MIKKEL FRIIS-HOLM
‘A product is rarely improved by being made faster, and that includes chocolate. It takes as long as it takes, and here, we take exactly that long. Conventional chocolates take eight hours to make, from start to finish. Ours take six days – and that’s if we hurry.’
From the 2018 book HÅNDVÆRK (sold out)
Exquisite taste
Until I visited Mikkel Friis-Holm at his chocolate factory, my limited knowledge of such a place came from the children’s film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Or, rather, the images that came to mind were from the film. Now I know that top-quality chocolate production takes place in something that resembles a sorcerer’s workshop more than a factory, and I have seen how all the processes are carried out by hand. Not least, I know what really good chocolate tastes like, and that great chocolate does not come from Charlie’s Chocolate Factory!
I have learned that cocoa beans vary in quality and that their growing, picking and trading conditions are frequently dubious and often involve child labour.
Mikkel Friis-Holm uses the finest and highest-quality cocoa from Honduras and Nicaragua. He is very focused on the sorts of the conditions the chocolate is produced under and is a cofounder of Direct Cacao, a forum for trading cocoa beans directly from grower to producer at a price for the farmer that is three to five times higher than the prices they fetch at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
‘Chocolate should leave a good taste in your mouth, in more ways than one. It only does that if you can vouch fully for the production conditions,’ Mikkel underscored.
Entrepreneurship
A trained cook, Mikkel worked in the restaurant business for many years, but he is also an entrepreneur. He is good at spotting new possibilities, and he is conscious of his need for an organization to catch the balls he tosses into the air.
‘Clearly, my strengths lie in initiation, development and communication. When I feel that I have mastered and fully understood the product, I need employees who can take over. If I were in charge of day-to-day operations, I would be making constant adjustments to the product. Doing the same thing day in, day out, that’s not for me. At the same time, however, I am pretty stubborn, and I love the fact that our work is consistent and persistent. We give it our best. It’s always an effort, but it’s worth the effort,’ says Mikkel. As we speak, he is multitasking: discussing finances on the phone, chatting with an employee about an upcoming ice-cream project, sorting out a practical matter of finding the best way to temper some cocoa butter, getting a couple of orders sent off, dealing with a pallet of goods that have been delivered to their under-dimensioned storage facility and engaging with me and my agenda of interviewing him and taking photos – oh, and any minute, now, he needs to get out the door so to pick up the kids from school.
‘I set out to make the best chocolate in the world,’ says Mikkel and adds, with pride, ‘and now we are doing just that. We have received several international awards in acknowledgement of our accomplishments. Ten years ago, when I established the company with my ex-wife, the mother of my children, we thought that we were building a sportscar, going one step above the commonplace. Now I realize that we ended up with a Formula One racecar.’
There are employees to pick up where Mikkel leaves off. Not many but a handful, and his ex-wife is one of them. ‘Since we weren’t meant to be a nuclear family, we are, at least, going to be the world’s best divorce, best coparents and best colleagues,’ Mikkel explains, and he clearly means it.
It is not in itself a sign of success to be a small company, nor is it a success criterion to be a large one. However, a factory has to have a certain scale to be commercially viable.
‘By now, the production is running smoothly enough that the business is scalable. I am not concerned about growth. The size of the company is not essential; what is essential is that we continue to produce a hand-crafted product and maintain the same, high level of quality. Or, rather, my motivation is to continue to improve in an ongoing process. Many people worry that growth might lead to a loss of quality. I think what’s key is that we know our DNA and stay true to it. It is also important to engage all the employees and to give them as much responsibility for the process as possible, rather than aiming for narrow specialization. They should be artisans, not factory workers,’ says Mikkel.
30 tons of chocolate
I edge my way around the production hall, where the air feels heavy and greasy with cocoa butter and the fragrant production process. During ‘conching’, the chocolate is aerated as it is slowly stirred at a high temperature. This removes some of the natural acetic acid and brings out a softer, more balanced flavour and aroma. At the beginning of the process, you can smell the vinegary scent of the acetic acid; after a few hours, the fragrance has already softened considerably. ‘A product is rarely improved by being made faster, and that includes chocolate. It takes as long as it takes, and here, we take exactly that long. Conventional chocolates take eight hours to make, from start to finish. Ours take six days – and that’s if we hurry,’ says Mikkel.
-”Man har sjældent set et produkt blive bedre af at blive fremstillet hurtigere, sådan er det også med chokoladen. Det tager den tid det tager, og den tid har vi her. En konventionel chokolade tager otte timer at lave fra start til slut. Vores tager seks dage, hvis vi skynder os”
2018 Fra bogen HÅNDVÆRK (udsolgt)
Den gode smag
Indtil jeg besøgte Mikkel Friis-Holm på hans chokoladefabrik, havde jeg min sparsomme viden om chokoladefabrikation fra børnefilmen Charlie og Chokoladefabrikken. Eller rettere de billeder, jeg havde på nethinden, var billeder fra den film. Nu ved jeg, at chokoladeproduktion i ypperste kvalitet foregår i et troldmandens værksted, mere end i noget som minder om en fabrik, og jeg har konstateret ved selvsyn, at alle processer er håndholdte. Ikke mindst ved jeg, hvordan virkelig god chokolade smager og ved, at den gode chokolade ikke kommer fra Charlies Chokoladefabrik!
Jeg har erfaret, at kakaobønner kan være af mere eller mindre god kvalitet, og at de forhold, de bliver dyrket, plukket og handlet under, ofte er tvivlsomme og ikke sjældent involverer børnearbejdere.
Mikkel Friis Holm bruger den fineste og bedste kakao fra Honduras og Nicaragua. Han lægger stor vægt på de vilkår, chokoladen bliver produceret under, og er medstifter af »Direct Cacao«, hvor chokoladebønnerne handles direkte fra bonde til producent til en pris, som er tre-fem gange højere, end den pris kakaobønner handles for på børsen i New York.
”Chokolade skal i mere end en forstand efterlade en god smag i munden, og det gør den kun, hvis man kan stå hundrede procent inde for, at den er produceret under ordentlige forhold”, fortalte Mikkel meget sympatisk.
Entreprenørskab
Mikkel er kok, og arbejdede i mange år i restaurationsbranchen, men han er også iværksætter og entreprenør. Han er god til at få ideer og er bevidst om, at han har brug for en organisation, som kan gribe de bolde han kaster op.
”Jeg er klart bedst til opstart, udvikling og formidling. Når jeg føler, at jeg har bemestret og forstået produktet, er det vigtigt, at jeg har medarbejdere, som tager over. Jeg ville komme til at ændre på produktet hele tiden, hvis jeg skulle stå i den daglig rutine. At lave det samme dag efter dag, er ikke mig. Men samtidig er jeg ret stædig og nyder, at det, vi laver, er konsistent og vedvarende. Vi gør os umage, og det er altid en anstrengelse, men det er anstrengelsen værd ”, fortæller Mikkel om sig selv, alt mens han er i fuld sving med alt fra samtaler i telefonen om økonomi, småsnak med en medarbejder om et kommende projekt, som handler om is, noget lavpraktisk med at få sat kakaosmør til opvarmning, et par ordrer, som skal sendes, en palle varer, som er kommet ind på den alt for lille lagerplads og så mig, som gerne vil snakke og tage billeder, og om lidt skal han i øvrigt også ud af døren for at hente børnene i skolen.
”Jeg ville lave verdens bedste chokolade”, siger Mikkel og fortsætter stolt, ”og det gør vi nu, og det får vi gang på gang beviser på i form af at vinde internationale priser. Da jeg etablerede virksomheden for 10 år siden med min ekskone, børnenes mor, troede vi, at vi byggede en sportsvogn, altså niveauet over det jævne, men jeg har forstået, at vi har lavet en formel 1 bil”.
Der er medarbejdere til at tage over, hvor Mikkel slipper. Ikke mange, men en håndfuld og ekskonen er en af dem. ”Når nu vi ikke skulle være kernefamilie, så er vi i hvert fald verdens bedste skilsmisse, de bedste forældre sammen og de bedste kolleger” fortæller Mikkel og mener det helt tydeligt.
Det er ikke i sig selv en succes at være en lille virksomhed, egentlig er det heller ikke en succes i sig selv at blive til en stor. Der skal dog en vis størrelse virksomhed til, hvis en fabrik skal kunne løbe rundt og være en forretning.
”Vi har produktionen så meget under kontrol nu, at virksomheden er skalerbar. Jeg er ikke bekymret for at vokse. Størrelsen på virksomheden er ikke det afgørende, det afgørende er at lave det håndværksprodukt og den kvalitet, vi laver nu. Eller rettere min motivation er, i en stadig proces at arbejde hen imod at blive endnu bedre. Mange frygter, at kvaliteten ryger, når virksomheden bliver større. Jeg tror på, at det handler om, at vi kender vores DNA og er tro imod det. Og så handler det i høj grad om at engagere alle medarbejdere og at give dem ansvar for så stor en del af processen som muligt frem for at specialisere dem. De skal være håndværkere og ikke fabriksarbejdere” siger Mikkel.
30 ton chokolade
Jeg kanter mig rundt i produktionslokalet, hvor luften er tung og fedtet af kakaosmør og den duftmættede produktionsproces. Under ”concheringen” iltes chokolademassen ved hjælp af langsom omrøring ved høj temperatur. På den måde forsvinder noget af den naturlige eddikesyre til fordel for en mere blød og afbalanceret duft og smag. Da processen startes op, kan man dufte eddiken, nogle timer efter er duften allerede helt anderledes afrundet. ”Man har sjældent set et produkt blive bedre af at blive fremstillet hurtigere, sådan er det også med chokoladen. Det tager den tid det tager, og den tid har vi her. En konventionel chokolade tager otte timer at lave fra start til slut. Vores tager seks dage, hvis vi skynder os” fortæller Mikkel.