Choco bonanza

The Middle East’s chocolate industry is maturing, with large ex-pat populations and a growing number of locals demanding more and more chocolate products.

Ben Watts talks to the suppliers who are benefiting from the region’s sweet tooth.

Chocolate is by most accounts one of the world’s best-loved food items and is fast turning into an ingredient adored by more than just specialist chefs.

The diverse nature of the chocolate industry is now starting to impact the Middle East market, with new recipes, ingredients and varieties becoming more commonplace.

Swiss International Chocolates managing director Daniel Hutmacher points out: “The sky is the limit when it comes to chocolate, it goes with anything.

“Chocolate fits very well with cigar tasting, whisky, wine or cheese; it is a very versatile product and it’s just a matter of letting yourself go when it comes to involving it.”

Hutmacher cites the example of one Dubai-based restaurant requesting Mediterranean flavours to demonstrate the increasing creativity employed in chocolate production in the Middle East.

“We were talking to them about using unique flavours like olive oil and basil, rosemary, thyme and rosewater,” he explains.

“The market is evolving, looking for new ideas, more novelty and trying out new things, because the existing brands are starting to wear a bit thin.”

Giles and Posner operations director Darren Giles adds: “Chocolate is an affordable luxury that creates the feel-good factor. Everybody likes to indulge and with chocolate not as expensive in comparison to other products, it often seems like the perfect choice.

“We research the best chocolate manufacturers, paying specific attention to the ingredients to ensure the perfect blend for our chocolates.

“We believe that over the coming months, this industry will grow and adapt; our predicted forecasts for chocolate and chocolate fountains are fantastic — the recession hasn’t affected our business, or changed the consumer’s love for it,” he asserts.

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Confiserie Sprüngli maître confiseur Sepp Fässler, a chef based at the Swiss chocolate maker’s factory in Zurich, says that chocolate is more than a novelty confectionary product.

“Everyone thinks positively about chocolate — it is like a soul massage for everybody, especially when it comes to dark chocolate, which is good for your health,” ” Fässler asserts.

“It opens up the circulation of the blood and is much like a glass of good red wine; it’s not a pill or a chemical, it’s a natural product.”

As a chef who has dedicated 25 years of his life to creating new chocolate recipes, Fässler is aware that some people might be envious of his job.

“Chocolate is my life,” he exclaims. “I’m interested in all things chocolate and that’s not a job, it’s a hobby; my life is a challenge to find out new things about chocolate and to make new products with chocolate.

“I’m a chocolate chef — a creator. I create new chocolate products, beginning with new chocolate and what we can make from it — whether it’s a simple chocolate bar, to a truffle, a praline, a tart or an ice cream.”

Despite the innovative recipes described by Hutmacher and the dark chocolate prescribed by Sprüngli chef Fässler, the majority of suppliers say that traditionally, the Middle East was a haven for milk chocolate fans.

EMF Emirates general manager Pierre Feghali notes: “When I arrived here six years ago the market was 80% milk chocolate and 20% dark chocolate.

“That 20% was almost exclusively for hotels as chocolatiers wouldn’t buy dark chocolate, but today that is changing as a lot more chocolatiers have opened up, especially in Dubai.

“With so many new chocolatiers coming into the region, some of them really good ones, they have started changing people’s tastes.”