Meet the maker
Åkesson’s
About Åkesson’s
Cocoa grower Bertil Åkesson’s journey began with his father, a Swedish diplomat based in Paris who later founded a trading company and travelled extensively around the world. In the 1970s, the family settled in Madagascar, where they took over cocoa plantations on the island. Today, Bertil manages four distinct estates in northwestern Madagascar, producing some of the world’s most highly regarded fine-flavour cacao.
In 2009, Bertil Åkesson and his Brazilian business partner, Dr. Angelo Calmon de Sá, acquired the historic Fazenda Sempre Firme in Bahia, Brazil. Nestled within the the Mata Altântica — one of the world’s most most biodiverse tropical forests — the plantation has undergone a remarkable revival. Together, they restored not only the estate but also its surrounding community, creating employment and rebuilding a strong social foundation. Locals affectionately refer to the farm as Paraiso “paradise”, a testament to its transformation. The estate cultivates a traditional Forastero variety known as Parazinho, the cacao that helped make Bahia one of the world’s great cocoa-producing regions in the early 20th century.
How they became makers…
A pioneer of the bean-to-bar movement, Bertil was one of the first people to start selling high quality, Madagascan cocoa beans to small makers around the world. Åkesson’s Madagascan cocoa is a favourite amongst other chocolate makers in the know, with both Dandelion and Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé using it in some of their most popular bars. Today bars made with his beans, along with his own chocolate bars, win numerous awards around the world.
Åkesson’s Sourcing
Today these plantations are managed by Bertil himself. Located in North West Madagascar, in the Sambirano Valley, Åkesson’s plantation is divided into four smaller estates: Madirofolo, Menavava, Bejofo, and Ambolikapiky. It’s from the latter two plantations that Bertil sources the bars used in his Madagascan bars. Several of his bars also use the peppers and spices from his own plantation. Not only do these bars taste great, but the pepper plants grow alongside the cacao trees and provide a protective canopy that shelters the unripe pods from direct sunlight.
Åkesson’s Chocolate
Some of Åkesson’s bars use peppers to add a little flavour, these peppers are grown close by to their beans in Madagascar.
Åkesson’s aim at offering their clients their passion for tropical foods and their love for the highest possible quality products achieved in the most ethical and sustainable way. They believe that people should purchase their products not because of the growing process but because of their superior quality and their incredible attention to detail. However, their values are important and besides our action on the field, we chose to dedicate in this web-site a section about it to contribute in bringing a new awareness about today’s greatest challenges in our society.
Check out this review of their 100% Criollo Cocoa bar.
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