Top 20 fun things to enjoy in Kota Kinabalu! (No. 16 – Taste delicious Sabah chocolate at Cocoa Kingdom)
Top 20 fun things to enjoy in Kota Kinabalu! (No. 16 – Taste delicious Sabah chocolate at Cocoa Kingdom
A treat today, particularly for chocolate lovers wherever you are!
Getting to Cocoa Kingdom
Just south of Kota Kinabalu city is the home of Cocoa Kingdom. It’s much more than just a chocolate shop, rather a destination where you can learn in a fun way about the multi-stage process of turning ‘bean into bar’, view hand-make chocolates being made by the artisan work-force, discover the anti-oxidant health benefits of cocoa rich chocolate and the important bit, an opportunity to sample delicious chocolate some with flavours I guarantee that will be new to you!
Growing Cocoa in Sabah
Sabah’s tropical climate and rich fertile soil are perfect for the cultivation of a rich array of tropical fruits and vegetables as well as tea, coffee beans and not forgetting cocoa beans. The majority of Sabah’s cocoa is grown in the east of Sabah near the large town of Tawau. This is the home-town of my host Mr. Siaw Ten-Hon and his family. It was Mr. Ten-Hon’s father Mr. Siaw Meng-Kiang’s passion for growing and cultivating cocoa over many decades that led to the family starting to produce chocolate and in 2009 to open Cocoa Kingdom.
Cocoa Trees
At the entrance of Cocoa Kingdom, several cocoa trees are growing. I learn that that they start to produce crop after three years. At ten years the tree is mature but still only provides enough cocoa to produce on average 1kg of chocolate per annum, though there are some cases of farms with different genetic could produce higher yield, maybe up to 2kg per annum. The trees will produce less cocoa pods after twenty-five years.
Harvesting is challenging as cocoa is not a seasonal crop with many visits to each tree required to gather beans that take more than six months to ripen. The farmers are nearly all smallholders with may be just three to four acres of land; I’m surprised and impressed that Mr. Ten-Hon knows many of the farmers personally and his passion and knowledge for cocoa and producing quality chocolate is evidenced by his detailed understanding of the complete supply chain.
The ‘Bean into Bar’ process
Inside Cocoa Kingdom, a large pictorial display documents the nine processes required from harvest to chocolate making. To underline the efforts required to produce chocolate of consistent and excellent quality, it will take an experienced bean-sorter all day to manually sort up to 4kgs of cocoa beans with many being discarded for not meeting the required quality criteria.
The ‘Bean into Bar’ process
View chocolates being hand-made
The visitor can then view some of the Cocoa Kingdom team making artisan chocolates, many to bespoke orders. Led by Mr. Ten-Hon and his chef, the team are working hard on a Christmas order for durian fruit-flavoured chocolates…that look like durians. Each is a miniature work of art – far too good to eat
Time to taste!
Then it’s time for the best bit, a chance to sample some chocolate! The sizable shop showcases all of Cocoa Kingdom’s chocolate products including exotic flavours such as durian, cocoanut, mango, pineapple and the very popular tiramisu. Nearly all are available on a ‘try before you buy’ basis with many samples available and I’m particularly drawn to chocolate beautifully packaged in orange and dark-brown with a tiger on the front (two rampant tigers form part of Malaysia’s coat of arms).
‘Try before you buy’
Three great reasons why you should visit Cocoa Kingdom:
You can learn lots about the chocolate making process in a fun way from ‘bean to bar’, and view artisan chocolates being hand-made by the skilled Cocoa Kingdom team
You can only taste and buy Cocoa Kingdom chocolate at Cocoa Kingdom (currently it’s not for sale in shops / at the airport etc.)
It’s a great and authentic Sabah gift to take home for family, friends and colleagues
Top Tip for Visitors:
Visit Cocoa Kingdom as part of your Blue Kinabalu ‘Kota Kinabalu City Tour’.
About Martin
Martin is a British expat living in Kota Kinabalu who arranges tailored tours within Sabah primarily for British and Western tourists on behalf of Blue Kinabalu Travel Agency. Please help spread the word about beautiful Sabah and share this post using the social share buttons below.
