00:00There's a growing emphasis on the research, innovation and development of Trinidad and Tobago's cocoa industry.
00:08UE's Cocoa Research Center, through their annual World Cocoa and Chocolate Day Expo,
00:13is attempting to demonstrate the full potential of the industry.
00:17Director of the Cocoa Research Center, Pat Umaharan, says,
00:21through its research and engagement with cocoa farmers, it wants to make a more resilient cocoa value chain.
00:27Every year we are having more and more chocolatiers joining us,
00:32and that is the kind of excitement that we wanted to create.
00:35As a university, we have trained many of these chocolatiers in chocolate making,
00:41and we also have a business and technology incubator,
00:44and a number of them went through our incubator system to form companies.
00:49Minister of Trade and Industry praised the organizers of the event.
00:53He said there's a great potential for success in the industry, depending on the commitment of the farmer or artisan.
01:00I have seen 10 years ago the level of equality of the packaging, for instance, was not what it is today.
01:08They have global standards.
01:09Everybody, everybody is in there.
01:11Everybody is on YouTube, TikTok, ChatGPT, and they're analyzing and refining.
01:17And I have seen the packaging as one of the best in the world.
01:21Equality is the best in the world.
01:23The only obstacle is marketing and distribution, and we are going to facilitate that.
01:28Mr. Mraz says it is time the government puts a new focus on other ways to bring revenue into the country.
01:35We've got to replace oil and gas somehow.
01:37This is a very important part.
01:41We'll replace oil, but we'll make a significant dent.
01:44We have to focus on our cocoa industry, our chocolate industry, which we are the best in the world at.
01:51The owner of Mamma Mia restaurant says he has developed a close relationship with his suppliers.
01:57He knows Trinitario cocoa is one of the world's finest and is used in the production of his chocolate-flavored gelato and other chocolate-based gourmet items.
02:07And then, of course, you see, we make gelato in Trinidad and Tobago, and we use our local cocoa, because, of course, in Europe, Trinitario is known as one of the best.
02:18And I'm the luckiest man to be in Trinidad and to use the products.
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