Choba Choba and the chocolate missionary

Determination, dedication and a good dose of idealism are what drive Christoph Inauen in leading a chocolate revolution in the jungles of Peru. It’s less than half a year since the Swiss man and his French partner launched Choba Choba, and on a day in early March he’s back in Peru to present the producers with the first batch of exquisitely packaged chocolate bars made from their cocoa. This jungle setting has become Inauen’s second home, and the producers here his partners in the initiative – as well as his second family. “They are like mothers to me,” Inauen says while hugging Charito Paima Mendoza in her open kitchen-dining area-community gathering space in the jungle community of Santa Rosa. On every visit Charito, and her counterpart in neighbouring Pucallpillo, Rosario Caballero Mendoza, give loving assurances that Inauen and partner Eric Garnier are well looked after. Inauen is here to continue his aim to transform the global chocolate industry.