2 min read –
Chocolate, Love, and
Entrepreneurship –
The JIKA Story –
Chocolate has always been more than food.
For the ancient civilisations of Mesoamerica, cacao was prepared as a ceremonial drink, while cacao beans were also used as currency.
Centuries later, chocolate became associated with pleasure, refinement and, of course, love.
But behind every chocolate bar lies an agricultural and industrial story.
The world produces close to 5 million tonnes of cocoa beans annually.
Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana dominate global supply, while Indonesia remains Asia-Pacific’s leading producer.
Yet Indonesia’s trajectory is striking: once the world’s third-largest producer, the country reached a peak of approximately 845,000 tonnes in 2010.
Since then, ageing trees, diseases, declining planted areas and insufficient investment have reduced production substantially.
The latest ICCO (International Cocoa Organization) figures estimate Indonesian output at around 200,000 tonnes, placing it approximately seventh worldwide.
Indonesia nevertheless retains something precious: an extraordinary diversity of terroirs and flavours, stretching across a 5,000-kilometre archipelago.
Turning cacao into chocolate is a long journey.
Cocoa pods are harvested and opened; their beans are fermented, an essential step for developing flavour, then dried, sorted and roasted.
The beans are broken into nibs and ground into cocoa mass before being refined, tempered and moulded into bars.
Simple to summarize. Much harder to master.
This is precisely where the story of Jika Chocolat begins.
In 2016, Baldwin, a Frenchman, and Sury, his Indonesian wife, were travelling through remote parts of Indonesia when they discovered the country’s cocoa trees and recognised their potential.
They met farmers, learned about cacao and, in 2017, embarked on their own “bean-to-bar” adventure.
JIKA sources directly from Indonesian farming cooperatives and transforms the beans locally.
Its single-origin bars showcase four remarkably different territories: Aceh, Bali, Gorontalo and West Papua, each with its own personality, from tropical fruit and citrus to spices, caramel, nuts and earthy notes.
Baldwin leads product development and commercial activities; Sury brings design and operational expertise.
Together, they are producing premium chocolate entirely in Indonesia while helping farmers improve quality and earn better prices.
Their story resonates strongly with us at CINTASIA.
A French entrepreneur. An Indonesian wife. One company built between two cultures.
We created CINTASIA with a similar ambition: to build bridges between France and Indonesia.
And there is another connection: cinta, at the heart of our name, means “love” in Indonesian.
JIKA is therefore more than a chocolate brand.
It is a story of agriculture, craftsmanship and entrepreneurship—but also of France, Indonesia and …. love.
And that may be the finest ingredient of all.
Picture: JIKA CHOCOLATE