Fijian chocolate ?what would it look like?A study of the Fijian food culture, to find the specific attributes that might form the future Fijian chocolate culture
The cocoa produced in Fiji is exported to industrialized countries for processing of the raw material. The Swedish organization Cocoa Bello is involved in a project to provide the Fijian cocoa farmers with knowledge as well as resources to enable local processing and to attain added value of the cocoa crop. The purpose of this study is to discover a field of application for the Fijian cocoa among the rural population, using an ethnographic design. We spent one week in Namau Settlement, Fiji, where we applied in-depth interviews and participant obser-vations in six families. We found a number of aspects affecting food choices, such as social, economical and cultural beliefs. The participants were to a great extent self-sufficient in food and because of the farm work they valued food rich in energy, especially the starchy plants grown on the farm. The crops grown on the farm are considered to be the real food. Hence it is important that the Fijian chocolate get the identity of the farm. The cocoa is among other things likely to be used in a beverage. Since the technology is limited, the Fijian cocoa should be underlined as being different from the commercial varieties of cocoa and chocolate, bring-ing out the properties unique to the local chocolate, such as the high content of nutrients and energy.