Mikkel, the best chocolate maker in the world: the era of the “Bean to bar is over, it’s time for artisan chocolate”

MILAN – From chef to chocolate maker: fascinated 25 years ago by the taste experience of artisanal chocolate, he began to take an interest, train, meet and work with farmers, chocolate makers and discovering a forest of false narratives and clichés. Friis Holm (you can explore the website here) is authentic, it is concrete, it is quality. And this year’s best chocolate maker in the world, Mikkel, told us about it.

Friis-Holm was the first chocolate maker ever, to make a final chocolate from a single variety clone.

“I discovered afterwards, that it had not been done before. Every one works with cacao from blended plantations, but we can achieve specific repeatable flavours. With the project in Nicaragua that I was part of carrying out, and the clones we chose during it. Now I know the flavour of each variety and it is very interesting to work with them individually.

I was also the first to share, as a chocolate, the flavour work from fermenting the cocoa bean, with consistent but different results, according to protocol. This is what we can do with the set-up in Nicaragua: We have full control of the processes so that we can replicate flavour.

Craft making is not improvisation, it is science, knowledge, precision.”

Let’s start with the awards (the last 10x Gold Medals, 4x Silver Medals and 8x Bronze Medals: you have won several world competitions with your chocolate. Why is it important to compete and how can you stand out each time with a different product?

“I think the reason why it is important to compete, is that the world of chocolate is almost totally monopolised by the big companies. Unlike in the world of coffee where about 5-15 % are specialty companies, depending on the local market in each country. In Chocolate, artisanal “Craft” chocolate makers represent only 0.1.-0.2% in the world today.

The competition is on packaging: the big companies are doing a lot of greenwashing and it is very difficult to penetrate the market where they are omnipresent – the consumer normally only knows the FMCG version of chocolate. The only way to stand out is through flavours, production processes and unlimited transparency. All aspects that are showcased by competitions like International Chocolate Awards.”

What made you win the Best Chocolate maker category?

“We have the best raw material, the best cacao in the world, I know everybody says this – but we have the most precise and the most consistent cacao. Also our method in the factory is better. We use 10 times as long to make a chocolate, compared to the huge fmcg brands. And probably also 50-100% longer than many of our artisanal colleauges – Time is the secret ingredient.

The majority of the cacao we use and those who has won the most, comes from a project in Nicaragua started 15 years ago. Yhis project involved the creation of 6 new cacao clones and creating the logistics between farmer and fermentation center.

In general, cacao is a raw material that has a different story to that of coffee – the supply chain in coffee, where farmers often know the product – they make coffee – and the methods they use to grow it.

If they have the right land they know how to rais equality – whereas in cacao, the farmers often do not know the final product and almost nobody has learned how to improve the quality in the field. The cacao market in general, only pays for volume.

In 2007 I got in touch with producers in Nicaragua and we started this project where farmers can grow a higher quality raw material, and sell to the craft chocolate movement – the chocolate makers. What was the market like in the past? In the middle of the 1990s, there were only 8-10 small gourmet chocolate makers left in the world. It was only in the middle to late 1990s that four companies started to make artisanal chocolate, two of them in Italy (Domori and Amadei). The other two were one in the United States and one in France.

Today the big market for chocolate is not what people think. If you go to anyone who sells filled chocolate, or use chocolate professionally you cannot tell that they almost all source Belgian chocolate (which is the cheapest) from Barry Callebaut, who make close to a third of the worlds chocolate. The rest in top 5 are Nestlé and Mondelez and two huge commodity companies, Cargill and Olam. Together they account for 80% of the worlds chocolate. Eventhough chocolate is a much discussed product, almost everything is still made by those with the industrial mindset.

It is not necessarilly negative to think this way about chocolate – but its is almost never combined with and understanding of high quality.

What do you think of the definition bean to bar, which is now also used by big industry? Does it still represent artisans like you?

“I think it is a definition that was necessary in the beginning, to make the appropriate distinctions; I mean with on 8-10 small family gourmet chocolate factories “bean to bar” left in the world in the nineties, it was a special thing to get cacao beans and making the chocolate from scratch.

But now we should stop using it as something special: all small producers have started out by establishing themselves in this way. We have to stop celebrating the fact that we make this product ourselves, and start communicating how we do it, the processes, the quality and labour behind this work.

Bean to bar is now an empty phrase – even Barry Callebaut uses it to tell their story – and now I would prefer to use the expression “craft chocolate” or “artisanal chocolate” instead. Then the focus is on the quality component, which is important when understanding the next phase of chocolates reality.

How did you build your network with farmers?

“Ours is a direct contact. Every day I do business directly with farmers or companies/NGOs that have close relationships with farmers. This way we shorten the supply chain as much as possible. There are no unnecessary middlemen. It is as direct a network as possible. 100% of the cacao I use, I get diretctly from the farmers and from the areas where the cacao grows.”

With skyrocketing raw material prices, how have you experienced this phenomenon and what do you think about it?

“It is not a problem”, in fact perhaps it is just the opposite, because, I already pay at the price level where the bad cacao of the world has now gone. For the bad cacao, the price of the raw material have tripled in cost. I experience 20-25% increases.

I see it as an opportunity, and now I can see how much the multinational companies actually earn!: The prices where they are now, are what they should be. The level where the farmer can get the right price to live and improve. Of course in West Africa where 70% of the worlds cacao grow, most of the extra money is not going into the farmer’s pocket, right now. But it is a first step in a longer process that will change the paradigm and eventually have an impact on the farmer.

I think that already next year, more of what you pay extra for the chocolate, will hopefully end up in the pockets of the growers, the problem for commodity cacao is the long supply chain with many middlemen – so it is still a problem for the small farmer to get their fair share.

This situation I believe will continue for at least another two to four harvests. But looking at it from a another perspective, chocolate used to be a luxury. When I was a child, chocolate normally cost three times as much, compared to candy, so it was a bit of a luxury. From a historical point of view, we are not in a record setting now.

The big companies are telling a different story, because they are obviously paying more now than they did in the past decades, but the under payment has led to exploitation in West Africa: Child labour, deforestation (90-95% of the rain forests in West Africa, have already been cut down in West Africa the last 25 years, and 70% of this has been replaced by cacao, with full cooperation from the multinationals and local government.

The crisis elements in the sector where already there, even before the price increases, only climate change has accentuated some of the problem points.

To understand this even better: before the price increases in 2024, the average yield produced by a hectare of cocoa in West Africa was between 500 and 600 kilos of beans and in Central and South America, the average was between 1 and 1.5 kilos. Where farmers are more dilligent and hard working in their agricultural practices, as I see with many, in the project in which I am involved in Nicaragua, 3000 to 4000 kilos were produced in a oldfashioned shade grown plantation.

The crisis now in West Africa can be very different from farmer to farmer, area to area, even a few kilometres away, some only have 20% of normal West African yields where others are closer to normal – with the average of 325 kilos per hectare right now – its a tragedy.

The facts are there for everyone to see, you don’t have to be an insider. The trees have been planted in full sun, requiring water in the dry periods to flower and lacking protection in the wet season giving opportunity to disease and difficult working conditons because of limited access – its has been a short term approach – and its been done with full knowledge from the involved above the farmer.

In my part of the industry, we are very few and with the traditional “cheap market everywhere” also makes it a challenge for us to communicate why we cost more, to the end consumer. I can scale my model to the retail level, with my own quality, giving more consumers the choice for high quality, but the truth is that the customer at the supermarket level, is not yet ready to pay even that cost.

So I try to talk to many coffee roasters who, paradoxically, are very interested in buying quality products to complete their range. It works like that all over the world apart from Italy for now.

I think we are bound to grow in terms of market share. If I look at most craft beer and small coffee roasters in Denmark, they are in what I call the fourth generation, starting 20 years ago. In chocolate I think we are still at the end of the first generation. We have produced our chocolate and now we have to go to the next step, in terms of professionalism and understanding the business. You don’t have to ruin the product to enter the market dynamics. To make a business like mine profitable – which only happened this year for us – takes a lot of time, patience and trust in your approach.

Today, the best-selling product is a very dark chocolate, because there is still a very strong health consciousness around these items. This is a counterpoint to the world of chocolate today, which is populated by people who romantically started working in it and are now either closing their businesses or becoming more professional: There is a generational change now and the era of the “bean to bar” is over. Now it is time for artisan chocolate.”

If you had to explain to an average consumer what cacao, and then quality chocolate is, what would you say?

“I would say first of all: taste. Craft chocolate is not necessarily synonymous with quality, but it is often a guarantee in this respect. It is not the percentage of cocoa on the label that makes the difference. The consumer will experience much better and more concentrated flavor. How chocolate has been communicated to the consumer, until the middle 1980s: Chocolate was just chocolate 3 colours.

And If you knew a little or were in this business, You have repeatedly heard false narratives linked to menaningless characterization – words like Criollo, Trinitario, Forastero, which are not bound in any reality, but are still used by big companies and smaller makers because they do not know better – its easier to repeat the false narrative than explaining the reality. The first “Origin” bar (with cacao from a specific country) was made in 1985. But I think most coffee people will agree, that just because a coffee bean is from Kenya or from Ethiopia, its not necessarilly good?

In my opinion its just storytelling. The following year in 1986, Valrohna also started producing with this narrative – but about 15 years ago they stopped saying where their cacao comes from – now its a secret… Just because you have a good brand – it is important to understand whats beneath.

Then in the 1990s, people started to worry about sugar, and chocolate with a high percentage of cacao suddenly became more interesting in relation to the health discourse.

Now, today, we look at flavours: acidity, fruitiness, these are scents that must be present in a quality chocolate. We have learnt that these characteristics define the level of the final product, its the choices in fermentation and roasting. This is where cacao stands out, and where the craftsman can bring out his sourcing knowledge, working togethe with the farmer his ability to manage fermentation (which are many and varied choices). The roasting skills, at the factory and how production is approached and done

Of course, the end consumer as a whole still has little knowledge, like in coffee, confusing acidity with bitterness, intensity as difficult. It meet this often – and try to educate the palates.

However, I think that knowing that what we make is not for every palate can help understanding. If there was only one recipe for making chocolate, it would be a production more like what the big companies are doing. They want to achieve easy neutral replicable flavours, and tending towards the caramel and chocolate notes that consumers are used to. It is not always understood what the quality of a product is.”

Who is Friis-Holm’s product designed for: what are your target markets, target audience

“My target audience is the 5 per cent who look for high quality chocolate in the world. To reach them I need to make them aware of my work, showing them the reality of my production and making them taste what I make: dark chocolate for example is not bitter and it is possible to achieve this with the right raw material, roasting and proces.

In chocolate it is necessary to equip oneself with the right tools and machines: I use for the roasting a Petroncini which is very stable and efficient roaster. For the making of the chocolate, I use the Universal refiner, which is cylindrical with metal blades that gently grinds the cacao beans. After this we conch in an old fashioned longitudinal conch – basically I use a 100 year old method.

I do not use lecithin. In my factory, the production process is very long. I roast with a classic coffeedrum roaster, because it is able to distribute the heat on the bean better, more evenly. Then 5-6 days refining and conching to make the transfer the roasted cacao bean in to chocolate.

The secret is precisely the time, which allows me to work at lower temperatures, 40-45%, (65-75 degrees for industrial production) so as to preserve the flavours of my fantastic cacao. Many of the small artisans who have emerged in recent years, have difficulty controlling temperatures. When you work with chocolate, however, it’s very much a question of chemistry, particle distribution, particle size and essentially how the fat (50% of the cacao bean) in reacts and work. It takes time to govern these processes in an ideal way.”

Would you like to break into the Italian market to which he is very attached, or is it not ready yet?

“Comparing Italy and France with the rest of the world, the tradition for quality of raw material and cuisine is very different from the rest of the world. So I think Italy and France, maybe Spain, are definitely markets to conquer, there is a desire and understanding of quality and the fact it takes time. But Italy is also home to very skilled colleauges. I’m thinking especially in Piedmont, of Guido Castagna for example.

But overall – I would like to strengthen myself in Germany, the USA, England, Italy and Japan.”

How do you see the chocolate and cacao of the future? Are there any new trends already in place also talking about sustainability?

“Sustainability is another topic that should be discussed in other ways: those who are involved in a more socio-economically and environmentally sustainable supply chain, as I am, should not boast. Behaving normally, not destroying people and planet is something that is natural, not exceptional. We should call out the huge damage the multinationals do, by doing business their way.

But we should stop narrating sustainability as something we have discovered, as if the processes at farm level is only possible because we are “saviors”, the limiting of phenomena such as poverty, deforestation, as something incredible thats only solved through our special intervention…

This is a natural choice for anyone who wants the highest quality – you cannot produce a quality product on the backs of child labor and slavery. It a false “white savior” rethoric which I abhor, and it is a melody played with skill by the multinationals. Full transparancy is the only thing that works – this is what the multinationals cannot give.

As far as new trends for small chocolate artisans are concerned, they should first invest in better technology to make better chocolate, to reach a broader market. There is an easy way to reach new consumers by including new flavours in chocolate, spices, fruit etc.: it is easier to bring more people into the world of high-quality chocolate with curiosity.

It is difficult for us, compared to the world of coffee, to get in touch with consumers: the micro roasters, through the coffee shops also, have the opportunity to tell and involve the customer in the world of the speciality. The customer are willing to pay a higher price, for the experience provided by the barista behind the counter, who prepares their single specific cup for them.

In the world of artisan chocolate, the barista is not there to present our product to the costumer. We do not have this experience: the customer do not know who produces the specific chocolate they buy, unless they have knowledge and are interested in the specific brand.

My greatest strength comes from when people taste my chocolates, it can be through talks, fairs and events, tasting occasions – then I know they will come back. If something tastes fantastic price is secondary. And back to the awards, they are based precisely on the taste of chocolate, so the awards are a kind of an ambassador. In Denmark we also have physical stores and this certainly helps to understand how people see chocolate.

Chocolate is still a product that is perceived as a great gift to give to others: then they are willing to pay higher prices for the gifting aspect and the brand value. But specifically for the senior customers over 45, we very rarely manage to sell it as a personal purchase. The young generation under 35 is totally different – they buy pure chocolate bars for themselves and to share with friends.

So the change in mind set with the new generations, who are buying chocolate for themselves not just gifting, gives promises for a better future.”