Domori Chocolate

Domori is world-famous for its high-quality chocolate made from the finest fine cocoa. This is made from cocoa nibs of different noble varieties such as Criollo, Arriba or Trinitario. You can find these cocoa nibs in our online store or directly on site in Adliswil. So you can make your own melt-in-the-mouth chocolate or refine desserts with a delicious flavor.

The world of cocoa is the world of Domori. With exceptional commitment and inexhaustible creativity, the Domori company and all its employees and collaborators provide unique pleasure.

The company was founded in 1993 by Gianluca Franzoni, who still runs the business today, living out his love of fine cocoa. At that time, he had just completed his business studies in Venezuela, and it was there that he came into contact with the world of cocoa. He was fascinated by the cultivation and processing of cocoa and was particularly drawn to fine flavoured cocoas. This is how he came up with the idea of presenting fine flavoured cocoa in a new way all over the world and creating new worlds of taste from it.

For three years, Gianluca Franzoni himself worked in the fields and experimented with the beans. He was particularly interested in the processing of the cocoa beans after harvesting. In addition, he had another project that was close to his heart then as it is now. Criollo cocoa is very rare, but this very rare variety has a wonderful variety of flavors, sweetness and creaminess. The preservation of criollo cocoa is therefore one of the most important goals for Gianluca Franzoni.

With this motivation, he then founded the company Domori. The company was named after the two statues that stand at the top of the clock tower in St. Mark's Square in Venice. In Franzoni's eyes, the statues symbolize cocoa and coffee. Translated precisely from the Venetian Domori means "two walls", the name was named, among other things, out of love for the Venice of the 17th century, which stood for trade, travel and adventure.

Today, the company has its headquarters and factory in None, on the outskirts of Turin. The cocoa comes from plantations in South and Central America, with Venezuela playing a special role. The individual suppliers are carefully selected. Franzoni himself travels around and personally selects the producers for his fine cocoa. By working closely with the plantation owners and workers, a high standard of quality can be guaranteed. In addition, the employees as well as the biodiversity are promoted locally.

Typically, cocoa farmers are very dependent on the world market. The price paid for their beans fluctuates greatly and is often only barely enough to survive. Domori's cocoa farmers, on the other hand, benefit in many ways. Together, they set a fair price that is good enough to cover the costs of cultivation as well as adequate wages for the workers. Fluctuations, as on the world market, do not exist.

Domori also promotes the training of plantation workers. On the one hand, this guarantees good quality, and on the other, the workers benefit from better knowledge of their environment. This gives them new perspectives and allows them to cultivate more gently and with higher yields.

This is particularly important for the criollo beans. The cacao trees that produce the gnarled cacao fruits with their noble beans are very susceptible to fungal infections and pests, and they are also far less productive than their relatives. They do not like direct sunlight and therefore must be grown in partial shade. However, with the right treatment and good environmental conditions, these trees produce the world's best cocoa beans.

The Criollo is known for its round, sweet and above all aromatic taste. Unlike other cocoa varieties, it contains no tannin, a tannin that is only slightly bitter and partly responsible for a somewhat furry feeling on the tongue. As a result, the resulting chocolate is wonderfully smooth-melting, incredibly aromatic, only slightly bitter and barely sour. Domori's in-house chocolates are typically made only with cocoa liquor at 70% or more and cane sugar. Other ingredients such as soy lecithin or additional cocoa butter are unnecessary for this flavorful and delicate creation. Thus, several chocolates from Domori have already been awarded prizes.

Criollo has many excellent characteristics in terms of taste and feel, but due to the difficult cultivation and low yield, this variety accounts for less than 0.001% of the world's harvest. Even the Mayas and the Aztecs preferred to cultivate higher-yielding and more robust varieties, so the Criollo became increasingly rare. To prevent the disappearance of this noble species, Franzoni and Domori spared no effort.

Franzoni began searching for other Criollo varieties at an early stage. Through his scientific commitment, subspecies could be identified and re-bred. In Venezuela, he started a new project together with the Franceschi family on the Hacienda San Josè. Cacao trees were re-bred in nurseries, raised and cultivated on plantations with other plant species that provide shade. In this way, 7 Criollo varieties could be cultivated again. To date, more than 10 such species have already been identified and re-cultivated.

The name Criollo originally comes from the cacao trees in Venezuela. Foreign varieties were called Forastero. However, upon closer examination, it quickly became clear that after so many years, most of the trees were a mixture. Today, the name Criollo is applied to trees that carry the correct genetic material. These are found today only in Venezuela, the majority in the Sur del Lago area or near the Andes.

The hybrids that emerged from Forastero cocoa and Criollo are now called Trinitario. This variety also belongs to the noble cacao, it carries a rich aroma, is very creamy and somewhat more resistant than the pure Criollo. These varieties are also grown on many Domori plantations.

Lastly, the Nacional variety is also one of the fine cocoa varieties used by Domori, it is also called Arriba. It comes from Ecuador, genetically it actually belongs to the forastero cocoa, which does not count as fine cocoa. However, thanks to its excellent, delicate flavor, it is still counted among the noble varieties.

In addition to on-site efforts on the cocoa plantations to obtain the best possible cocoa, internal quality assurance is also part of Domori's approach. Before each delivery, for example, two kilos of cocoa beans are used as a sample. This is analyzed in the laboratory for its ingredients and the beans are cut open. The color inside allows the fermentation process to be checked. Only deliveries in which at least 70% of the beans have an optimal degree of fermentation are accepted by Domori. Finally, a chocolate is made from the sample, which is tasted and evaluated by experts. In this way, Domori guarantees an extremely high quality standard.

Domori is without a doubt one of the best chocolate manufacturers in the world. In addition to pure chocolate, they also offer other treats, such as coated fruits. Moreover, cocoa nibs, i.e. crushed cocoa beans, are also available. You can find these in our online store. With these extremely high-quality cocoa nibs, you can create wonderfully melt-in-the-mouth and aromatic chocolates. If you are not yet familiar with the production of chocolate, but would like to create your own variety, we recommend a visit to our Bean to Bar course. You will learn how to make melt-in-the-mouth chocolates with different flavors and ingredients.