The Allure of Chocolate

Speaking of February, it's Valentine's season. Around when did Morinaga & Co. start making chocolate?

Integrated manufacturing starting from cacao beans began in 1918 (Taisho 7), and Morinaga & Co. was the first to do so in Japan. I brought some milk chocolate today; you can see "since 1918" written on the package.

So, until then, you were importing it?

It seems they imported bitter chocolate as a raw material from abroad and processed it.

Morinaga & Co. was originally founded in 1899 in Akasaka Tameike by Taichiro Morinaga, who trained in Western confectionery in the United States. He saw that chocolate was popular as a treat for the common people there and, along with Hanzaburo Matsuzaki, who would later become the second president, decided to make chocolate in Japan. I heard they introduced large-scale machinery for integrated chocolate manufacturing, but at the time, they didn't even know if it would be accepted in Japan, so I think it was a major decision.

They worked to popularize it by placing newspaper advertisements explaining things like "What is chocolate?" After that, companies like Meiji and Daito Cacao also began integrated manufacturing in Japan.

Is this retro packaging for the chocolate bar a reproduction of the design from that time?

Actually, this package hasn't changed significantly for over 100 years. I suppose they tried to make an unfamiliar confection as approachable as possible.

I go directly to cacao producers in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia to source beans. Where did the cacao that Morinaga first used come from?

Unfortunately, no records remain. I imagine it was imported through a trading company.

Until before the war, Morinaga & Co.'s mainstay was Milk Caramel. This was because there were import quotas for cacao at the time, so it couldn't be imported freely. The fact that many manufacturers began selling chocolate shortly after the war is largely due to the relaxation of cacao import quotas and tariffs.

As a result, along with the post-war economic recovery, sweets became more affordable, and chocolate came to be eaten more widely.

As the representative of βace Inc., I operate a chocolate brand called "Minimal - Bean to Bar Chocolate-." Six years ago, I launched a specialty chocolate brand that sources cacao beans directly from local producers. We currently have two stores in Tokyo.

It's very popular, isn't it? What triggered your entry into the world of chocolate, Mr. Yamashita?

I'm 36 now, but in my 20s, I was a regular office worker at a consulting firm. With the declining birthrate and aging population reducing the labor force, I wondered how I could contribute through economic activities even as GDP falls despite increased productivity. What came to mind was the world of manufacturing through craftsmanship, utilizing Japanese attention to detail.

With the desire to "do manufacturing as a primary actor," I encountered the Bean to Bar culture (the integrated process from cacao bean to chocolate bar) and started my business. This movement seems to have been sparked by people in the U.S. around 2007 and gained full momentum around 2013.

Since Minimal was founded in 2014, you are a pioneer in Japan.

Chocolate, which originated in the West, has hundreds of years of historical accumulation in techniques like layering fats, similar to French cuisine. In contrast, I redefined Bean to Bar not as addition, but as "subtraction chocolate." I wanted to see what could be done by "subtracting" as much as possible except for the cacao itself. I thought this approach would be interesting if we were to compete in the global market while utilizing the quality of Japanese handiwork.

The fermentation process of cacao is key to chocolate. I learned fermentation techniques from experts and applied the fermentation techniques used for things like Japanese sake to cacao beans.

So that extra step of fermentation is important.

The way to bring out the flavor of the cacao bean material is similar to wine; it is conditioned by the variety, terroir (origin), farming methods, fermentation methods, and transportation methods.

For example, completely different flavors are born by finely changing everything from the temperature settings of the container during transport to the roasting time of the beans, the way they are crushed, and how the oil is extracted.

I research the culture and customs of the region called Mesoamerica (the area from present-day Mexico to Costa Rica), which is exactly where cacao was born. In the origin of cacao, chocolate has been consumed as a drink since ancient times.

That's right.

Actually, there were major discoveries regarding chocolate in 2011 and 2018. Two common theories about cacao were overturned by the discovery that the Pueblo Indians, indigenous people of the American Southwest, were drinking chocolate, and by the discovery of the oldest cacao from stones and pottery excavated at a site in Ecuador, South America.

Since cacao had been found in archaeological sites in Mexico and Guatemala, Mesoamerica was previously said to be the source of cacao. However, this discovery revealed that the roots are in Ecuador.

Also, based on artifacts from the Aztec and Mayan civilizations in the Mesoamerican region, chocolate was thought to be a luxury item or a functional product for the noble class. However, it seems the common people among the Pueblo Indians also drank chocolate.

So South America is indeed the root?

At this point, South America is the most likely root. However, I think there are more historical documents regarding cacao in the Mesoamerican region. For example, at the Mayan ruins of Calakmul, murals depicting people drinking cacao have been found.

The Aztec civilization reached its peak through wide-ranging trade. Cacao seems to have boasted high value in that trade, and it is said that cacao spread through trade. There are also records that Aztec royalty favored chocolate drinks and drank many cups a day.

I encountered chocolate as a drink when I was 22—a time I'll never forget. While traveling through Mexico and Guatemala by bus with a backpack for about two months, I encountered "chocolate" at a market in the town of Oaxaca, Mexico.

It was a light brown liquid with white foam on top, and it looked so unappetizing that I was shocked, wondering if this was even a drink. However, when I actually drank it, it was deeply nourishing and very delicious. I was twice surprised that there could be a drink where the appearance and taste were so different!

You tried it even though you thought it looked unappetizing.

A local person told me, "If you don't drink this, what did you come to Oaxaca for?" so I summoned my courage (laughs).

Mexico has a style called "stone grinding," where cacao beans are ground with a stone mortar, and since the refining is coarse, crunchy grains get mixed into the drink. Usually, when making it into a beverage, it's diluted with a liquid made from ground corn or wheat. What was yours diluted with, Ms. Motoya?

Corn. It had a thick texture. That stone mortar is also a primitive one called a "metate," and they use it to grind not just cacao but many other things.

They also grind and mix spices with it, right?

Both cacao beans and spices are ground on the metate using a stone rod called a "mano." Mano means "hand" in Spanish.

I have one.

Using tools like that to grind it a bit coarsely creates a unique deliciousness.

In Central and South America, there are cultures everywhere of drinking cacao beverages with spices. Some places add sweet spices like anise, cloves, and cinnamon, while in cooler climates, they might add ginger.

They also add chili peppers. Those differences are so interesting that I've tried them wherever I go. In cool highlands, it's drunk to warm the body.

They also drink it mixed with region-specific spices like achiote (a food coloring) and vanilla. I wonder if those ways of drinking are remnants of when it was consumed as a tonic or medicine.

The names are different in each region, too. In Nicaragua, where I went for a JICA ODA-related project, it was called "tiste." It's interesting how the names differ by region or how local grandmothers have their own unique recipes.

Chocolate as a drink has likely continued traditionally for over a thousand years. In 2010, Mexican cuisine was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the method of cooking by grinding everything in a stone mortar is considered a typical method from before the Spanish colonized the New World.

Nicaragua is further south than Mexico and closer to the equator, so they drink it cold. Conversely, in the highlands of Guatemala above 1,500 meters where I often go, drinking it warm is the mainstream, but cacao is considered a luxury item, and most of it becomes an export product, so it doesn't reach the common people.

It's the same with coffee; if you order "coffee" there, you get a drink that looks like black bean tea, like diluted coffee.

Cacao beans for chocolate exported to developed countries like Europe and the U.S. go through a fermentation process, but those circulating domestically in Central America are basically often unfermented. Fermentation takes time and effort, so only products for export that can sell at a high price can properly undergo that process.

Fermentation of cacao beans is an important process that enriches the flavor and breaks down polyphenols that cause astringency, but when you go there, you get something with a different nuance than the chocolate and coffee we are familiar with.

It is said that the era of the Industrial Revolution in Europe was when people began to enjoy chocolate as a sweet treat by adding sugar and milk. Sugar was among the spices brought in around the same time as cacao, and eventually, they were combined to become sweets.

That's how manufacturers like Van Houten and Nestlé began production, and it spread to the general public.

The theory that Hernán Cortés brought cacao to Europe is prominent. It is said that when Cortés had an audience with Moctezuma, the Aztec king, he learned that cacao was used in place of currency and brought it back to Europe, presenting it to Charles I (Charles V) in 1528, which became the catalyst for it being consumed in Europe.

According to some books, there was also cacao in Columbus's cargo, but it's written that he almost ignored it and left it neglected in the bottom of the ship.

That's right. At first, it was a drink in Europe as well. It wasn't until the 19th century that it became solid.

Through various technological innovations, solid chocolate was created. After that, methods for making smooth chocolate mass called couverture were developed, and business formats like chocolatiers and confectionery manufacturers that produce chocolate treats from the mass were born and refined.

The first chocolate bars sold by Taichiro Morinaga and others were one size smaller than today's and cost about 1,500 to 2,000 yen in today's monetary value. At the time, cacao beans were also very expensive, so it seems it was indeed a luxury sweet.

I wonder what kind of people were eating it.

Likely the upper class. There is an interesting anecdote in the biography of Masaji Takeuchi, who founded Daito Cacao, a major manufacturer of chocolate as a confectionery ingredient. When Mr. Takeuchi brought a sweet similar to what we now call Choco Balls as a souvenir to his parents, his mother peeled off the chocolate on the outside and only ate the sugar candy part inside (laughs).

Through the education and promotion by various manufacturers, the base gradually expanded, and it became available at low prices as it is today.

It's amazing that a food that was once a pleasure for only a limited number of people has come to be loved this much.

On the other hand, chocolate making with a different kind of dedication, like Bean to Bar, is also happening.

As the number of manufacturers increases, so does the level of dedication and the cost, but we are now in an era where people can enjoy the depth of something made with time and effort even if it's a bit expensive, while on the other hand, there is an abundance of chocolate that can be enjoyed easily. It's a dramatic change that would have been unthinkable in 1918.

The mysterious thing about eating chocolate is that it makes you feel like your body is gaining energy.

It is said that a naturally derived component called theobromine has an awakening effect.

I once had the opportunity to meet a Mayan priest in Guatemala and participated in a local ritual. There is a legend that the gods prefer things that are sweet and fragrant, so it was customary to always prepare chocolate and alcohol as offerings.

So that kind of culture exists.

Also, when I first traveled to Mexico, I received a disc-shaped chocolate as a souvenir.

I thought it was a bit of an unusual shape and took a bite, but I was told, "That's not how you eat it." It was actually solid cocoa powder intended to be dissolved in hot water while whisking. Locally, they put that disc into a gourd-shaped vessel and stir it with a stick that looks like a pestle. "Chocolate" is Spanish, and in Mexico, it seems to refer to this disc-shaped cocoa powder.

That might be cacao mass. It's made by roasting and grinding the endosperm of cacao beans into a paste and then solidifying it, and it's also seen in Asia. If you go to local markets in the Philippines, there are shops simmering it in pots. Since it's 100% cacao, it's not sweet at all, but they pour it over sticky rice and eat it. It seems common in the countries of origin to consume it without adding sugar.

Both cacao and sugar were trade goods, so initially, they were monopolized by royalty and the nobility. Europeans probably realized that combining them would result in something even better.

When I first drank it in Mexico, it had a faint sweetness. It's too bitter to drink as is, so they add honey instead.

They do sometimes drink it with honey. Or they add sweet spices like anise or cloves.

The aroma is also part of the enjoyment. Since sugar production is also thriving in Central and South America, they sometimes season it with brown sugar.

Are you familiar with the food in Spain called chocolate con churros?

Locals dip fried donuts called churros into chocolate, but that chocolate is a thick, syrupy liquid, almost like kuzu-yu (thickened arrowroot starch drink). It was so rich it almost gave me heartburn, and I wondered, "Why do they eat it like this?" But later, I understood when I learned that the place where this is a specialty is Santiago de Compostela, a Catholic pilgrimage site.

Santiago is at the northern tip of Spain, a place with few sunny days throughout the year. Pilgrims who arrive there exhausted are the first to consume this chocolate con churros. The high-calorie fried donuts and thick chocolate must really soak into their tired bodies.

Indeed, sweet chocolate would likely feel like it's permeating your whole body when you're exhausted from walking.

Chocolate probably entered Spain around the 16th century. Van Houten was founded and solid chocolate appeared in England in the 19th century, but I get the impression that Spain has maintained its food culture from the 16th and 17th centuries as it was.

I think I read somewhere that Catholic monasteries used to eat something like chocolate bars.

In Mexico, there is a chocolate sauce called mole. It's a brown sauce that looks like chocolate turned into a paste. This cooking method was also devised in a monastery. It's made by adding sesame, achiote, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and about five types of chili peppers, then grinding them with a stone mortar to make a sauce, which is delicious when poured over chicken. It's one of Mexico's famous dishes.

The depth of chocolate lies in how it can be arranged into various forms. I heard it's even used in cosmetics recently.

It's being made into skin lotions, isn't it? It's gaining a reputation for being high in antioxidants, mainly polyphenols, and more people are starting to use it.

The gentle scent is probably another reason why it's expanding into various uses.

In Japan today, products focusing on the antioxidant effects of cacao polyphenols and the health functions of chocolate are everywhere.

Rather than the old-style chocolate marketed as "full of fun, energetic kids," products claiming to be good for health are dominating supermarket shelves.

When did that movement start?

In 1995, when a TV program featured a special on the benefits of cocoa, cocoa disappeared from store shelves all at once. Since 2010, with the rise in health consciousness, I think various companies began increasing products specialized for health to dispel the image of "excessive calories and excessive sugar."

Products clearly labeled with "Cacao XX%" are particularly prominent, aren't they?

We also display the cacao content on our packaging, but we don't use "good for health" as a selling point. We do what we do because it's interesting to directly bring out the original flavor of cacao, so we want to specialize in that.

In the world of coffee, as seen in what's recently called third-wave or specialty coffee, a culture centered on acidity is becoming accepted as an alternative to the traditional evaluation of coffee as simply bitter.

The change in values might also be influenced by the slow life movement—the desire to consume things that are made slowly and carefully and are good for the body. My parents also eat Morinaga's "Carré de Chocolat," saying, "I have to eat two pieces a day because it's good for me" (laughs).

"Carré de Chocolat" is very popular.

I eat it every morning now too, but 10 to 20 years ago, high-cacao chocolate wasn't very well-liked. It feels like a different era now that everyone finds it delicious. How much cacao is in Minimal's chocolate?

The lowest is 65%. On average, it's 70–75%. The high ones are 80%–90%.

Meiji's "The Chocolate" is also 70%, isn't it? I wonder if the increase in people who enjoy eating it is due to a change in taste or technological innovation.

I think there's definitely a part where technology has advanced. When mass production began, large quantities of beans were roasted at high temperatures to kill bacteria on the shells, which charred some of the beans.

Charring causes bitterness and off-flavors, so it's difficult to bring out the original flavor of the cacao. However, recently, technology has been established to delicately control the roasting process to prevent charring, allowing for a meticulous and careful pursuit of flavor.

Minimal isn't aiming for health consciousness, but we've devised fermentation methods that reduce bitterness, so even at 70–80%, it's very easy to eat. However, when we have elderly people sample it, they sometimes say, "It's not bitter enough, so it's not satisfying."

Maybe they're the generation that thinks "good medicine tastes bitter" (laughs).

Recently, interest in the origin has also started to grow. For example, the movement to use unified cacao raw materials from a single origin or farm, called "single origin," to make the most of the aroma has gained attention over the last five years or so.

People around me are starting to say things like, "Venezuelan origin is the way to go" (laughs). It really is like wine.

I don't know about now, but in the past, global cacao bean production wasn't that high, and price fluctuations were intense. Since raw material costs are unstable for making products with a single type of bean, I think they created a stable supply system by blending. When you're as particular about beans as you are, Mr. Yamashita, isn't it difficult when prices fluctuate?

We aren't affected by market prices because we buy at 100% fair trade based on our own standards, higher than the market price. Cacao prices have standards set by the ICCO (International Cocoa Organization), and in markets like London and New York, it's about $2,000 to $3,000 per ton. In terms of our lots, the general market rate is about $2 to $3 per kilogram.

At Minimal, we basically evaluate the production area, manufacturing method, and quality properly, and then purchase beans at a minimum price of the market price plus $1 per kilogram, sometimes at several times the market price depending on the quality.

Because of that, the unit price inevitably goes up, making a single bar of chocolate about 1,500 yen. Of course, we create our products with confidence that they have that value, but it's the customers who judge if that's appropriate.

The fact that Minimal has reached its 6th anniversary is proof that there's a certain number of customers who seek high-end chocolate.

That's true. The number of makers is also increasing, and there are now about 60 to 100 specialty chocolate manufacturers nationwide.

Most are small-scale, but when I started, there were fewer than you could count on one hand, so it has increased significantly in these six years. This year we couldn't hold it due to the pandemic, but every year I act as the founder and host an event called the "Craft Chocolate Festival," and it's a great success.

Every time I hear stories like that, I say, "As a fieldworker, I must go and see for myself," and off I go (laughs).

Recently, there are many students who are very interested in environmental issues and social contribution activities.

Child labor is an issue in cacao production areas, and it's particularly serious in African countries. In that context, I heard that Morinaga & Co. was the first Japanese manufacturer to start an initiative called "1 Chocolate for 1 Smile" in 2008, which provides educational support for children in cacao-producing countries. Apparently, for every chocolate bought, 1 yen is donated.

In this system, Morinaga & Co. doesn't donate directly to the production areas; instead, we partner with Plan International Japan and the certified NPO ACE, who conduct support activities in developing countries, and entrust them with a portion of the sales to support their activities.

It's a company-wide initiative, but I think the passion of the development and sales staff resonates strongly within it. During repeated internal discussions, one staff member proposed the scheme of partnering with NGOs and NPOs, and the company actively accepted and has continued it.

The trigger for the fair trade movement was the Harkin-Engel Protocol signed in 2001 by US legislators and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association.

Previously, Morinaga & Co. manufactured and sold "Fairtrade Certified Chocolate," but it's difficult to sustain. Given that, we are contributing to society through products like "Carré de Chocolat" in the form of "1 Chocolate for 1 Smile."

Starting in fiscal 2020, Morinaga & Co. began using certified cacao beans (specifically "Cocoa Horizons certified cacao" provided by Barry Callebaut) in some chocolate products to solve social issues and contribute to sustainable procurement, aiming to switch 100% of the cacao beans used in domestic products to sustainable raw materials by fiscal 2025.

Mr. Yamashita, as someone who sources cacao beans through fair trade, what are your thoughts?

As Mr. Noaki says, when you think about chocolate as a whole, there are some difficult realities. About 60% to 70% of cacao production is concentrated in West African countries like Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.

According to one review, more than 2.22 million children between the ages of 12 and 15 are forced to work in West Africa. If 70% of cacao is made by them, the things we usually eat might have some connection. I believe that if we view it as a black-and-white choice, we wouldn't be able to eat chocolate anymore.

So, instead, I want people to enjoy chocolate within a variety of options. There's affordable chocolate for the general public, and there's chocolate sourced at high prices through fair trade. I hope that increasing consumer choices will lead to more fair trade and, at the very least, help solve problems like child labor little by little.

Since ICT is so advanced now, consumers' information sensitivity has also developed dramatically.

Exactly, having many options is important.

Even as someone doing craft chocolate, I naturally want to eat Morinaga's chocolate; it's not just delicious, but there's a system where you can contribute to society even within that free choice.

It's wonderful that consumer choices are expanding, and because of that, there's also the aspect that we'll lose in market competition if we don't improve quality.

Was Morinaga the first to start the event of giving chocolate on February 14th in Japan?

Historically speaking, it seems that Morozoff placing a newspaper ad before the war is the oldest. Since various manufacturers followed suit after the war, it's very difficult to define what the beginning was. However, when I was in the archives, it was said that Morinaga & Co. was the company that popularized Valentine's Day.

Around 1960, when launching a new product called "Morinaga Chocolate Gold," we ran ads in newspapers and on TV that put Valentine's Day front and center.

So you really are a pioneer in many aspects.

In Europe, men give flowers to women on Valentine's Day, don't they?

In Spanish-speaking countries, it's called Día del Amor (Day of Love), and there's a custom of lovers exchanging presents. When I tell men over there that in Japan, girls give chocolate to boys they like to confess their feelings, they all say they wish they had been born in Japan (laughs).

February is ideal for campaigns in Japan. In the business world, February and August, when sales are hard to grow, are called "ni-pachi" (two-eight), and the advertising people at the time focused on that.

Valentine's Day is now a market worth over 100 billion yen, after all.

Valentine's Day has changed in many ways lately, with people exchanging what they call "friendship chocolates" among friends.

The idea of "true love chocolate" seems to be fading. It has shifted from "obligation chocolate" to "friendship chocolate."

And things like rewarding yourself, too.

Expensive chocolates that you don't usually eat are exactly that—"reward chocolates."

Many customers buy them as rewards for themselves. Even our part-time staff mentioned that the chocolates they give to their fathers are the ones they want to eat themselves. They go to pick them out with their mothers, and while they technically give them to their fathers, the chocolates eventually make their way back to them (laughs). So, they choose the ones they want to eat.

So they choose them while calculating that they'll end up back in their own hands.

Smart (laughs). We could talk forever, but this has been very enjoyable. Thank you very much for today.