The quality of cocoa from Jembrana has been recognized worldwide, with the export demand for fermented cocoa beans. One achievement of this positive performance is that cocoa from Jembrana was chosen as the raw material for making premium French chocolate namely Valrhona. This time, 12 tons of fermented cocoa beans from the Kerta Semaya Samaniya Cocoa Cooperative went to France, witnessed by the French Honorary Consultant for Bali Marc Le Moullec, The Head of Customs Supervision and Service Office of TMP A Denpasar Puguh Wiyatno, and the Regent of Jembrana I Nengah Tamba at Nusasari Village, Melaya District, Saturday (8/10). With this high export demand, not only upstream in terms of increasing agricultural products, but his party is currently also boosting the downstream sector, including by focusing on finding new buyers so the results of the production of Jembrana cocoa farmers can be absorbed. Another step is to introduce processed chocolate as a guest-serving drink with the hope that people will get used to consuming chocolate as well as drinking coffee which is a popular activity. “In Jembrana I have declared, we no longer have coffee morning but morning chocolate. We are also trying to balance the upstream production with the downstream marketing through the new buyers. Therefore, I have declared Jembrana as the Center for Cocoa Exporting Regency in Bali,” said the Regent of Jembrana. The regent hopes that subak farmers will continue to be enthusiastic about growing cocoa so that every house has a cocoa plant to meet the market demand. “Farmers must be eager to welcome 2025 tourist destination. We will maintain agriculture, especially cocoa to meet market demand in 2026 so that it will truly become a golden Jembrana in 2026. Next, we will design a Cocoa Independent Village so that every household is able to grow cocoa,” he hoped.
Meanwhile, Marc Le Moullec as the French Honorary Consultant for Bali, admitted that he had been observing the development of Jembrana cocoa. “The cocoa that was sent to Valrhona brand in France, is a superior seed from Bali that is used by the French. They are used to the distinctive aroma of chocolate from Bali and Valrhona chocolate products are distributed throughout the world, such as in Europe and Asia Pacific region. Among them are China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, France, and United States” he said. He added that the cooperation in the export of cocoa beans that had been established could not be separated from the support of the local government and the subak abian in Jembrana. In addition to that, Head of the Agriculture and Food Service I Wayan Sutama said that it was an honor for Jembrana to be able to export cocoa beans to Valrhona in France. "This is a matter of pride and joy for Jembrana district, today we are proving that our superior cocoa commodity can reach the international world thanks to the direction and guidance of the local government and the support of Subak Abian in Jembrana, today we can export 12 tons of fermented cocoa beans from Kertha Samaya Samaniya Cooperative to Valrhona in France," he said.
