本校の卒業生である吉野慶一さんが、The Japan Timesに特集されました！
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/12/24/business/kyoto-entrepreneur-finds-business-sweet-spot-with-cocoa-from-indonesia/#.VrQBTrdf3IV
Kyoto entrepreneur finds businesssweet spot with cocoa from Indonesia
by Maya Kaneko ／ Kyodo ／ Dec24, 2015
Keiichi Yoshino, a 34-year-old operator of chocolateshops in Kyoto, never dreamed he would become a chocolatier.
Hisepiphany came in a coffeehouse in South Korea in 2010. Looking at a map ofglobal cocoa production areas, the former financial analyst wondered why Japanlargely depends on Ghana for cocoa for its chocolate even though Indonesia, afellow producer, is far closer.
Helooked into it, and discovered from Japanese government data that Indonesiaaccounted for only 0.3 percent of Japan’s cocoa bean imports in 2013, while80.6 percent was shipped from Ghana.
Hewas a “complete amateur” in farming back then, but he flew immediately toSulawesi Island, where more than 70 percent of Indonesia’s cocoa is farmed.
Theanswer was simple: Cocoa beans from Indonesia, one of the world’s top threeproducers along with the Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, were not fit for high-qualitychocolate production as they were shipped before being fermented.
“Fermentationwould add value to cocoa beans, but Sulawesi farmers did not bother to carryout the process as they wanted to earn cash without delay,” said Yoshino.
Hestayed with farmers on the island and experimented in fermenting beans bycovering them with banana leaves.
“Theysaid they won’t ferment cocoa beans because no buyers would pay a higher pricefor them,” he said. “I decided to become a buyer myself.”
Infact, many Indonesian cocoa farmers had never tasted chocolate because theirproducts were mainly shipped to extract butter and oil for industrial use suchas the manufacturing of cosmetics, Yoshino said.
Also,they did not benefit from sharp rises in cocoa prices in internationalcommodity markets over the last decade, as prices were set by speculativeinvestors such as hedge funds. Producers had no power.
Determinedto pitch Indonesian cocoa in Japan, Yoshino imported about 600 kg of fermentedcocoa, a shipment that occupied most of his room space. He pitched samplesaround, but to his dismay, major chocolate makers showed no interest.
“Iknew the Indonesian cocoa was of good quality, so I decided to become a chocolatemaker myself. I gradually became enthusiastic as things got started,” herecalled.
TheKyoto University graduate school alumnus procured equipment for chocolateproduction such as a roaster and a mill. He set up his own company and opened ashop in the city in April 2011.
Hiscompany and shops are named Dari K, with dari in Indonesian meaning “from” andK representing the shape of Sulawesi Island. It is also the initial of Kyoto.
Hesells pieces for ¥400 each, so Yoshino is targeting high-end consumers willingto pay for quality. He persuaded a Takashimaya department store official toaccept a plan for Dari K to run a booth in November 2011, saying the store can“diversify” its lineup with chocolates made from Indonesian cocoa.
“Businessslowly got on track as the fact that our items are sold at a department storeenhanced the Dari K brand,” Yoshino said.
Transactionswith the Kyoto company also helped raise productivity and profits for Sulawesicocoa farmers, as the firm bought fermented cocoa for higher prices thanconventional buyers would pay. Moreover, Yoshino suggested they conduct“grafting” — a technique used to insert branches with a lot of fruit into thestock of a tree.
“As aresult, cocoa farmers’ earnings increased up to 1.6-fold,” the entrepreneursaid.
Withhis efforts recognized by locals, the number of Sulawesi farmers supplyingcocoa to Dari K jumped from 40 to 6,000 by October 2015. The company will sellwhatever it does not use to other chocolate makers.
Fromlate October to early November this year, Dari K ran a booth at the Salon duChocolat in Paris, a major trade fair for the international chocolate industry,where its products were well received, Yoshino said.
“Wethought only shops with star patissiers would be invited to the fair, but ourchocolates featuring the quality of Indonesian cocoa were accepted,” he said.
Headded, artisanal shops that use specific cocoa beans in their chocolateproduction are gaining a higher profile in the industry.
DariK also conducts annual study tours to Sulawesi Island to connect cocoaproducers with consumers in Japan. Yoshino was surprised to find that thefarmers became much more motivated after meeting with customers directly.
“Theytreated chocolate consumers as family members and asked whether they canproduce cocoa without chemical fertilizers” out of consideration for the healthof consumers, he said.
Yoshino’senthusiasm is not limited to chocolate production. Dari K sells a variety ofitems made from Sulawesi cocoa, such as lipsticks, liquor and tea. He has evenstarted a project to produce electricity on the Indonesian island from biogasgenerated with cocoa shell waste through methane fermentation.
Indonesiancocoa farmers have also begun manufacturing chocolates themselves to achieve astable income whenever cocoa prices fall in commodity markets.
Theentrepreneur says he aims to “change the world through cocoa” and isconsidering expanding into the Philippines and Africa in the future.
“WhenI was working in the financial industry, my achievement was linked toinvestment returns. But now it is satisfying that I can directly make consumersand cocoa producers happy through my business,” Yoshino said.
（The Japan Times LTD. All rightsreserved.）
吉野さんは、現在、京都でチョコレート専門店Dari Kを経営されています。
企業理念を「カカオを通じて世界を変える」としており、インドネシア・スラウェシ島のカカオ豆の焙煎からチョコレートの加工までを全て手作りで展開しています。
真のフェアトレードを実現するために活動されている吉野さんの今後に期待しています！
Dari K ホームページ
http://www.dari-k.com/
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