CHOCOLATE: The lifeblood of a state

According to statistics, Oxaqueños consume five times more chocolate than their counterparts in other areas of Mexico; a total of 5.5 pounds a year each; it is no wonder that they are such happy people!

The making of chocolate in Oaxaca has a long history. Chocolate was an ancient recipe that indigenous tribes shared with Spanish Conquistadors. The Spanish immediately fell in love with chocolate and began to incorporate it into their daily lives mixing the luscious brown liquid into recipes such as mole (pronounced mo-lay), and eating the chocolate plain.

"To talk about chocolate in Mexico one must talk about Oaxaca," said Salvador Flores Concha, general manager and owner of Chocolates Mayordomo.

"Chocolate accompanies us our entire lives," explained Enrique Chavez, whose family owns the company Chocolate La Soledad and a small hotel. "We celebrate birth, baptism, first communion, 15-year birthday parties, weddings - and even funerals - with chocolate," he added smiling.

His statement truly has merit. Wherever you go in Oaxaca, it seems that someone is offering you a steaming cup of hot chocolate, a pastry made of chocolate or chocolate candies. Hot chocolate can be found at any official event from the most humble household to the most extravagant, and everyone has his or her own recipe.

While this may sound quite strange to the pre-made, pre-packaged, world, in Oaxaca, every family has a special chocolate recipe that they use.

Today in Oaxaca, either daily or weekly, someone in every household makes a trip to the local vendors of cocoa beans, cinnamon, almonds and sugar to request the exact quantity of each ingredient, some add more cinnamon, others more almonds as per the dictates of their family recipe.

The ingredients are measured in the quantities requested and given to a person who puts them in a mechanized electronic grinder. Within a matter of minutes, thick, rich, pure, unadulterated chocolate comes pouring forth; there are no fillers, no additives, no preservatives, just chocolate and the buyer's requests. The chocolate paste, with its intoxicating aroma, is given to the customer.

In the city of Oaxaca, the street '20 de Noviembre' has the distinctly alluring smell of chocolate. Three of Oaxaca's largest chocolate companies and those who sell the majority of raw materials, Chocolates Mayordomo, Chocolates Guelaguetza and Chocolates La Soledad can be found there.

In days gone by, the milling of chocolate was done by hand on a stone tablet called a metate. Over the years, small electric grinders replaced that process. While in some small towns, women may still grind the chocolate by hand; they take their chocolate paste to be refined by an electric grinder. Just as in the capital city, the small towns all have their chocolate vendors and/or a place where the ingredients can be milled together.

According to Hector Gomez Nunez, general manager of Chocolates Guelaguetza, at least 115 chocolate grinders are in the city of Oaxaca. "Those are the grinders that are part of the formal economy. Statewide, I am sure that is not even 10 percent of the total amount of chocolate grinders," he said.

Even with the advent of the electronic grinders, the production of chocolate in Oaxaca is still very "artistic." According to Flores Concha, there has been little mechanization in the process of making chocolate in Oaxaca. Ingredients are still added by hand, mixed by hand, packaged by hand and personally given to the customer.

According to Flores Concha, Oaxaca's chocolate is processed naturally; it has a higher content of proteins and natural fats, giving it a higher nutritive value than industrialized, processed chocolate. "In Oaxaca, all brands of chocolate are good," he said, "it all depends on what a person likes".

Chocolates Mayordomo Flores Concha's company, Chocolates Mayordomo, has more than 90 percent of what is known as "chocolate de mesa" or chocolate consumed in milk or water. He supplies the majority of the hotels and restaurants in Oaxaca with his chocolate. He also supplies many places in Mexico City.

To meet the demand of the local market, he has a plant on the outskirts of Oaxaca. In the last 10 years, he and his partners have invested more than $2 million of their own earnings in the plant. The plant is more than 7,000 square feet and in eight hours, it produces three tons of "chocolate de mesa" in a bar form and for mole to be sold in the national market via Mexico City. This is enough to sell 220 pounds of chocolate daily to each of Mexico's 32 states.

The company has grown 30 percent to 40 percent year upon year and currently employs 250 people directly and more indirectly. Flores Concha estimated that more than 400 to 500 jobs are provided indirectly through the purchase of cacao and almonds. He also notes that Chocolates Mayordomo is the largest consumer of almonds in the entire state. All of his almonds come from California.

According to Flores Concha, 70 percent of his cacao comes from Tabasco, Mexico and 30 percent comes from Chiapas. Different types of cacao are mixed together to give the chocolate a distinct flavor, one that can't be found in industrialized processes. He is interested in exporting in the future, concentrating only on "chocolate de mesa" and is working on having a powdered mixture that is pre-made and ready to drink.

Chocolates Guelaguetza

Chocolates Guelaguetza, a family owned company founded in 1958, has had a powdered chocolate drink, Choco Punch, on the market for almost five years now.

"As a company we have tried to be innovators and creators," said Gomez Nunez smiling. "For example, in 1962 we were the first company to register our name as a chocolate company in the entire state when it was uncommon to register brand names. We were also the first company to produce products under the quality norms also during 1962."

He noted that his company works very meticulously to bring a new product to market by emphasizing market research, product design, and quality before launching any new product.

The company employs 38 people directly and has plans to grow as it produces chocolate candies. This Christmas it will introduce various flavors of chocolates in different forms.

Gomez Nunez noted that he and his siblings are working to carry the Guelaguetza name to new markets. He said it has been difficult because of financing issues and differences in market tastes.

"We have a 'sweet' business and we enjoy it," said Gomez Nunez with a grin.

Chocolates La Soledad

Chavez of Chocolates La Soledad is also working on new products for market. A new favorite is chocolate filled with Mezcal liquors. Introduced during the last International Mezcal Trade Fair, the product has quickly attracted the attention of consumers.

The Chavez family has invested in automating the production of chocolate candies and is also having great success with another new product, chocolate-covered Oaxacan Café Pluma coffee beans.

Chavez noted that, even in Oaxaca, times are changing and companies have to stay abreast of these trends.

"Today, our lives are much busier. More women are working and do not have time to prepare hot chocolate the way that they used to," he said. For that reason, his family also decided to market a powdered form of chocolate for consumption. They are also packaging mole as well.

While times may be changing, some things will always stay the same.

"In Oaxaca we have a culture of giving and serving," said Flores Concha. "We have a wonderful state with rich cultural traditions and wonderful people"