, who had become a friend, approached him and said that despite the new situation, the certifications, and all the marketing, not much had changed for the producers, Inauen was stunned.
"Of course, this was a shock at first, but later it became a motivation to take a new approach." So, Inauen founded Choba Choba with his business partner Eric Garnier and launched the "Chocolate Revolution."
Choba Choba is a public limited company, with 30% of the shares owned by the producers themselves. They are thus directly involved in the company's profits. Choba Choba therefore produces its own cocoa, which is then processed by Felchlin in Switzerland.
For Inauen, it is particularly impressive to see how the self-image of many producers has changed.
A producer used to say: Hello, my name is Oswaldo, I am a cocoa producer. Today he says: Hello, my name is Oswaldo, I am active in international cocoa trade.
Christoph Inauen, Choba Choba
Choba Choba pays producers 2.5 to 3 times more for cocoa than if they were to sell their products on the world market. The chocolate is therefore also sold at a higher price in Switzerland – from a previous 8.50 CHF, prices have dropped to just under 5 CHF thanks to efficiency gains.
For us, it was always clear that a chocolate couldn't cost 1 or 2 francs. That just doesn't make sense.
Christoph Inauen, Choba Choba
Chocolate Quality as an Entry Point
Choba Choba's message is actually easy to understand. However, because it breaks with everything that characterizes the chocolate industry, it seems almost exotic. Bringing the story to the shelf would be complex, because the product should primarily live through its quality.
Excellent raw materials, no additives, and precise processing make Choba Choba a premium chocolate. On the shelf, quality should be in the foreground – the message for a new approach in the cocoa business should be communicated through other channels.
High Price as a Stumbling Block
Initially, a 90g chocolate bar was sold for 8.50 CHF. The price was jarring. Can chocolate be that good? The story first had to be understood. And criticism of Choba Choba grew louder, stating that while they wanted to reach poor producers, the end product was only accessible to the rich.
Through increased efficiency, Choba Choba was able to lower the price and now sells the chocolate at Coop for just under 5 CHF – which is still a lot for a supermarket. Thus, Choba Choba stands out simply because of the higher price.
Do Small Businesses Even Need to Grow Big?
In the podcast with Christoph Inauen, I also talk about whether small businesses always need to scale – that is, whether they need to be designed to grow further and further.
Most investors see this as a basic requirement. However, and here Choba Choba and we Kaffeemacher share the same vision: Ideas must be scalable. There is a need for imitators, those who copy or even improve the model.
Inauen says in the podcast that Choba Choba never wants to reach 100,000 producers, but wants to involve the community.
We don't have to ensure that a few investors earn more. The investors should be the community. So producers and consumers.
Christoph Inauen, Choba Choba
Are Chocolate and Coffee Similar?
Yes, definitely. And not just as a luxury product but also behind it. The supply chain is similar, the situation of the producers, the consolidated market, and the challenges of the future – climate change, the aging of producers, and the quality of the soil.
Exchanges beyond one's own horizon are always worthwhile and help everyone. In this podcast, I almost always had the feeling that Christoph was talking about coffee – some stories are so congruent. As coffee makers, we learn a lot from this – and want to learn even more. Let's see if we will ever produce cocoa.
