Cinagra

Cinagra is a Madgascar chocolate company and factory in Antananarivo, producing high quality and primarely dark chocolate made with cocoa grown exclusively in the Ambanja region of Madagascar.

Since 2006 Cinagra produces fine chocolate in a factory located on the outskirts of Antananarivo, about 15 kilometres from the city centre. 20 employees work in the factory, where its production facilities meet European standards. All processed cocoa beans originate from organic cocoa plantations in the northwest of Madagascar.

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Cinagra differentiates between superior cocoa beans used for export and standard cocoa beans used for the local market. All cocoa beans undergo a quality check at the factory. Thereafter the cocoa beans are roasted for 50 minutes to bring out the chocolate flavour and colour. After cooling down the beans are cracked, separating the hard outer shell from the cocoa nib. At the same time, the nibs are sorted by size and thereafter crushed in a grinding machine. The crushed nibs are mixed with other ingredients, such as cocoa butter, soya lecithin, sugar, milk powder and vanilla. This chocolate mixture undergoes the process of kneading and agitating in a conching machine for 72 hours non-stop. After finishing the chocolate mixture is stored at 44°C until further processing. Depending on the final type of chocolate, a tempering machine adjusts the chocolate mixture to the necessary temperature (29°C for milk chocolate and 31°C for dark chocolate). The chocolate is now ready to be filled into bar forms or various theme forms. A cooling tunnel chills the chocolate slowly down to 4°C at the end of the process. The individual wrapping of the chocolate is made by hand.

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Besides the various chocolate bars and cooking chocolate sold in super markets and shops throughout the country, Cinagra also supplies confectioneries, such as Chocolaterie Colbert, with so-called industrial chocolate. The dark chocolate bars named Eben and Tsar have between 55% and 100% of cocoa, the milk chocolate bars such as Palissandre vary between 38% and 44% in cocoa. One of their latest products is Tsar with 72% cocoa, flavoured with chocolate nibs and Fleur de Sel (sea salt). In 2009 Cinagra won the 1st price at the international chocolate competition Salon du Chocolat de Paris with their dark Tsar chocolate (63% cocoa).