Exoticism and the Gentrification of Chocolate: From Mass Consumption to Craft Exploration

During my trip to Peru this spring break, I was fascinated by plethora of stores selling locally-grown Peruvian chocolate and related derivative beverages. In afternoon excursions to local chocolate shops, I stumbled upon a store called “ChocoMuseo” carrying Peruvian-made chocolate goods including soaps, lotions, and of course all kinds of chocolate bars. What I had originally associated as a unique local store, was actually a large corporate chain with branches in Nicaragua, Punta Cana, Cusco – countries which are not even top exporters of cacao beans.

I was intrigued by the tourist fascination with these foreign goods while there were no locals browsing any of the stores, most likely due to the prohibitive prices. In this way, I had stumbled upon the idea that this product had become gentrified in the heart of the source. This phenomenon is a combination of exoticism and gentrification of chocolate taste in developed nations.

The Sociohistorical Context of Chocolate

The origins of this phenomenon can be traced back to the beginnings of colonialism. For instance during colonialism from the 1600 to 1700s when more than “seven hundred thousand pounds of cacao and chocolate” were transported to Europe, “the reality was that Europeans unwittingly developed a taste for Indian chocolate, which involved not only bodily changes but also the absorption and fascination with cultural material” (Norton 2004). Just as Spaniards learned to “replicate the taste of Mesoamerican chocolate, they also learned to internalize the association between chocolate and noble distinction” (Norton 2004).

However, these associations quickly faded as chocolate production began to modernize through the industrial revolution. The Swiss and other chocolate industries all across Europe experienced rapid industrialization in the 1800s as they “equipped with vast factories provided with the newest machinery worked by the cheap force of nature, decreased the novelty of chocolate" (Farrer 1908). This process made it easy for the twentieth century “rising industrial chocolate makers (Hershey, Mars, Cadbury, Nestle) [to] thoroughly efface any links with the sweaty, tropical farms whence their primary ingredient came” (Leissle 2013).

The Impact of Exotic Gentrification

Today, the most prominent examples of this exotic gentrification can be found in chocolate competitions made to judge all kinds of rare and exotic cacao. It impacts society in three main ways:

• It adds a dimension for people to judge their food, not from taste or presentation, but rather from knowing where their food originated;
• It has driven stratifications and attempts to put a subjective taste into objective and quantitative measures;
• It has exacerbated the inequality present between the producers and consumers of these exotic goods.

Market Stratification: From CVS to Gourmet Shoppes

The chocolate selection at any store indicates who their consumers are, what the most popular products are, and the overall price. All the chocolate you find at CVS is a popular brand name. From the Nestle company, I could easily locate KitKat, Crunch, and Butterfinger; the Mars company selection consisted of M&M’s, Snickers, Dove, Twix, Milky Way, and Mars chocolate. There were two other prominent chocolate bars to select from, Lindt and Ghirardelli, that are not associated with the large corporations mentioned above.

In contrast, Cardullo’s Gourmet Shoppe has a very wide selection of chocolate from all over the world. They carry craft chocolate makers such as Taza, Vosges, and Chuao. Craft chocolate makers are companies that create small batches of chocolate from bean to bar. This elitist side of craft and fine chocolate is further exemplified by Formaggio Kitchen, a gourmet food shop which focuses on artisan products with language that advertises products from an expensive, high quality store.

Comparison of Chocolate Retailers and Product Types

The Economic Barrier of Fine Chocolate

Uniformity is key for bulk cacao, since the Big Five chocolate manufacturers prize consistency of taste above all else to cater to their customers’ strong brand loyalty. However, craft and fine chocolate bars are not cheap. For example, the Tranquilidad chocolate bar made by Rogue Chocolatier costs $16.95 for 2.12 ounces. This stands in stark contrast to mass-produced chocolate purchased from standard grocery stores, which are extremely palatable to the average American consumer due to being high in sugar and cacao butter.

My trip to Formaggio Kitchen was an experience in privilege in and of itself—my ability to access these chocolates, let alone pay for them, would not be true of many Americans. This highlights the second level of remove: the placement of these locations within specific residential or high-end neighborhoods, making them out of the way for anyone who is reliant on public transportation.