Buy Malaysian, Say No To Imported Chocolates

“Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world's perfect food”. --Michael Levine, nutrition researcher, as quoted in The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars

Say No to imported chocolates and Yes to Malaysia’s home-grown ‘food from the gods’. If you have not tasted the goodness and the pure heavenly bliss from Malaysian-made chocolates, then you are missing the best things in life!

My trip to the Malaysian Cocoa Board in Bangi recently resulted in a 360-degree change in my perception of locally-made chocolates. Not only are they tastier, these chocolates are also cheaper and halal too. I have eaten some of these local chocolates in the market many years ago, but they tasted more cocoa with less chocolate.

But with Research and Development (R&D) in place at the MCB’s Cocoa Downstream Research Centre, Malaysian made chocolates are of superior quality and taste as good, if not better than imported ones, with a good number of local chocolate companies making forays abroad.

I had a taste of these chocolates after delivering a talk on journalism at a two-day workshop organised by Bernama for a group of officers, mostly researchers at the centre end of last month.

A no-frills box of chocolates at the centre costs RM20 each, and for my colleague Rohana Mustafa, editor of the Features Desk, who was also one of the speakers, she had her hands full with orders from some 10 people from the Editorial Department.

At the closing of the workshop on Aug 27, Bernama Editor-in-Chief Yong Soo Heong offered MCB to send their personnel for journalism exposure at Bernama Economic Service.

On the commercial front, Malaysian chocolates are also gaining popularity among locals and foreign tourists. One example is the Cocoa Boutique, billed as Malaysia’s largest chocolate paradise at the Malaysia Tourism Centre (MTC) in Jalan Ampang.

The boutique was officially opened by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said on April 8 2008, held in tandem with the pre-launch of the ministry’s Colours and Flavours of Malaysia campaign.

Having opened its first outlet back in August 2003, the latest flagship Cocoa Boutique is the sixth in line to open. According to its managing director Teng Sze Choong, four of his outlets can be found in Imbi, the National Monument and MTC in Kuala Lumpur.

“Other existing outlets are in GohTong Jaya, Genting Highlands and Penang. We have since welcomed about 4 million visitors from over 80 countries in total and the numbers are increasing by the day.”

Teng says, “Our aim is to offer chocolate connoisseurs a wide selection of the finest locally produced chocolates. The overwhelming response and popular demand by customers from locally and abroad have resulted in the opening of another outlet nearby known as Chocolate Gallery Malaysia to accommodate the increasing influx of visitors.”

“It is our hope that visitors will bring home sweet memories of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia in the form of our premium and distinctive Cocoa Boutique chocolates with them. We have 300 varieties of fine chocolates specially formulated and made from original Belgian recipes, using 100 percent pure cocoa butter and other quality ingredients.

Meanwhile, to promote cocoa and its related products, the Malaysian International Cocoa Fair 2009 (MICF ’09) will be held on 8 – 12 May 2009 in Kuala Lumpur.

The fair consists of three events - The Malaysian International Cocoa Conference (MICC ’09), The Malaysian International Cocoa Exposition (MICE ’09) and The Malaysian International Cocoa Dinner (MICD ’09). All three events will be held in The Berjaya Times Square.

The MICC ’09 will enable participants to obtain latest information on cocoa research, new technologies, products and other aspect of cocoa.

At the same time, traders, manufacturers, entrepreneurs and business people in cocoa are able to display, market and establish business contacts on their cocoa products, equipment, machinery and other related cocoa products.