40 | FORBES INDONESIA OCTOBER 2013

FORBES INDONESIA

L U X U R Y & L I F E S T Y L E

lawesi and converting cocoa plantations in Java to palm oil. The result is that one of Indonesia’s most valuable agricul-tural commodities, the prized Java criollo, is slowly disap-pearing despite demand for it increasing.

Criollo beans constitute only 3% of the world’s cocoa production. Despite their reputation for making the world’s best (and most expensive) chocolate, criollo cocoa plants easily get sick and require special care, which is why most farmers instead typically favor the related forastero or trinitario (a hybrid of criollo and forastero) cocoa plants, which are easier to grow.

Most likely the original cocoa plant from Central America was criollo, and criollo was the first type of cocoa grown in Indonesia from the 1500s and the most widely grown for decades. Even in the 1980s, there was some 30,000 hectares of cocoa plantations in Java. Today that number is 2,000 hectares; all run by the state-owned Perkebunan Nusantara XII (PTPN XII) plantation firm.

Today Java criollo’s scarcity has given it almost mythical status. “To make an analogy with co!ee beans, forastero cocoa beans are like robusta—plain, bitter, that’s it—while criollo is like the micro-lot of arabica,” says Irvan

JAVA’S HIDDEN CHOCOLATEJava criollo, one of the world’s best chocolates, is disappearing even as demand for it grows. By Alissa Gwynn

Fruity, leathery and complex—these may not be the first adjectives that come to mind to describe gourmet chocolate. Yet cocoa connoisseurs insist that the explosive flavors of Java criollo, a type of cocoa bean found only in Java, qualify it as the crème de la crème of chocolate. The irony is that Indonesia—the third largest cocoa producing country in the world—is pushing cocoa production to Su-

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42 | FORBES INDONESIA OCTOBER 2013

FORBES INDONESIA

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Helmi, co-founder of the Pipiltin Cocoa, a newly opened premier chocolate outlet in Jakarta. Because of its exclusivity, Java criollo is about 20% more expensive than forastero beans, according to the Indonesian Co!ee and Cocoa Research Institute. “Java cocoa is prized for its distinctive flavor; the volcanic soil in Java creates cocoa beans that have a di!erent taste and aroma than beans produced elsewhere. In addition, Java’s perceived mystique—volcanoes, the Ring of Fire and the East Indies—appeals to many people,” says Mervyn Pereira, principal of the Chocolate School in Jakarta.

However, about 90% of the chocolate produced in Indonesia is low qual-ity, known as compound chocolate, while that from Europe or the U.S. is higher quality, known as couverture chocolate. In Europe, those numbers are re-versed; with 90% of local chocolates couverture. Few here want to buy the expensive high-end cocoa beans to make couverture. “The demand for criollo domestically is very low,” says Tissa Aunilla, Irvan’s sister and co-founder of Pipiltin.

Thus, nearly all the Java criollo is sold to high-end chocolate makers such as Felchlin in Switzerland, which has a single-origin Java criollo chocolate on its website. However, that is all about to change. Pipiltin recently acquired Java criollo beans from PTPN XII, despite the plantation’s initial reluctance to sell such small quantities of crio-llo beans—300 kg, in Pipiltin’s case—to local companies. Irvan and Tissa have already begun the trial and error process to create their own fine dark choco-late criollo recipe. Once ready, they plan on including the criollo chocolate with their current o!erings and encourage couverture chocolate production in In-donesia. Irvan says: “Indonesians like to buy chocolate from Belgium, Switzer-land and the U.S., but the cocoa isn’t actually from those countries. Basically, the appetite for good Indonesian chocolate is there, but it needs to be ignited and localized.” F

THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Opened in March, the Pipiltin Cocoa Factory and Café is a unique experiment. Although some other high-end chocolate makers have recently sprung up, such as Monggo chocolate in Yogyakarta, Pipiltin is the first to create its own chocolate entirely inhouse in Jakarta. It is run by brother and sister pair Irvan Helmi and Tissa Aunilla. The pair had always loved chocolate and teamed up for their first business venture together after Tissa studied at the Condirama Training Centre run by Felchlin in Switzerland and Irvan co-founded the Anomali Co!ee chain. “Irvan was visiting a co!ee plantation for Anomali and noticed the cocoa plantation right next to it. He was, ‘why don’t we start something?’ and from there I started practicing tempering chocolate in my own house for di!erent recipes,” says Tissa.

Pipiltin—named after a Aztec noble class—has a menu that includes desserts such as crunchy chocolate cheesecake, tru"e chocolate cake and chocolate fudge cookies. Its most popular items are the eggless chocolate cake and the carrot cake. The café sits on top of a chocolate mini-factory on the ground floor where chocolate is made from the “bean to bar.”

Irvan and Tissa want to bring choco-late to a new level. “It comes down to how you present and package choco-late,” says Irvan. The pair wants to show that Indonesia can produce chocolate of the same quality as other countries, using only Indonesian cocoa. Although the chocolate-making area is small, the standards are world-class, such as taking several days for the conching, a stirring process that ensures smoothness. When ready, this chocolate is used in various chocolate treats in the shop. Irvan tries to produce only as much chocolate as needed daily, so the chocolate remains as fresh as possible. A small amount of extra chocolate is molded into bars to be kept as backup. Ironically, Irvan can sell choco-late desserts, including hot chocolate and fondue, but he is not allowed to sell simple bars of chocolate, due to regula-tory issues—the closest product to a bar are small chocolate covered nut clusters.

THE PIPILTIN COCOA FACTORY AND CAFÉ IS LOCATED AT JL. BARITO II NO. 5 KEBAYORAN BARU, JAKARTA, WWW.PIPILTINCOCOA.COM.

“The volcanic soil in Java creates cocoa beans that

have a different taste and aroma than beans produced elsewhere.”

TISSA AUNILLA AND IRVAN HELMI, CO-FOUNDERS OF THE PREMIER CHOCOLATE OUTLET, PIPILTIN COCOA.

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