UWI Fine Cocoa Products Ltd. though recently launched is already looking to enter international market.
The newly established UWI Fine Cocoa Products Ltd, formed in collaboration with UWI Cocoa Research Centre, introduced itself to the market for the first time at The UWI’s World Cocoa and Chocolate Day Expo, in early October.
Marketing Manager, Carla Boodoo- Lutchman, explained that the company prioritizes the research that goes into producing the crop, noting the impact it will have on its final product.
“They do a lot of work with local farms, so in terms of understanding soil quality, making sure farmers have proper techniques for planting and harvesting etc.
Just to make sure we could increase the quality of productivity across the farms, we’re doing a lot of work with them. So when we source our beans, all that are locally grown, we ensure that they are high quality beans that can go straight into production.”
The company has set an ambitious target, with its eye already fixed on export, as it settles into the local market.
Participants got the opportunity to sample the company’s pilot line, SPIRIT, which covers 55%, straight to 100% chocolate.
According to its marketing manager, the product is being received extremely well at home.
The products are available on its campus, and customers can expect a major new product launch, come 2027.
The company says it not only wants their customers to purchase the bars, but they must also master the skill of savouring every taste… one they teach.
“The usual thing is you take a block and you chew it, and you swallow, and you don’t really taste a lot of the flavors.When you’re doing dark chocolates, especially with the Trinitarian, you have to keep it on your palate for as long as possible because the longer you keep it on your palate, the more you taste the different flavors.”
While some of its bars can currently be purchased from as low as sixty dollars TT, premium prices are expected to be attached to the fine chocolate bars leaving Trinidad and Tobago.
“We’re looking initially at maybe looking at the U.S. markets as primary entry, the U.S. and Canada, perhaps, as beginning markets and phase one of our project, and then we will expand outward based on our learnings from that market.”
She said it is focusing heavily on branding, ensuring it has export-compliant packaging, and ticking all the regulatory boxes in preparation to hit the ground running once it enters international markets.