Ara Chocolat
Paris, France
Ara Chocolat, founded by a Venezuelan couple, Andrés and Sabrina Zakhour, is a small batch bean-to-bar chocolate company in Paris. They make chocolate from beans Andrés, carefully sources and buys from small cacao growers and cooperatives in Latin America. He devotes most of his time searching for heirloom and unique varieties when he’s not making chocolate! Sabrina is the ultimate multi-tasker from the salesperson, marketing manager, to delivery woman. This doesn’t even account for being a mother to their small children. She’s a busy lady!
French Chocolate Maker
For Ara Chocolat it is very important to choose heirloom cacaos, cacao varieties that are unique and have a story behind them. They always pay farmers a fair price as they respect their laborious work and dedication. Ara encourages them to protect these heirloom varieties and to keep planting them. They want the world to taste the differences and complexity of these rare cacaos. They value the farmers commitment to protecting heirloom cacaos while respecting the environment and all the native life.
Ara’s bars are dark chocolate, single origin bars allowing the flavor nuances of each varietal to shine through. All their chocolate is certified organic except for the Venezuelan as there is no organic certification system in the country. All their chocolate is vegan as are they.
Andrés and Sabrina come from a country known to have the most prized cacaos in the world. They grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. While they didn’t meet until 2011, they were both born with an innate passion for cacao. At the age of 8, Andrés possessed a culinary passion for baking cakes. This passion led him to study in the culinary arts. First working as a pastry chef in Venezuela then in London. In 2006 on a trip back to his home country he fell in love with cacao—the beauty of the trees and diversity of the cacao pods. This trip that forever changed his life. When he returned to London it was not long before he was drawn back to Venezuela. He worked for 3-years with Chocolates Franceschi learning more about cacao and training in bean to bar chocolate making. It was during this time that he met Sabrina. When she learned that he was a chocolate maker—she knew they were destined to be together. She joined his dream of owing a chocolate shop in France. Within a years’ time, they moved to Paris, got married and and we’re plotting to make their dream come true. In 2015, they opened their chocolate shop, Ara Chocolat. Ara is the culmination of all their will, devotion, and passion for cacao.
“He always dreamt of opening his own chocolate shop, experimenting with cacao, tasting different varieties, making chocolate with them, telling the stories behind them, sharing his love for cacao trees. In 2015, his dream came true…”
—Sabrina
