Jhb North - Feb 24

Joburg’s answer
to Willie Wonka
Spekboom, hibiscus and sweet potato might not sound like common flavours
for chocolate. But then there’s nothing common about Rrraw Chocolate,
Ana Maria Panait’s creative take on everyone’s favorite treat.
Text: LISA WITEPSKI • Photo: MEGAN BRETT • Makeup: LOYISO MANGE, loyisomange@gmail.com
If you had to choose one word to
describe Ana, it would be curious.
It’s curiosity that encouraged her to
leave her home country of Romania
to study in Italy, and curiosity
again that saw her leave Europe to
take up a position in marketing in
South Africa.
For her, it was a no-brainer. “I think
life is more interesting in developing
countries,” she says simply. “Wherever
you go in Europe, there’s a set way
of doing things – this is how you
make carbonara in Italy, for instance,
and you’d better not try anything
new or different! I like being open
and being challenged – it leaves
room for you to find new influences
and innovation.”
That same attitude made her choose
to move from Durban to Abidjan
– where she quickly started a love
affair with French-speaking Africa, its
people, its music and its food. Since
West Africa is home to 70 per cent of
the world’s cacao, it’s also where she
encountered the chocolate industry
– and became alarmed by its dark
side - child labour. The scary truth is
that since farming and harvesting
cacao, the main ingredient in
chocolate, is a costly exercise, any
manufacturer who slaps a cheap
price tag on their chocolate isn’t
paying their labourers properly. And
that means that children are often
roped in to do the hard work.
Although Ana had no previous
experience with chocolate
14 Get It Magazine February 24