Table Chocolate founder shares the art and business of responsible chocolate-making with students
Table Chocolate Founder, Remy Kujiken, delivered an invaluable talk and Q&A session on Friday, 1 November 2024, providing undergraduate business management students a first-hand account of his journey and business supply chain operations as an award-winning bean-to-bar chocolate maker.
The guest speaker session was part of the students’ development on the Sustainable Supply Chain Management module.
Through the talk, students learned about sustainability and ethical supply chains using Table Chocolate’s ethically sourced cocoa.
They were also introduced to the Liverpool-based chocolate maker’s business model, which emphasises quality, traceability, and sustainability to achieve a healthy and long-term relationship with its stakeholders, including customers, cacao farmers and producers, and the environment.
The students gained a significant understanding of how Table Chocolate goes through the different stages of a responsible supply chain, from sourcing raw materials overseas and ensuring the quality of its origin to the traditional art and process of making high-quality chocolate.
Additionally, Remy touched upon the sensitive topic of greenwashing and how commodity chocolate makers may use other deceptive forms of marketing to sway consumers’ perceptions and buying behaviours.
(Remy brought samples for the students to taste the difference in quality between ethical chocolate and ‘dirty’ chocolate)
Following his presentation, Remy entertained a variety of questions from the audience, including how indirect trade enables him to source raw materials from Tanzania.
Remy also explained how Table Chocolate relies not on distribution but on ‘creating’ its own market for such niche products by establishing direct contact with other businesses in the food industry and focusing on exporting their products internationally.
When asked about his biggest business challenge, Remy said it would be educating consumers.
“The biggest obstacle is selling the product since it is such a niche and new market. Luckily, we can export, and there are a lot of people now who are becoming more and more aware that a better product with a higher quality is available in the market.”
In a LinkedIn post, Dr Matt Mitchell, Lecturer in Operations Management, expressed the relevance of Remy’s presentation to the students’ development on the course.
“There were many aspects of the module content reflected in the presentation, including supply chain transformation and the triple bottom line. We learnt about bean-to-bar chocolate making, the current cocoa crisis and an example of sustainable cocoa bean production.”