There is very little that Amantle Mothusi-Raikane doesn’t know about chocolate.
Having studied under one of the very best in the business, the 39-year-old is putting her expertise to good use, making mouths water with her luxury brand of chocolates.
It is a delicious dream the Mahalapye native first put into action in 2019, when she went to train under world-renowned chocolate chef, Minnet.
A year later, ‘ChocDew by Ama’ was born, Raikane digging into her own pocket to set-up the choccy company, naming the business after the ‘Kgawa’ morning dewdrops that famously form near her home village.
“Dew drops bring along refreshment and a quench of thirst to many hence likening it to our chocolates, which quenches any chocolate thirst one may have!” explained the chocolatier.
After a steady start, the enterprise suffered a setback when the pandemic hit.
“The business started in 2020, operating from Game City kiosk until Covid took a knock on us. We then took a break to re-strategize and resumed operations in 2024,” revealed Raikane, a Computer Scientist by profession.
They have bounced back stronger than ever.
With no cocoa grown locally, Raikane sources her chocolate from Belgium, where it is conched (a process used in the manufacture of chocolate whereby a surface scraping mixer and agitator, known as a conche, evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate). She also imports callets (chocolate morsels designed specifically for melting rather than baking) from an intermediary in South Africa, via Belgium again.
This does not come cheap, and reflects in the chocolates’ slightly pricy shelf price.
Once the raw product arrives in Botswana, from their base in Mogoditshane, Raikane and her trusty team, which currently stands at three employees, get to work, adding their own special touch.
Stocked at Square Mart and PushaBW stores, the high-quality, premium brand comes in three flavours: milk chocolate (33 percent) and two different shades of dark, containing 54 and 70 percent chocolate.
‘ChocDew by Ama’ also specialize in a variety of pralines, including an alcoholic range, with fillings such as amarula, rum, gin and tonic, providing an extra buzz to go with the sugar rush.
The decadent treat features a non-alcoholic line too, with nutty filling, apple, caramel and lemon proving the most popular, adding a special zest that gets the tongue tingling.
“We use only the finest ingredients and do not use oils which alter the quality of the chocolates. Our chocolates have a good snap and perfect shine all the time and mostly the chocolate taste that allows a wide range of pairing options,” declares Raikane proudly.
With the chocolate industry still in its infancy in Botswana, the ‘ChocDew by Ama’ founder believes her establishment is truly in a league of its own, with the main competition coming from imported chocolate products.
The company recently exhibited at both the Forbes Summit in Gaborone and the Business Botswana Northern Trade Fair in Francistown, proving a hit with the public.
This chocolate-loving reporter can personally vouch for the dark, rich offering, which gives off a strong aroma and a lasting taste, the perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee or as a ‘pick-me-up’ treat.
Going forward, Raikane plans to list with more high-end retail stores and partner with various corporate, having ‘ChocDew by Ama’ as their token of appreciation or care package.
