Our Ingredients & Ethics
While developing new skills as a chocolatier in London, Jinsun met head chocolatier, Keith Herdman at Melt Chocolates. He was leading the team and his Philosophy was just what she was looking for. Keith did not like chocolate with lots of sugar and oil or artificial flavours. With Keith’s guidance, Jinsun was making chocolates that used natural ingredients that create harmony with the original taste of chocolate.
Jinsun Kim has a passion for flavours (instilled by her mother’s love of cooking with unusual ingredients) & making pure fresh food with locally sourced ingredients. At Kakawa all of their handmade chocolates are made with no preservatives or artificial flavours and are made using only the finest natural ingredients.
In London, Jinsun also learned that, just like coffee or wine, chocolate tastes completely different depending on where it is grown (single origin), what kind of bean it is, what climate conditions it grows in, and the growing environment. As important, Jinsun says, she discovered that most of the mass-produced chocolates are mixed with chocolate from more than 10 origins, so the origin is unknown, the individual flavour is lost and what is left is just a strong cacao flavour.
For Jinsun, single origin chocolate allows her to combine natural ingredients with the individual cacao in a way that allows for delicate harmony and balance. This explains her commitment to single-origin couverture chocolate.