If you are a chocolate fan, then big names in the game such as Ferrero Rocher, Cadbury or Galaxy are something you are so used to! However, have you heard about Kimmy’s Chocolate, a newly emerging name brought from a country in the Far East? This article today introduces you a new pride of the Vietnamese and an inspirational story behind.
Bùi Darassamy – A little old man standing behind a shocking start-up
Kimmy’s chocolate is genuinely a brand new name in the industry of traditional hand-made chocolate in Vietnam. More than just a good taste itself, the story behind this sensation brand has taken the World by storm on why such a lesser-known chocolate producer as Vietnam is able to provide a huge phenomenon.
Kimmy’s chocolate (Source: Google)
For the time being, Kimmy’s Chocolate products are much fancied by buyers thanks to its vintage-like taste which is totally not falling behind any of the highly famed brands in Europe. However, as said, what makes the Vietnamese even more proud is a brilliant story of a successful start-up led by an old half-blood man, Bùi Darassamy. Bùi Darassamy is now quaintly named by the public as “The old man of Vietnamese chocolate”. Different from other various start-up programs are being carried out at the moment, Bùi Darassamy’s business has questioned the public due to his age, which is known to be over 70 by now.
Bùi beside his cacao fruits (Source: Google)
Mr. Durassamy is a Canadian Vietnamese whose blood shares a fusion of Indian and Vietnamese. Beginning his new business at an age that most people are pursuing their own leisure time, Bùi Darassamy decided to take on a new path with full of obstacles. Spending his very first four decades abroad leading a successful life in the mechanical industry. However, his new luck stroke at the age of 70 brings a totally different field, food, which was chosen by Bùi Darassamy himself in the 80s of the XX century when Darassamy first moved to Canada and made it his second home.
Sharing his own story (Source: Google)
A painstaking process leads to a delicious outcome
Back in the year 2015 when Bùi Darassamy headed back to Tiền Giang, a popular Vietnam holiday to many tourists, where he happened to purchase a large piece of land five years before, in 2010. Bùi Darassamy figured out that Tiền Giang dwellers had been fumble about a negative fact of cutting down and setting out cacao trees over and over again.
Dried out (Source: Google)
A big concern had aroused in his head at that very moment, on why such a good land as the Mekong Delta – which is capable of providing high-quality cacao fruit, has still not caught up with other players in the global chocolate market. Hence, Bùi, with his own little scooter, decided to wander around each village in town learning about the hidden reason behind it.
Visiting the factory (Source: Google)
Once shared by Mr. Durassamy: “Even the native farmers themselves have not been able to taste that very type of chocolate planted on their own land. That is the reason why I myself wanted to make Vietnamese chocolate for our fellow Viet to enjoy!”.
Mr. Dean Russo from the States (Source: Google)
From then on, collecting his previous knowledge in the food industry, Bùi launched his own chocolate business with a starting fund set at nearly VND 10 million. After almost 2 years researching and experimenting cacao trees as well as the making of chocolate, a large cutting-edge factory fully equipped with facilities had been set up, and hence, the very first Vietnamese chocolate was born. Guess what? You are now able to visit Bùi’s Kimmy’s Chocolate factory during your Vietnam holiday to Mekong Delta and get to taste this one-of-a-kind creation.
Vietnamese cacao (Source: Google)
Kimmy produces four different types of chocolate whose percentage varies from 85%, 75%, 65% to 55%. Each of these goes in accordance with their Black Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Almond Chocolate, and the list goes on.
Apart from those, Bùi had come up with a new product known as Cashewla, which is widely used to be spread on bread. According to local reports, in the new future, Bùi Durassamy would be expected to introduce newly-invented products which are able to meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets.
Cashewla (Source: Google)
Shared by some of our friends who had a chance to taste Kimmy’s chocolate bars before, the outstanding “Proudly made in Vietnam” motto brought a huge pride to the Việt ourselves. Beyond the border, Kimmy’s Chocolate has been favored by a lot of foreign customers and as a consequence, receiving a lot of positive feedback.
Inside the factory (Source: Google)
Talking about this massive success and fame, Bùi told his fans: “It’s been such a long time that we Vietnamese only know one thing, that is to come over another country and bring back their bars of chocolate. I want our outlander friends to come over to Vietnam and buy ours. This is to take Vietnamese chocolate to a new level, internationally recognized and this is what I would do to praise the homeland I was born and raised in!”.
Would you be down for a Vietnam holiday to visit Bùi’s factory and have a small chit-chat? Why not customize your own local tour package and get to taste the savory chocolate on your own.
Yennie Nguyen
Gain intimate insights into Vietnam’s local food scene:
- A 100-Year-Old Flour-Making Village on the Bank of the Mekong River
- Nine Iconic Food in Three Big Regions of Vietnam
- Vietnamese food-related superstitions | Six faulty hindsight
