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Redefining tourism in Cote d’Ivoire with chocolate – the story of Suzanne Sawsan Kabbani
C
ocoa is Cote d’Ivoire’s biggest cash crop and with an annual production volume of two million tonnes, the West African country is the leading producer of the crop in the world. Chocolate remains one of the most popular by-products of cocoa although much of it is made in countries where Cote d’lvoire exports its raw cocoa beans to.
This is what Suzanne Kabbani, an Ivorien business woman and Master Chocolatier wants to change. For her however, the goal is not just about creating an industry that ensures that more finished products are made in her country, but adding value to chocolates made in Cote d’lvoire that are defined by its uniqueness in taste and history. Kabbani believes that this can bolster the tourism draw of the country. Born at Treichville in Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire, Kabbani in 2006 founded her chocolate making company, Douceux de Suzanne, which produces many brands that are known all over the world. She tells VoyagesAfriq,“it was created to promote the country as the world’s leading producer of cocoa and create a quality chocolate Made in Côte d’Ivoire and to change the history of a country that did not put emphasis on the farmers or transform the cocoa on the spot in a professional and artisanal way with specific training.” She mentions for example that one of her more popular chocolate brands, “Les Douceurs de Suzanne’ is having an impact on Ivorian tourism in that it is transforming Ivorian cocoa and “promoting its tasting qualities with the country’s agricultural varieties and its derivatives to establish a valuable chocolate with designation of origin, traceability that starts with the work of the land through the farmer, its history, its region and its quality of beans.”
• Suzanne
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VOYAGESAFRIQ
Part of Kabbani’s strategy is to let the consumer appreciate and get insights into the production process. She therefore organizes
tours to the farms where the raw cocoa is cultivated where tourists get up close with farmers and immerse in the culture behind the making of the chocolate brand. This, she is optimistic will create a cocoa production heritage that encapsulates and immortalizes the legacy of cocoa production in Cote d’lvoire. As a successful business woman, Kabbani says the contribution of women to the production process cannot be underestimated. Her company employs 30 women who form 90% of the entire staff. To get the best out the workforce, Kabbani is all for constant training and capacity building. “The first ones we train, in turn train the newcomers. Other trainings are also organized for women in the plantations to help boost their professionalism levels in the cocoa sector and also in other parallel sectors in agriculture production. My job is bearing fruits because we focus on training and transformation of local agricultural resources on the African continent,” she avers.
• Suzanne in the cocoa farm
