Viviane Kouame fell in love with cocoa as a young woman in Ivory Coast when she saw the ripe pods hanging from the trees like little babies clinging to their mothers’ backs.
Because she knew cocoa would play an important role in her life, she founded Chocovi, a chocolate manufacturing and retailing company, in 2021.
Kouame, a rare female entrepreneur in an industry dominated by men, has stated her desire to “be the face of Ivorian chocolate.”
The majority of Ivory Coast’s cocoa beans are exported and processed elsewhere, leaving the country’s citizens without access to the profits generated by their labor.
Chocovi is one of the few local chocolate manufacturers. Kouame and her five employees currently process about 2 tons of cocoa per year, which they sell from stalls in Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, at shopping malls.
Some of the chocolate bars are shaped like maps of Ivory Coast, while others are wrapped in paper depicting the country’s natural wonders and cultural traditions to demonstrate her patriotism.
Philomene Dable, a mall shopper, was captivated by the presentation and the information provided.
“I tasted the chocolate, it’s pure, it’s natural,” she said, holding up a lovely box with orange, white, and green ribbons. This box is elegantly packaged in the colors of the Ivorian flag. In a nutshell, yes.
