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In fact, Madagascar has a long history of chocolate production, dating back to the early years of the French colonial times, 1937 to be precise. In those days to a metropolitan France, Madagascar was a major cocoa exporterto a metropolitan France. Today Madagascar's cocoa production is tiny in comparison to the Ivory Coast which produce about 38% of the world's cocoa, while almost all cocoa grown in Madagascar come from an area about 50-kilometre in radius and represent less than one percent 1% of the world's cocoa production. The area is [[Sambirano]], which is also the name of a river with its source in the foothills of Madagascar's highest peak. The Sambirano riverbed and its surrounding cocoa plantations are enriched with nutrients in the soil by yearly annual floods. Unlike many other nations cocoa producing regionsand nations, this the area of Sambirano is unique in that it yields cocoa crop all year round. There is plenty of Criollo (the finest), Forastero (the most common used for bulk cocoa) and Trinitario (a cross between the two).
Most if not all cocoa plantations in Madagascar are operated by small and independent family-run farming businesses, who have been growing cocoa in their natural environment for generations without use of fertilisers and other mass farming techniques. While slave labour is commonly reported in the cocoa industry, especially in the Ivory Coast, it is non-existent in Madagascar. Much of Sambirano's cocoa grow on former fruit plantations that were in use during the French colonial period. The result is a crop with a uniquely fruity flavour that that is naturally sweet and especially suitable for producing non-bitter dark chocolates without use of excessive sugar content
Madagascar is not an heavily industrialised mass farming nation of any measure, and thus it's cocoa remains
relatively short in supply. It's total production output accounts for less than 1% of the world's cocoa. Perhaps this explains why Madagascar chocolates cannot easily be found outside Madagascar. A good tip for anyone visiting the country: Buy and bring with you back home as many of Robert's, Cinagra 's and Colbert 's bars and pralines as your budget or suitcase will allow, because it's unlikely that you will find the same quality chocolate at the same price anywhere else in the world!
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