What does chocolate grown in Singapore taste like?

Chocolatier Janice Wong has planted more than 500 cacao trees here

- Cherie Lok

When I take my first bite of pastry chef Janice Wong's Singapore single-origin chocolate, I think instantly of tea. Light, sour, fruity, almost citrusy even. It tastes nothing like the rich nutty bars made from Indonesian or Filipino cacao.

Another plate is set down on the table. On it lies a pile of crusty coffee-coloured shards bearing an earthy quality reminiscent of cinnamon. This chocolate, like its fruitier counterpart, was made with cacao grown in Singapore. The main difference is that it was fermented in less humid conditions.

These bars, not yet for sale, are part of the award-winning chef's ongoing experiment to prove that it is possible for Singapore to produce chocolates made from beans grown, harvested and ground locally.

In 2021, she was given 70 cacao trees by a friend - and dreamed of planting 930 more. Three years later, more than 500 of these trees have found homes here, despite the Republic's limited supply of land.

Cacao trees are not planted along Singapore's streets because it produces hard fruit pods, which can be heavy and cause obstructions when shed along roads and walking paths, says Mr Oh Cheow Sheng, the National Parks Board's group director of streetscape. These small trees also do not provide enough shade or an appropriate green buffer between the roads and residential areas.

Finding takers for the trees was not easy. But the project has now taken root all around the island: saplings have been planted at restaurants in Dempsey, a church in Dhoby Ghaut, the Belgian ambassador's residence, private homes in Bukit Timah, and various other locations.

It has taken a lot of time, money and energy, but Wong's efforts have finally borne fruit - quite literally too. As she walks through a grove of 38 trees lining the perimeter of Spectra Secondary School, she pauses along the way to examine the spherical purple pods that dot some of their branches.