From alpine dairy to chocolate factory: Fränzi Akert’s passion for delicacies and craftsmanship takes the Swiss woman first to the alpine pastures and later deep into the Bolivian rainforest. With Garçoa, Akert is setting an example for sustainability and fairness in a world characterized by
dominated chocolate industry.
FACES: How often do you eat chocolate, and why is it not only your favorite sweet tooth, but also your profession?
Fränzi Akert: I probably eat chocolate almost every day, not a lot, but a little. Either at work, when we are developing new varieties, or at home in the evening. I’ve always loved chocolate – whether as a mousse or a bar. When I found out after my apprenticeship as a cheesemaker that cocoa is also fermented, my curiosity got the better of me. In South America, I traced cocoa back to its roots and then came across Bolivian wild cocoa in the middle of the rainforest in San Ignacio de Moxos.
FACES: How did you come up with the idea of founding Garçoa, and what makes it different from other chocolate products from Lindt, Frey and co?
Fränzi Akert: Garçoa chocolate is all about the cocoa. Organic cocoa beans are our main ingredient, then we add some organic raw cane sugar, that’s all. Our chocolate is therefore very pure and contains neither cocoa butter nor any other ingredients or additives. The idea came to me in Peru, where I had tasted quite a few cocoa beans. I worked for a cocoa trader for seven months to improve the fermentation and drying processes of cocoa beans. I was fascinated by this huge variety of cocoa flavors. Back in Switzerland, I was disappointed by the local chocolate. After my longer stay in Peru, it was also clear to me that cocoa producers need more diverse sales channels for their cocoa and long-term direct trade relationships in order to get better prices for their cocoa beans. I founded Garçoa in 2012, but it took a while before we were actually able to launch our products in 2016. At that time, Bean to Bar was still unknown to the Swiss.
FACES: You actually trained as a cheesemaker: in what ways are the crafts of cheese and chocolate production similar?
Fränzi Akert: The two trades are very different, and this was a real disappointment for me at first. Cheese-making is a living process every day. Every day, fresh milk is processed into cheese with the help of microorganisms. Although fermentation also plays a role in cocoa, this is carried out directly by our partners in the cocoa-growing countries. The production of chocolate is then more of a technological process. The beauty of it is that it also requires a lot of sensory sensitivity, and that’s exactly what still fascinates me so much today: to perceive the cocoa bean and then see which flavor notes can be developed, lost and changed in the chocolate. This is an incredible universe of flavors and offers a lot of creative space and possibilities. As with cheesemaking, you have to or can rely on your instincts and experience and learn a lot every time.
FACES: How and where do you find your producers, and what do they have to look for to meet your quality standards?
Fränzi Akert: So far, all collaborations have always developed somehow, either from my work with various producers in Peru and India or through the work of my then founding partner in Ghana. The more recent partnerships with Guatemala and Uganda also came about through my environment. Fortunately, because of my studies, I know many agronomists who work somewhere in the world and can put me in touch with local producers. Various things have to be right for a partnership: The producers must have a similar idea of social standards and sustainable cocoa cultivation as I do. If this is true, then it also depends on the taste and history of the cocoa. If all this fits, I look for a way to bring the cocoa to our factory via a transparent and functioning value chain. This is usually more difficult than expected, as we still purchase very small quantities compared to others in the cocoa industry. If you don’t want to export entire containers (24 tons of cocoa) but only a few tons per producer, the already complex logistics become an even greater challenge. So far, however, we have always found a solution.
FACES: What is the day-to-day life of a cocoa producer like, and how can you ensure fair pay?
Fränzi Akert: There is probably no such thing as a typical day in the life of a cocoa producer. For example, the realities are already completely different in the five countries in which we work. The life of a cocoa farmer in Peru is not comparable to the life of another in southern India. And that already explains the difficulty of a “fair wage”, as this is not the same for all countries. We pay a premium for the quality of the cocoa beans, which means that the price is always higher than on the local market. As we are always in direct contact with the farmers and often work together on a long-term basis, we discuss the price openly with all parties involved and reach fair agreements.
FACES: What should a good cocoa bean taste, smell and look like?
Fränzi Akert: A good cocoa bean can smell very different – usually tart and fruity. It must never smell moldy or musty and should have a nice red-brown almond color on the outside. If you break open the dried bean, it can range from light purple to brown. But it shouldn’t look too dark either.
FACES: What annoys you about the conventional large-scale production of chocolate?
Fränzi Akert: What annoys me most is that chocolate is so cheap. When I see a chocolate on the shelf for one franc, I don’t understand the world. An incredible amount of work goes into a chocolate – from the cultivation of the bean to the incredible logistics to the many steps in the processing and then finally the sale. This price is only possible because some people and the environment in this value chain get a raw deal. Chocolate is a luxury product, similar to wine or coffee, but we don’t appreciate it as much. We wouldn’t buy a wine for less than ten francs, mainly for fear that it might not be good. Chocolate that costs less than a franc should be questioned in various respects, in terms of taste anyway, but also socially and ecologically.
FACES: What are the biggest abuses in the production chain of regular chocolate?
Fränzi Akert: Actually still poor living conditions for cocoa producers and ecological aspects such as the expansion of cocoa production not by increasing the productivity of existing areas, but by clearing primary forest and the increasing intensive cultivation of cocoa. I am deliberately referring to the poor living conditions of cocoa producers, because people often talk about the low price of cocoa. Prices are currently at a historic high, but cocoa producers are still not doing any better. They are often poorly educated and, depending on the country, have no access to good infrastructure such as roads, schools and banks, or live in regions that are highly criminalized due to illegal drug cultivation.
FACES: How does Garçoa create a new chocolate?
Fränzi Akert: Mistakes or simply curiosity usually lead to new products. It’s the same with us. We take inspiration from our cocoa: There are often moments when you think, what if… I would roast the beans differently, add the sugar later or conch the cocoa beans for longer. Sometimes a friend simply brings us great cocoa beans from somewhere in the world and we can’t help but play around with them. However, we are also forced to make developments when, for example, our producer in Ghana is faced with major challenges in cultivation (as is the entire region). Harvests have been very low for a few years now and reached a new low in 2023. As this was our bestseller, we wanted to find an alternative and set about looking for a suitable partner and new cocoa.
FACES: As a small business, what is your biggest challenge?
Fränzi Akert: As a small company, importing cocoa beans is certainly a major challenge because we operate in a volume business in a very small niche. In order to bring our one to three tons of cocoa per partner to Switzerland, we have to pursue very creative solutions. It is also the case with us that the challenges are never limited to just one area. Once one challenge has been mastered, the next one in a completely different area will follow. We must or may be very flexible and agile. We also want to grow a little more to reach a healthy, stable size.
FACES: How many people are involved in making a bar of Garçoa chocolate?
Fränzi Akert: That’s a very complex question. On the cocoa farm, there are already several people who cultivate the cocoa and then, of course, harvest it. This is often a social happening in the companies, where family, friends and acquaintances help out, each according to their individual abilities. Cocoa is then fermented and dried either on the farm or at the central collection point. Here, too, many hands are involved. Once dried, the kako has to be transported from the farm to the next village, from there to the national export port, then by cargo ship to Europe and usually from Antwerp to Switzerland. Once the product has arrived at our factory, it passes through the hands of at least four people again, from product and recipe development to the actual production of the chocolate and packaging. I would estimate that at least 50 to 100 people are involved from the cocoa bean to the finished bar.
FACES: What is the challenge in guaranteeing a completely fair and transparent value chain?
Fränzi Akert: In the case of our stakeholders, we know the bodies involved, as this is a prerequisite for us and requires transparency on the part of the stakeholders. If that is not possible, then we will not work together. “Fair” is a little more difficult. Through personal exchange, we try to find out whether the prices and working and trading conditions are fair. However, the aspect of long-term cooperation certainly helps here, as it allows you to build mutual understanding and trust. It is also important for me to understand the local cocoa and living situation in each country so that I can better assess the risks, challenges and qualities.
FACES: No more run-of-the-mill tablets: How did the characteristic garçoa shape come about?
Fränzi Akert: The fact that we wanted to rethink the shape of our Garçoa chocolate was one of the first things we realized, alongside the ecological and social focus. We wanted to experiment and explore the many facets of cocoa, especially through different shapes, surfaces and sizes. For us, the shape is clearly also an ingredient that you can play with and emphasize the different flavor facets of a cocoa. Of course, it’s also great to see as many beautiful things as possible in your everyday life. It’s simply more fun to pour or wrap chocolate like this. The same applies to the packaging: Colors make you happy.
FACES: Sugar and cocoa, that’s all? How do you manage to make chocolate from just two ingredients and why don’t other chocolate makers do the same?
Fränzi Akert: As an agronomist, it was clear to me that we would not add a pre-processed and highly standardized product such as cocoa butter, nor would we mix cocoa solids from different cocoa origins in our chocolates. It is also important to us to bring the character of the individual cocoas into the chocolate. For me, standardization with cocoa butter contradicts this principle. That was our starting point. But chocolate with just two ingredients has some challenges. It is very tough, so you can produce fewer bars per unit of time. In addition, the crystallization of the cocoa butter during cooling, the final step in chocolate production, is a major hurdle. We had a lot to learn – especially because we were complete career changers.
FACES: How do you get that sinful melt-in-your-mouth texture that makes your tongue and taste buds applaud in equal measure?
Fränzi Akert: Our chocolates have a special melting quality precisely because they are made from just two ingredients. Some people love it, others don’t. What is certain, however, is that the taste comes across as a concentrated load and is not diluted with cocoa butter. This makes our 70 percent chocolate much more intense than other 70 percent chocolates with cocoa butter from other manufacturers. Our enamel is highly dependent on the season and origin. Every harvest year, every harvest and every variety has its own unique flavor. I love it and can hardly eat any chocolate that contains added cocoa butter.
FACES: How do you make the world a little better?
Fränzi Akert: I don’t know if we are really making the world a better place – but definitely a tastier place. (laughs) We are trying to develop an alternative in the chocolate world with a transparent value chain, a long-term and cooperative partnership with our cocoa partners and to be a small, sustainable company. We strive to value cocoa and the work of producers, exporters and all those involved in the cocoa world more and at the same time provide a special taste experience that contributes to the diversity of cocoa.
FACES: Scowling or blissful, how are you looking to the future and why?
Fränzi Akert: Globally, my face is very dark. When I open the newspaper or listen to “Echo der Zeit”, it doesn’t put me in a good mood at the moment. There are simply too many major fires in the world in many respects. In complete contrast, I am very happy in my daily microcosm, especially because I am surrounded by so many great, inspiring people – in my dream team at Garçoa, in my everyday life and above all at home.
FACES: What’s your favorite way to enjoy your chocolate?
Fränzi Akert: Mostly after a meal, either in solid form as chocolate with a glass of natural wine or then in liquid form as drinking chocolate prepared like an espresso, i.e. small, intense and only with water, without any milk.
From the bean to the Garçoa chocolate bar in eight steps
1 Selection of cocoa beans by hand: The fermented and dried cocoa beans are selected by hand at Garçoa. Stones, impurities and broken or very small beans are sorted out.
2 Roasting: A very important step for the flavor of the chocolate. The beans are gently roasted so that they retain their fruity aroma.
3 Breaking & hulling: After roasting, the beans are broken and shelled. The nibs (pieces of cocoa bean) are separated from the lighter shells by air due to their greater weight.
4 Grinding the cocoa nibs & adding raw cane sugar: The roasted and peeled nibs are carefully and slowly filled into the stone mill and coarsely ground. The sugar is added to the liquid cocoa mass after eight to ten hours. Everything is then finely ground again.
5 Grinding & conching in the stone mill (up to 66 hours): After roasting, grinding and conching is another important step for the chocolate flavor. Depending on the duration in the stone mill, other flavors come to the fore or take a back seat or disappear completely. Here, the human sense of taste is needed to decide when
the chocolate is good.
6 Storing the chocolate blocks: The finished chocolate mass is temporarily stored in large blocks.
7 Melting, pouring & tempering the chocolate: The finished blocks are melted and tempered. The cocoa butter is brought into the right crystallization structure so that the chocolate has a homogeneous texture, shines and breaks with a beautiful sound when broken. This allows the taste of the chocolate to come into its own.
8 Wrapping: The specially developed Garçoa chocolate mold requires the bars to be wrapped by hand. The bars find their way into the colorful packaging by hand.
You can browse through their range on the Garçoa website.
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Photos: Studio Hübner Braun & Patricia Grabowicz
