January 13, 2021

Askanya Chocolates | Les Chocolateries Askanya

WHY WE ADMIRE ASKANYA

When I (Kim) realized the power of producing finished products locally, I thought making truly great chocolate at origin for export would be impossible. Askanya proved me wrong! A forerunner in origin-made bean-to-bar, they're an early entrant (and perhaps the first woman-led) origin-made bean-to-bar chocolate in the U.S. Keep reading and you're likely to fall in love with their company as much as I have.

Their chocolates are consistently delicious and well-crafted with exceptional flavor. Meanwhile, they source the two most challenging ingredients (cacao and sugar) directly from Haitian farms. They make everything in-country and manage to keep chocolate bars in beautiful temper throughout their supply chain! Now, in their own words...

Askanya Chocolates - All Female Chocolate Makers at Factory in Haiti

HOW THEY EMPOWER WOMEN

20% of our cacao farmers are women. When sourcing our cacao, we pay 7x (seven times) the local going rate for cacao – we want to make sure, our farmers get a living wage, not a minimum from their crops.

All our chocolate makers are women – we wanted to provide reliable and good jobs to women in Ouanaminthe, Northern Haiti. They are hardworking women who don’t have degrees but are willing to bring their innate talent to work and do an excellent job.

Our current supervisor-trainee, Jocelyne, was first going back and forth, illegally, between Haiti and DR (Dominican Republic), working as a maid for a family on the other side of the border. She was first hired as our janitor; showed interest in making the chocolates and became a chocolate maker. She did such a fantastic job, she’s now getting promoted to become a production supervisor.

ABOUT ASKANYA CHOCOLATE | LES CHOCOLATERIES ASKANYA

Founded in 2015, Askanya Chocolates is Haiti’s first premium bean-to-bar chocolate company. Winner of the Sustainability Prize at the NW Chocolate Festival in 2017, Askanya Chocolates prides themselves in providing exquisite chocolates, honestly sourced, 100% natural, handcrafted by women. Black-Owned, Black-Operated, Black-Managed.

Factory Location: Ouanaminthe, Haiti

North-America office: Brooklyn, NY

Locally Sourced Ingredients

The chocolate bars are exclusively made with locally-grown Haitian cacao, Haitian unrefined whole cane sugar (rapadou) and other natural ingredients without preservatives at the colorful chocolate factory located in Ouanaminthe, Haiti.

Products

Askanya Chocolate bars are currently available in Milk, Dark, Extra Dark and Rapadou flavors, in regular bars (2oz) bite-size bars, block for baking and seasonal gift-sets.