Pinoy Entrepreneur Luchie Suguitan, the “Cacao Doctor”

Sharing the Love of Chocolates

Luchie Suguitan, the “Cacao Doctor” by Kristine Abante

Pinoy Entrepreneur Luchie Suguitan

Calling all chocoholics and chocolate lovers! A  Dubai-based Cacao expert and chocolate-maker is on a mission to find and develop good chocolates and she’s inviting you to join her in the search.

Luchie Suguitan, who has transitioned from being a financial industry expert to a full-blown  “Cacao Doctor” has recently been doing rounds in the city, doing random chocolate tasting sessions with different crowds  to figure out which beans make good chocolates.

Suguitan, a graduate of Ecole Chocolat ,  the professional school for Chocolate arts, shares that the  real secret in the making of a “good chocolate” is in the cacao bean.

“Good chocolates can alleviate mood swings and primarily should have a high cacao content, at least 65%,” Suguitan shares, identifying the difference between good and bad chocolates.

“I think it’s a shame when companies label their products as “chocolates” when in truth some of them have less than 10% cocoa in it, then about 50 to 60% is sugar, then the rest are additives. “

Suguitan also notes that exquisite chocolates must use fine flavor cacao beans.

“This means, the beans that were used to make the chocolates must possess complex flavors. These notes depend on the region or country where the beans were grown and what their style of fermentation is.”

Pinoy Entrepreneur Luchie Suguitan

Last but perhaps most importantly, the Cacao Doctor believes that good chocolates are those that are sourced through fair trade.

Hailing from the Philippines, and both long-term residents of the UAE,  Luchie together with her sister  Iman, has also recently launched a social enterprise which encourages expats to invest in cacao farms in Southern Philippines .

“I’ve always wanted to create healthier yet still heavenly tasting fine chocolates, this triggered my initial interest, but later I learned further that only countries within the equatorial belt, such as my country, the Philippines, can grow cacao.  So I went back home, into the farms and I was greatly surprised that children of cacao farmers rarely get the chance to eat chocolates because of poverty. “

Together with other friends, their social enterprise dubbed as OFW para sa Magsasaka (Overseas Filipino Workers for Filipino Farmers) now supports cacao farmers in Agusan del Sur, Philippines, managing the daily operations of the cacao farm and providing training. The enterprise also encourages their stakeholders to learn more about Cacao and chocolate making.

If you want to learn more about good chocolates, the potential of cacao farms or simply just want to taste good chocolates for FREE, join their free cacao webinars and chocolate tasting sessions.

For more information, find them on instagram @cacaodoctor or follow them on facebook at www.facebook.com/ofwparasamagsasaka