Domori: For the Love of Criollo Chocolate
Domori is an Italian chocolatier which develops fine cocoa treats. It is the first confectioner to produce a chocolate with the rarest and most valuable cocoa: Criollo. Its products are available in the UAE, thanks to Shura Trading, a company of the Al Mazroui Group.
Chocolate was first brought to Europe by Spanish Conquistadors during the 16th century and it quickly became a favourite amongst the nobility and upper classes. When Marie-Antoinette married Louis XVI in 1770, she even brought her personal chocolate-maker with her from Vienna to Versailles. Cocoa beans became truly popularised during the 19th century with the development of factories. Today, chocolate has become a worldwide favourite. According to Euromonitor International, in 2017, the global production of cocoa beans was 4.4 million tonnes. Fine cocoa only represents 10% of the global harvest, while Criollo, the rarest variety of all, accounts for just over 0.001%.
The Criollo Project
Domori is the first chocolatier to use Criollo, a variety of cocoa that was at risk of extinction. If its bean is rare and fragile, its quality is unmatched. Naturally free of tannin (source of acidity and astringency), this cocoa bean has a creaminess, roundness and sweetness which are unique in the world. With the Criollo Project, Domori has recovered this precious variety of cocoa, creating the largest plantation in the world.
In 1993, Gianluca Franzoni, founder and president of Domori, came to Venezuela. He lived in the field for three years to find out more about Criollo and its characteristics. He experimented with different varieties and post-harvest processing in order to preserve Venezuela’s biodiversity; and prevent the extinction of this extra-fine quality of cocoa. He then created a first nursery, collecting material and making grafts to revive Criollo. In 1997, he founded the Domori company in the Italian city of None.
The brand is now exported overseas, and is distributed in the UAE by Shura Trading, a company of the Al Mazroui Group. The fine chocolate treats can be directly ordered on Shura’s online boutique.
Supporting Local Cocoa Producers
In Colombia, Domori worked with Asoprolan, a cooperative of coffee and cocoa growers in Santander. In this region, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) received land management from the Colombian government to help farmers abandon coca cultivation for Criollo and Trinitario cocoa.
During his several trips, Gianluca Franzoni has personally selected the suppliers of fine cocoa which still collaborate today to preserve the existence of Criollo. Long-term relationships of mutual growth have thus been developed with the local farmers. Domori believes the only way to make high quality production truly sustainable is to pay farmers correctly. This relationship is also the guarantee for the consumer of the excellence of the products.
Cultivated in South America, the cocoa beans are then processed in None with a short and pure recipe: cocoa mass (70% and above) and cane sugar (30% or less) are the only two ingredients. Domori calls it the “bean to bar recipe”.
“I am only a humble servant to chocolate, and my true mission is to help change the history of fine cocoa” declared Gianluca Franzoni. Domori’s vision is simple: saving the world’s most prized cocoa varieties from dying out, preserving their original aromas and making them available to chocolate aficionados all around the world.
Chocolate was first brought to Europe by Spanish Conquistadors during the 16th century and it quickly became a favourite amongst the nobility and upper classes. When Marie-Antoinette married Louis XVI in 1770, she even brought her personal chocolate-maker with her from Vienna to Versailles. Cocoa beans became truly popularised during the 19th century with the development of factories. Today, chocolate has become a worldwide favourite. According to Euromonitor International, in 2017, the global production of cocoa beans was 4.4 million tonnes. Fine cocoa only represents 10% of the global harvest, while Criollo, the rarest variety of all, accounts for just over 0.001%.
The Criollo Project
Domori is the first chocolatier to use Criollo, a variety of cocoa that was at risk of extinction. If its bean is rare and fragile, its quality is unmatched. Naturally free of tannin (source of acidity and astringency), this cocoa bean has a creaminess, roundness and sweetness which are unique in the world. With the Criollo Project, Domori has recovered this precious variety of cocoa, creating the largest plantation in the world.
In 1993, Gianluca Franzoni, founder and president of Domori, came to Venezuela. He lived in the field for three years to find out more about Criollo and its characteristics. He experimented with different varieties and post-harvest processing in order to preserve Venezuela’s biodiversity; and prevent the extinction of this extra-fine quality of cocoa. He then created a first nursery, collecting material and making grafts to revive Criollo. In 1997, he founded the Domori company in the Italian city of None.
The brand is now exported overseas, and is distributed in the UAE by Shura Trading, a company of the Al Mazroui Group. The fine chocolate treats can be directly ordered on Shura’s online boutique.
Supporting Local Cocoa Producers
In Colombia, Domori worked with Asoprolan, a cooperative of coffee and cocoa growers in Santander. In this region, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) received land management from the Colombian government to help farmers abandon coca cultivation for Criollo and Trinitario cocoa.
During his several trips, Gianluca Franzoni has personally selected the suppliers of fine cocoa which still collaborate today to preserve the existence of Criollo. Long-term relationships of mutual growth have thus been developed with the local farmers. Domori believes the only way to make high quality production truly sustainable is to pay farmers correctly. This relationship is also the guarantee for the consumer of the excellence of the products.
Cultivated in South America, the cocoa beans are then processed in None with a short and pure recipe: cocoa mass (70% and above) and cane sugar (30% or less) are the only two ingredients. Domori calls it the “bean to bar recipe”.
“I am only a humble servant to chocolate, and my true mission is to help change the history of fine cocoa” declared Gianluca Franzoni. Domori’s vision is simple: saving the world’s most prized cocoa varieties from dying out, preserving their original aromas and making them available to chocolate aficionados all around the world.
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