A Conversation with Sano Takashi of the Hakata City Staple, “Chocolate Shop”

The “Chocolate Shop,” founded in 1942, is loved by many and is considered the “beginning of Hakata chocolates.” This famous sweets shop uses carefully selected, safe, and fresh ingredients to make a variety of sweets, including its signature “Hakata no Ishidatami” (stone pavement in Hakata). Its current director, Sano Takashi, also works as one of the chocolatiers, creating countless famous confectionaries.

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Chocolate Shop
Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture

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Kumazawa: Ahh, you used our powders in your truffles–and it seems to fit into your recipe seamlessly. What about the flavor or the texture?

Mr. Sano: After two to three weeks, we tried the samples, which instantly melted in our mouths. I’ve never seen anything like it. The truffles had a rich aroma–I couldn’t believe it was made of Botanimilk chocolate powder. Working with the powder made me want to understand how a plant-based product could taste this powerful.

Kumazawa: Ordinary milk chocolate uses whole milk powder, but Botanimilk chocolate powder uses a chemical-free hydrolysate developed using the NHP hydrolysis technology. The hydrolysate is made with white kidney beans and brown glutinous rice. So you have a creamy, milk powder-like flavor when you break down these ingredients. Once we have that, we mix in the cocoa mass.

Mr. Sano: So this technique is unique to NHP?

Kumazawa: Yes, it is. It’s also heat resistant and doesn’t melt as readily as standard cocoa powders. And since it is water soluble, it dissolves with the water in your mouth when you put it in your mouth. You can also mix the powder with water to make cold chocolate drinks.

Mr. Sano: I see. I wondered what the texture would be like since there’s no stickiness to the powder. But I couldn’t believe how readily the chocolate melted once I put it in my mouth. It’s something else. It’s easy and quick to make and dissolves quickly in water. Lumps often form in sweet-making, but this isn’t the case with Botanimilk powder. For example, I kneaded the powder into a sponge cake batter, and it baked without problems. The texture is a bit strange, but what is it?

Kumazawa: That must be the fiber. Legumes are pretty fibrous, adding to the final product’s texture. Did you try any other recipes? Any other discoveries?

Mr. Sano: The most surprising discovery is that it goes well with fruit puree.

Kumazawa: I didn’t know it went well with fruits, either.

Mr. Sano: When fruit puree is combined with a sweet puree, for example, it tastes sour and bitter and a bit harsh, but with this chocolate powder, it turns out mellow.

Kumazawa: It’s a new ingredient–you can create unique tastes depending on how you use it. Botanimilk chocolate powder is allergen-free and animal-free, so even those who have avoided chocolate can eat it. It’s likely to open up various possibilities.

Mr. Sano: Ingredients like this matter for this generation. My staff was also quite inspired by such an interesting new ingredient.

Kumazawa: There’s a lot of attention on Fukuoka, especially from folks outside of Japan, including the greater Asian region. We need to respond to this change by diversifying food, and I believe this Botanimilk chocolate powder can promote that shift. In particular, I would like people with dairy allergies to enjoy chocolate. For example, we asked a child with a dairy allergy who had never eaten milk chocolate to try it. He loved it.

Mr. Sano: I bet he was ecstatic to eat what others were enjoying, especially after being unable to eat it for years. With the Botanimilk chocolate powder, it tastes just like milk chocolate. These sorts of contributions are essential for our current generation.

Kumazawa: Right. But manufacturers like myself can create innovative materials but cannot develop practical applications or present them in a form that’ll appeal to people. So that’s where people like you come in.

Mr. Sano: And for people like me, we can’t create without raw materials. This is why discovering new materials to work with is essential for us too. As society becomes more diversified, we must find new ways to express ourselves and respond to people’s needs. We can’t keep making what we always made. The Botanimilk chocolate powder is an exciting, innovative product, so I’m looking forward to experimenting with it and expanding the possibilities of sweets. I hope we can continue to work together to create the ultimate plant-based chocolate product.

(Interviewer: Kumazawa, NHP)

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