00:00The official opening of the Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute's Chocolate Lab is a new facility designed to advance practical
00:09training, innovation and product development within Tobago's culinary and cocoa sectors.
00:16High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, John Dionne, said there has been a long and shared history between the UK
00:24and Trinidad and Tobago where cocoa has played an important role in the development of the British cocoa industry.
00:32Today, as demand grows for premium chocolate, Trinidad and Tobago is exceptionally well placed to build on that legacy.
00:40Trinidad and Tobago produces some of the world's finest cocoa. Its internationally recognized fine flavor cocoa increasingly appeals to consumers
00:50in the UK and beyond.
00:52For the British High Commission, supporting that journey is a priority.
00:57Part funding for the project in the form of U.S. $75,000 through the Agro-Tourism Project facility was
01:07underwritten by the European Union in collaboration with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, IDB Lab and the Caribbean Industrial
01:15Research Institute, Cariri.
01:18Representative of the European Union to Trinidad and Tobago, Cecile Tasson, brought remarks.
01:25The Chocolate Lab can serve as a bridge between agriculture and tourism, between tradition and innovation, and between local production
01:35and international markets.
01:38It can provide specialized training. It can support entrepreneurship and in manufacturing. It can encourage culinary tourism.
01:46And it can give students and professionals the opportunity to develop the skills required to compete in an increasingly sophisticated
01:55global market.
01:57A core component of what we're doing is not really about the chocolate, you know. It's not about the chocolate
02:03products.
02:05That's a part of the story. What we're really doing is agritourism.
02:10What we're really doing in this public-private partnership is creating in 10 years Tobago as the chocolate island to
02:19come to.
02:20And to do that, we need capacity.
02:23Miss Universe 1998, Trinidad and Tobago's Wendy Fitzwilliam, was in Tobago on Monday for the official opening of the Chocolate
02:33Lab, Trinitario-Tobago.
02:35I am very excited about the Chocolate Lab that Ashley has set up here in Tobago with the THA.
02:43We've done this very well before, but in very, very small quantities, and that is produce quality chocolate, not just
02:53the beans.
02:54And this takes us to the next level, I think.
02:56You know, we should use our small size, our very rich soil to our advantage.
03:04And our intention, in my humble opinion, should not be to compete with the massive chocolate companies of the world,
03:11but the smaller boutique ones.
03:13The cocoa for the lab is being sourced from Trinidad.
03:17It is the intention of the Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute to grow its own cocoa in the future on
03:25the estate of the institute.
03:27Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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