Living the Semi-sweet Life

Ray Major
Master chocolate maker,
Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker
Hershey, Pa.

Premium chocolate is the fastest-growing segment of what market research group Packaged Facts estimates will be an $18 billion chocolate market by 2011.

Scharffen Berger is a premium domestic player, and Ray Major is responsible for sourcing the fine cacao used to make its chocolate bars and baking products. He’s been hunting cacao beans across four continents for 32 years. Armed with a degree in biology from Drexel University, Major is also responsible for Scharffen Berger’s initiatives in cacao sustainability and social responsibility.

Scharffen Berger imports its beans from Venezuela, Ghana, Madagascar, the Caribbean and Indonesia. Each bean variety is individually roasted and mixed in small batches, then blended with large-crystal cane sugar and whole bean Tahitian and Bourbon vanillas before being conched into liquid chocolate.

The Hershey Co. acquired Scharffen Berger in 2005.

Tell us about your role as chief bean hunter.
I am responsible for sourcing all of the fine flavor cacao beans we buy for Scharffen Berger and all the organic beans we buy for [sister brand] Dagoba. That involves finding them in the origin country, testing them for quality, tasting them and deciding how to use them in the final chocolate. My favorite type of chocolate is Scharffen Berger. It is my job to make sure at every stage that this is the best chocolate in the world — if it is not my favorite, than I am not doing my job.

I’m responsible for new product development for these brands and the sustainable issues around cacao that we support. This involves a lot of research and travel. Our consumers are extremely interested in where the chocolate comes from and how it’s made, so I spend a good deal of time researching cacao lore and writing about it for our website or to support new products we introduce. I am also a Hershey Fellow, and in this role I support and advise our parent company on technical issues related to cacao.

How many days a year are you on the road?
All in all, I’m probably on the road about a third of my time. I usually take four long trips to the producing countries every year and I like to team up with John Scharffenberger, one of our founders. Our objective is to visit all of our sources of cacao at least once every two years.

Is there a secret to selecting the perfect chocolate Valentine’s Day gift?
In general, women seem to prefer milk chocolates. A very nice selection of high-quality boxed chocolates makes an excellent gift, as would a selection of Scharffen Berger tasting squares. Men tend to like everything that women like, but a better gift for a man would be a selection of Scharffen Berger tasting squares or bars and a bottle of port wine or a fine quality spirit. The two can be enjoyed together.

One thing you’d still like to accomplish personally or professionally?
Write a book. There are many excellent books on cacao and chocolate already, but I would like to write specifically about my adventures traveling to the origins and the people I meet. Not a technical treatise or a cookbook, but more of a narrative.

What’s motivating or inspiring you?
What motivates me about cacao is the potential it has for sustainable agriculture and economic development in the tropics. Cacao is an understory tree, which means it grows well in the shade of taller trees. The fertility of a tropical rainforest is in the trees and not in the soil, so any truly sustainable agricultural system needs to be based on tree crops. Cacao fits the bill completely.

About 26 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been deforested, but about half of this has already been abandoned. Cacao can be used to reforest this land and, combined with the right crops, can make it economically productive and at the same time create a kind of imitation rainforest that maintains a significant amount of biodiversity in the region.

Guilty pleasure?
Cuban cigars.

A favorite possession?
My Forge de Laguiole pocketknife. It is balanced, beautiful and cuts so well.

You could never have too many . . .?
Fountain pens. I collect them.