It is five generations since the Cassam Chenaï family from India, and in particular the Gujrat region, settled in Madagascar. It began its activities selling postcards, textiles and finally spices intended for export.Over time, the family grew and many family members broke away to create their own business. Shahin Cassam Chenai is one of them.
A family
A fine cocoa
Thanks to one of the world’s finest cacao and labeled “Fine cocoa” by the International Cocoa Organization since January 2016, Malagasy chocolate is appreciated for its floral notes, its acidity and its slight astringency on the finish.
MENA means red in Malagasy
Red like the color of the earth: rich in minerals…river. Red like beans that come from the best producers of the Sambirano valley and red like the color of our chocolate. Finally, Mena like the Red Island: Madagascar
KAO for cocoa
Our beans come from the best planter cooperatives in the Sambirano Valley (Ambanja region). We develop our recipes by favoring local products (range 100% Madagascar, Truly Madagascar), and this from premium cocoa beans.
Tablets like Madagascar
In every Menakao chocolates, there are women and men !
Because our tablets are made with Malagasy chocolate, it is normal to illustrate them by highlighting the different ethnic groups’ faces present in Madagascar : the Tanala, the Betsimisaraka, the Mahafaly, the Antanosy, the Bara or the Merina, all represented in their traditional headdresses and clothes.
It is therefore a tribute and a will of presenting a country with multiple cultures which make Madagascar’s wealth. This is also a wink from Shahin Cassam Chenai, Menakao’s founder, to remind of his family first activities in a beginning of the 19th century.
