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A Luz Cacau was born in a small factory on the outskirts of São Paulo during the pandemic and today exports chocolate to Switzerland, Germany, and France, accumulating nine international awards and doubling in size each year using fine cocoa planted by the founder’s own family in southern Bahia.
According to the channel Times Brasil, a Brazilian chocolate made with fine cocoa from Bahia, without preservatives, flavorings, or any chemical additives, has just achieved something that seems unlikely: being sold in Switzerland, the country of Lindt, Sprüngli, and a chocolate tradition that has dominated the global premium market for over a century. A Luz Cacau, founded by Josiane Luz, won the title of second-best milk chocolate in the world at an international awards ceremony and today has Switzerland as its main export market in Europe.
What makes this story even more surprising is its origin. A Luz Cacau was born in 2020, during the pandemic, in a small factory on the outskirts of São Paulo. Josiane is the great-granddaughter of cocoa farmers from southern Bahia and decided to turn her family’s cocoa beans into premium chocolate, controlling 100% of the chain from planting to bar. Five years later, the company doubles in size each year, produced two tons of chocolate for this Easter, and has 40% of its revenue coming from exports.
Where the cocoa that makes this chocolate different comes from
The secret starts in the field. Josiane modernized her family’s cocoa planting in Bahia and began producing what the market calls fine cocoa, a differentiated bean that, like gourmet coffee, has superior flavor and aroma characteristics compared to conventional cocoa.
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For those who are not familiar with the classification, fine cocoa is to chocolate what specialty coffee is to regular brewed coffee: it is a product of another category.
The chocolate from A Luz Cacau is made with 80% cocoa and organic sugar. No preservatives. No flavorings. No chemical additives.
The formulation is deliberately simple: fine cocoa from Bahia and organic sugar, nothing more. Josiane defines her family’s fine cocoa as “gourmet cocoa,” a bean treated with care from fermentation to drying, stages that define the flavor profile of the final chocolate. This total control of the production chain is what allows for the traceability that the European market demands and values.
How a chocolate from the outskirts of São Paulo reached Switzerland
Switzerland was the first country to which A Luz Cacau exported and continues to be the brand’s main European market.
The entry into the Swiss market happened after the chocolate won international awards, including the title of second-best milk chocolate in the world at a competition held in New York. The visibility from the awards opened doors for a European distributor that now handles sales in Switzerland, Germany, and France.
What differentiates Brazilian chocolate in this market is not just the flavor, but the story behind the product. Switzerland and Europe value sustainable chocolate with complete traceability, and A Luz Cacau offers exactly that: a chocolate where the consumer knows which farm the cocoa came from, who planted it, how it was processed, and what is in the bar.
In the premium European market, transparency is as important as flavor. And a Brazilian chocolate made without any additives, with fine cocoa from Bahia, fits perfectly into this growing demand for clean and traceable products.
The nine awards that put Brazilian chocolate on the world map
A Luz Cacau has accumulated nine international awards, and the most relevant of them is the title of second-best milk chocolate in the world.
This type of recognition carries real weight in the premium chocolate market because it acts as a quality seal recognized by buyers, distributors, and specialty networks in Europe and the United States.
The awards are not just trophies on the wall. For a small brand that started on the outskirts of São Paulo, they function as a commercial passport.
Josiane states that it was after the award in New York that A Luz Cacau was able to secure exports to Europe.
In a market dominated by century-old brands with billion-dollar marketing budgets, an international award places an artisanal Brazilian chocolate in the same showcase as the big players and lets the product speak for itself.
The numbers behind the growth of A Luz Cacau chocolate
The company has doubled in size each year since 2020. Today, about 40% of its revenue comes from exports, a high percentage for a brand that still defines itself as small.
For this year’s Easter, A Luz Cacau produced two tons of chocolate, a significant volume for a factory that started artisanal and continues to operate with the philosophy of total control of the chain.
Growth does not come without challenges. High interest rates, inflation, packaging costs, and complicated logistics within Brazil are obstacles that the company constantly faces.
Josiane acknowledges that the chocolate could grow even faster without these barriers but emphasizes that the solution is to be creative, which, according to her, is a condition for survival for any Brazilian entrepreneur.
The product line includes milk chocolate, dulce de leche with coconut, açaí, passion fruit, and nuts, all following the same philosophy: fine cocoa from Bahia, without preservatives, without additives.
Did you know about A Luz Cacau? Have you tried chocolate made with fine cocoa from Bahia? Tell us in the comments which flavor made you most eager to try.
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