“Chocolate Island”
By: Robby Alugar
Chocolates are a small but integral part of people’s lives. They can be unassuming yet also a symbol of a grand gesture. They come as a new experience or evoke memories of a time long past filled with flavours of nostalgia.
This segment of RMA News showcases the wonderful world of chocolates as it finds a renaissance in Cebuano culture. New-world artisans craft the Visayan variant of the cacao, Criollo. Let’s explore and create sweet memories as the sun rises and sets here on this Chocolate Island.
Last July 25, 2020 The Chocolate Chamber Academy officially launched Beyond Chocolate Virtual Tour at Casa de Cacao featuring The Chocolate Princess, Hannah Choa, where she performed her role as “Spiller of the Beans” together with the virtual tour guide PG Papel de Liha.
It was attended by 27 guests with 3 tour guides and 1 from Colombia. During the virtual tour, Hannah Choa discussed about the Cacao Bean Evolution. A short video of the Legend of Maria Cacao was also played. After which, Hannah conducted a demonstration on how to make the Tablea Brownie. A 15-minute Q&A followed where guests asked questions like the health benefits of cacao? How to venture into cacao business? The program ended with the presentation of the finished Tablea Creation which is the Tablea Brownie, a featured recipe of the virtual tour.
Virtual tourists enjoyed the taste of the “brownie” that Hannah baked which was sent to their houses after the virtual tour. While some of the participants who are from outside Cebu earned some brownie points, which they opted to share to our dear frontliners who are sacrificing to fight against Covid-19.
Watch and listen to the next virtual chocolaty tour as The Chocolate Chamber Academy will be hosting another round of their Beyond Chocolate Virtual Tour in partnership with Southwind Travel & Tours Philippines on August 12 (Wednesday) at 11am via Zoom. The tour will bring guests on a chocolate discovery on how cacao beans are harvested, dried, roasted, and pounded before being moulded into pure chocolate goodness. Surprise treats await to all participants!
The Chocolate Chamber Academy is the first one to do a Chocolate Virtual Tour in the country. The Department of Tourism will soon launch this Beyond Chocolate Virtual Tour in Manila next month. According to Raquel Choa, President of Ralfe Gourmet and Founder of The Chocolate Chamber, true to its mission, The Chocolate Chamber Academy continues to raise awareness of cacao farming by providing refresher programs to Tour Guides to keep up the brand. Soon this will lead into Agri-Tourism where different cooperatives will get the chance to participate, she added. This coming Tuesday, August 11, The Chocolate Chamber Academy team will be heading to its Coop Partner, First Consolidated Cooperative along Tanon Seaboards (FCCT) in Tuburan & Balamban together with the production crew outsourced by Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s CBM 2020 Management Team, to produce a virtual tour highlighting on Farm Tourism in preparation for the First CBM 2020 Virtual Summit entitled “Bring It On Tourism: Technology in the Future of Travel & Tourism”.
A minimal fee of Php 350 will be charged per person for you to join the virtual tour. To know the details on how to join the tour, please visit the Chocolate Chamber Facebook page or send them a message thru Viber, WhatsApp or Mobile at 09173196112.
