Ocho Rios-based Pure Chocolate Company has begun exporting to the Netherlands. The award-winning tree-to-bar chocolate manufacturing outfit owned and operated by husband and wife team, Wouter Tjeertes and Rennae Johnson, shipped its first pallet bars in April of this year.

“Our original line of bars and the flavoured line were shipped,” Wouter Tjeertes disclosed. “The jerk is already a hit. Our bars resonate with the local flavours — lemongrass/fever grass, jerk, coffee, coconut, etc.

“Four weeks after our initial international shipment we have gotten great feedback from our distribution partner,” he added. “They took our products to the ISM fair in Cologne, Germany.”

Two years ago, the company which produces chocolates from high-quality Jamaican cocoa received one gold and two bronze awards for its bars at the 13th Academy of Chocolate Awards held in London. Pure Chocolate also earned the Marcus Garvey Award for Agriculture for its endeavours in empowering its farming partners with the knowledge to produce top-quality beans.

Tjeertes revealed that export plans involve growing out from the Netherlands into other European markets right away.

“Our distribution partner will initially start offering our products in seven countries, with Belgium and Germany amongst them, two of the largest consuming countries in the world,” he said.

To assist the ongoing promotional initiatives of the distributor, Pure Chocolate will increase its social media presence in Europe through ads on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok platforms targeting areas and regions where the product has been placed.

Tjeertes acknowledged the assistance of the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Jamaica’s promotional agency, Jampro, in identifying and exploiting their current export market as well as targeting others.

“We have been recipients of the ITC’s support since 2021 when we were selected into their programmes,” the chocolate manufacturer explained. “With their help we have travelled to London, Paris and Amsterdam to trade fairs and participated in numerous online training sessions that have helped us further our knowledge of the markets we are trying to enter. Without this support we would never have been able to make the contacts that have resulted in our distribution partnership as it is today,” he noted.

He added, “Jampro has actively advocated our products throughout the years and helped us with showcasing them, for example at the Jamaican High Commission in London, which has brought our brand to the attention of their contacts as well.”

The company’s new export operation has resulted in an expansion of its artisan studio in Ocho Rios with the addition of office and storage space, as well as upgraded machinery to keep up with the increased demand.

“We currently employ six staff [members] between production and fermentory,” Tjeertes elaborated. “At our studio we produce chocolate from bean to bar. At the fermentory we process ‘wet’ beans from our farming partners by fermentation and sun drying.”

The operation is also partnering with more farmers to secure additional raw materials.

With an inroad now established in Europe, the husband-and-wife team are already turning to North America.

“By exporting to Europe we have learned a lot that we can also apply to USA-based customers,” Tjeertes pointed out. “Distribution conversations have been started and we are hopeful that we can apply the same model we have built for Europe to the USA.”

The entrepreneur, buoyed by Pure Chocolate’s current export venture, believes that the Government can play a key role in the development of Jamaica’s chocolate export industry.

“A deeper look into the taxes on imported chocolate would possibly help our cause, but this can only work if we look at it from all angles,” he suggested. “In my opinion, a good bit of these taxes could be of great use to rehabilitate the dwindling production of cocoa, so let’s start with the farmers.

“There are a lot of cocoa plantations out there that are abandoned or neglected due to a variety of reasons. With the right push we would be able to turn those around and put Jamaica on the map as one of the few fine flavour-producing cocoa origins in the world.

“If the focus would remain on safeguarding and marketing our premium quality crop with the fine flavour accreditation protected, we can create another export just as great as our Blue Mountain coffee.”

Meanwhile, at the local level of the business, Tjeetes disclosed that there are six new flavours of bars in the pipeline that he expects to be launched before the end of the year. Pure Chocolate’s studio at Island Village in Ocho Rios has also started offering workshops on the chocolate manufacturing process to local visitors and tourists on Saturdays and Sundays.