Standout – Idukki, India 70% Dark

Description

TASTING NOTES

On taste, this dark chocolate bursts with rich sultana and dried fruit notes, with quite the “Madagascar” quality within the bar. The melt and texture is smooth, with a nutty finish.

ABOUT THE MAKER

Standout Chocolate launched onto the craft chocolate scene as a one-man-band in 2018. Fredrik Martinsson, Standout’s founder, has a background in engineering and specialty coffee, and he uses that experience and skillset to craft his award-winning chocolate in Kållered, Sweden. He sources his cocoa beans directly from co-operatives and farmers all over the world, aiming to create “a better world, through social, environmental and economic sustainability for the farmers.”

THE BEANS

Known as the spice garden of Kerala, the Idukki region of southern India has long had the climate and ecology to grow cocoa. But it wasn’t until 2016, when GoGround started investing in post-harvest processing facilities and farmer education, that fine-flavour cocoa farming really took off. Now husband-and-wife Luca and Ellen, with the support of the Italian RIVA foundation, have built relationships with the smallholder farmers of Udumbannoor, paying them guaranteed weekly payments in exchange for freshly harvested cocoa beans.