CEO Gianluca Franzoni has granted an exclusive interview to Grão Especial.
Gianluca Franzoni, CEO da Domori
Unfortunately, in Brazil, the Domori brand (www.domori.com) is little known, which is a shame for real chocolate lovers, namely the one whose recipe is basically composed of cocoa and sugar, without adding other products. Founded in 1997 by Italian Gianluca Franzoni, it was bought by the illy Group in 2006 but, wisely, Gianluca was kept ahead of the business, as he is one of the world’s leading cocoa connoisseurs.
His passion for the chocolate world began when he went to Venezuela in 1993, a project that had nothing to do with cocoa, but with water. But as he arrived, he went to visit a cocoa farm, Hacienda San José, on the Paria Peninsula, established in 1830 and run by the Franceschi family, having fallen in love with the business. He lived in the country for three years, learning and teaching all he could to the farm’s owner, aiming to improve the fruit. Since 2002, Domori has acquired 50% of the farm, and has been carrying out its research project and setting up its nursery for various Criollo cacao varieties.
“I study food and drink since my childhood. I graduated in Business but specialized in gastronomy, with emphasis on pasta, wine, specialty coffee etc. When I got to know the cocoa grower’s problems and difficulties, until then only a commodity, I thought I could really help improve the quality of almonds, already envisioning a new market to be worked,”says the CEO.
The rarest Criollo variety is only planted at 0.001% worldwide. And it requires a lot of study! In 1996, already back in Italy, Gianluca founded Domori, with the Tree to Bar concept, whose recipes are mostly at least 70% cocoa and 30% sugar, without adding any other element.
It is also combined with a concept of sustainability in the business that, to this day, is seldom replicated: the producer is a partner in the business and receives a much fairer price for their harvest. Lastly, Domori’s success proves that it is definitely possible to make money in this field without causing farmers to have to fund it. In 2018, the company recorded sales of 18.3 million euros.
Read below the full interview with Domori’s CEO, Gianluca Franzoni.
Grão Especial: I would like you to explain the statement on the main page of the Domori website: “I am only a humble servant of chocolate, and my true mission is to help the history of fine cacao.”
Gianluca Franzoni: It’s the very truth! My great mission has always been, from the beginning, to understand how cocoa behaves in the field, to study its genetics and potentials and to roast almonds at low temperatures. The pursuit has always been for excellence, trying to get the best of what the plant has to offer! This means extreme caution in planting, post-harvesting, fermentation, every step of the way, up to the candy bar.
Grão Especial: Before you arrived in Venezuela, did you have any knowledge about cocoa?
Gianluca Franzoni: No, I didn’t. At all. But, since my childhood, I’ve always been in love with gastronomy. So I studied pasta, wine, specialty coffees etc. I went to Venezuela to work on a water treatment project for the tourism industry and suddenly went to get to know the San José Farm (Hacienda San José), which was close to where I lived, and it was love at first sight. This is because the specialty coffee and cocoa crops are very similar. The difference is that very few cocoa producers around the world know and are able to make their own chocolate to improve the quality of cocoa production.
Grão Especial: And in all this time in Venezuela, have you studied cocoa?
Gianluca Franzoni: Yes, I studied cocoa a lot, its varieties, characteristics, planting, harvesting and so forth. And I was delighted with the Criollo variety and how it could be preserved, as it is a very rare species, representing only 0.001% of all cocoa harvested in the world. It is originally from Central America and Mexico and produces an exceptional, acidic, aromatic and slightly bitter cocoa.
Grão Especial: And when did you decide to start your own company?
Gianluca Franzoni: As soon as I returned to Italy, in 1996. In May of the following year, I founded the company in my hometown of Bologna. I started buying cocoa from a single farm, and after two years, I started working with cooperatives around the world. I created my own cocoa sensory analysis method, based on my experience with coffee, changed some methods on the farm, helped with the fermentation processes, and the processing formula, by using only cocoa mass and sugar and nothing more. And we created the Criollo Project in order to perpetuate the species, which are so rare and so special.
Grão Especial: And what were the initial difficulties?
Gianluca Franzoni: Well, we were the first company to work only with fine cocoa, from the best possible origin, Criollo. We are pioneers in working only with single source cocoa to make chocolate. And also our concern to create value for the producer. From the onset, we wished to ensure the sustainability of the business by providing fair payment to farmers. People were not used to this way of making chocolate 20 years ago. But they perfectly understood the sophistication of the Domori brand.
Grão Especial: So, is Domori a predecessor of the US Bean to Bar movement?
Gianluca Franzoni: Without a doubt. I am a pioneer in the Tree to Bar movement and we have the leadership in Europe and a great entry into Japan. And we are redefining our US distribution model.
Grão Especial: What is the main difference between cocoa and coffee on the farm?
Gianluca Franzoni: Usually, specialty coffee producers know what they sow and are able to identify in the cup their coffee and its qualities – and they often roast their own drink, or roast on the neighboring property. It is relatively simple. That does not happen to cocoa producers! Very rarely are those who process chocolate at the farm. It is very complex! The machinery is complicated and expensive! Thus, the cocoa producer has always been discarded in the race to seek quality in the chocolate production process. There were only two pillars: cocoa almond and the big industry. Producer have never been part of the pursuit of quality. And we changed it!
Grão Especial: And today, in how many locations is Domori operating?
Gianluca Franzoni: It currently operates in seven countries: Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Madagascar, Ivory Coast and Tanzania. But we already had chocolates in our catalog from the Dominican Republic, Mexico.
Grão Especial: Are Domori single-source chocolate bars the most sought after?
Gianluca Franzoni: Undoubtedly, they are the most sought after. But we also worked with some blends, such as Brazil’s chocolate, Brasile, which is organic from 17 family farms located along the Xingu River, in the Amazon. We buy through a cooperative, named Orgânica Central. And we also work with a line made of Trinitarian cocoa almonds, which includes blends of 70%, 80%, 90% and 100% cocoa, as well as the Trinitarian Collection line, from four sources: Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Tanzania and Madagascar.
Grão Especial: What do you think about the current quality of Brazilian cocoa production?
Gianluca Franzoni: It has improved a lot in recent years, in a consistent manner. But the most common origin of cocoa found in Brazil is Forasteiro, and Domori has been working with Trinitario and Criollo, basically.
Grão Especial: What is the company’s annual production?
Gianluca Franzoni: It is currently 1,200 tons per year.
Grão Especial: And what about the Brazilian market? Is it important to Domori?
Gianluca Franzoni: We have never really discussed the Latin American market. We are concentrated in other markets. But I believe that, with the new direction pointed by the new General Manager at the illy Group, Brazil, above all, will soon be on our radars. Domori chocolates can currently be purchased at Eataly’s store in São Paulo.
Grão Especial: Are you interested in opening own brand stores in Brazil?
Gianluca Franzoni: Yes, of course! But it is a subject that we are dealing with right now. We don’t know if we will have our own stores or work together with illy stores. Our distributor is not the same, so it is somehow complicated. And there is the the logistics problem, since the chocolates need to be refrigerated. But soon, we will have news in this sense.
Grão Especial: What about Europe? Are you going to open your own stores there?
Gianluca Domori: Yes, the first one will be in Milan or Torino. We are thinking about it, and it will be opened in the first half of 2020. We are analyzing the possibility of opening stores in other European capitals. Opening our own stores has never been part of our priorities, but things are changing.
Grão Especial: But doesn’t it make sense to use the same stores as illy?
Gianluca Domori: This is also something we have been internally discussing.
Grão Especial: And what about the model of partnership with the owners of cocoa farms? Can it be replicated?
Gianluca Domori: Certainly. At this moment, we are studying the purchase of new farms, always in the form of joint venture, where we get 50%, investing capital and technology. But I don’t think it will happen this year. In 2020, for sure. We are still evaluating it and looking closely at opportunities – especially in South America. In our business model, the important thing is that producers see themselves as pillars for the improvement of fine cocoa, so that everyone in the chocolate chain may earn a fair income for their work!
Domori’s factory is currently located in the city of None, in Torino.
The image credits belong to Domori.
