The cacao plant plays an important environmental role in the region, helping to protect local water springs and the wider landscape that supports Pejalin village.
CHOCOLATE may still seem to be an indulgence, but today’s consumers are increasingly paying attention to what sits behind it.
From premium bars to more origin-led products, chocolate is now sold as much on story as on taste.
In Malaysia, that shift is becoming more visible.
The local chocolate confectionery market is projected to reach US$462.1 million (RM1.88 billion at present exchange rate) by 2031, driven by consumers seeking better quality, stronger provenance and more thoughtful indulgence.
As higher cocoa costs push brands towards smaller formats, stronger premium cues and more gift-ready presentation, chocolate is increasingly positioned as an accessible luxury rather than a routine treat.
But long before a premium-quality bar reaches the shelf, a different question takes shape upstream – what makes the cacao worth preserving in the first place?
That question sits at the heart of Pejalin Village in the Bulungan Regency of Indonesia’s North Kalimantan, where a group of women are using cacao processing not only to generate income, but also to protect the landscape around them.
Under the brand ‘Kayan Koa’, the women-led Kita Merong Joint Business Group (KUBE) is turning locally-grown cacao into premium chocolate, while helping keep more of its value within the village.
For Mardiatin, better known as ‘Ibu Yen’, cacao is about more than business.
Pejalin faces mounting pressure from oil palm expansion, with plantations covering around 5,000 hectares, compared with just 1,000 hectares of cacao.
Yet, the latter plays an important environmental role too, helping to protect local water springs and the wider landscape that supports the village.
“At that time, cacao existed in the village, but it was mostly taken by outsiders at low prices.
“The farmers were losing their spirit. We thought, if we could process it right here in the village, the value would be entirely different,” said Ibu Yen.
Ibu Yen sorts the cacao beans.
That opportunity began to open in late 2023, when Pejalin Village received support for green economic development through Indonesia’s Ecological-Based District Budget Transfer (TAKE) programme.
With backing from the village government, the group received cacao-processing equipment in 2024 and began learning the craft from scratch, from selecting the cacao beans to tempering chocolate.
For Ibu Yen, the decision to process cacao locally is also a way of resisting land conversion.
“If cacao had value and the farmers could live off it, they wouldn’t easily abandon their farms.
“This is also about protecting our water and soil,” she stressed.
Founded in 2022, KUBE Kita Merong today processes cacao purchased directly from local farmers into chocolate bars, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and ready-to-brew cocoa products.
Five of the group’s nine members are actively involved in daily production, handling around 300kg of dried cacao beans each month.
This makes Kayan Koa one of the few micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to process cacao entirely from upstream to downstream.
“What differentiates us is that we process all the cacao ourselves until it is finished, not just the chocolate bars.
“The powder and the butter are also from here in Bulungan, so the taste is consistently authentic,” said Ibu Yen.
Maintaining quality, however, remains a constant challenge.
Many farmers still sell unfermented beans because the process takes time, delaying much-needed income and affecting flavour consistency.
“We do not dare take unfermented cacao because it greatly affects the taste and quality.
“Therefore, we must also provide education and insights to farmers so that the processing is correct,” said Ibu Yen.
To improve standards, the group has been working with technical partners including Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), while Universitas Kaltara’s local researchers are exploring innovations such as white chocolate and cacao-husk tea.
These efforts are helping Kayan Koa think beyond a single product and thus, build a more resilient village-based value chain.
The economic impact is already visible.
Kayan Koa buys beans from Pejalin farmers at stable prices of 80,000 to 90,000 Indonesian rupiah (RM18 to RM20) per kilogramme, while monthly turnover has grown from around three million to five million rupiah (RM679 to RM1,132) in its early days, to about 16 million (RM3,622) today.
The processed batch undergoes milling to produce cocoa powder.
The business has also created work for other women and young people in the village, especially during peak production periods.
For Ibu Yen, though, the deeper change is not only about sales.
“Women in the village now have a role, an income, and are involved in development.
“My hope is that our production house could soon be fully established, and that we could deepen our processing training so the quality would remain consistent,” she said.
That wider story is also being carried beyond Pejalin by civil society organisation Pilar Nusantara Association (PINUS), which has helped elevate KUBE Kita Merong through digital platforms on eftindonesia.org, and presented at forums like the Sixth National Conference on Ecological Funding.
By spotlighting community-led initiatives like Kayan Koa, PINUS is helping place women’s enterprise, ecological protection and local value creation within a broader restorative economy movement.
For Malaysia, where premium chocolate is increasingly tied to quality, origin and responsible production, Pejalin offers a timely reminder that what makes chocolate truly premium may begin long before the wrapper.
In this village, cacao is not only creating a better product; it is helping keep water sources protected, livelihoods rooted and more of the value where it began.
The cacao nibs being ground into a paste, preparing it for the next chocolate-making process.
PINUS is focused on strengthening good governance through partnerships between the government, private sector, and community. Since 2006, this organisation has promoted inclusive and sustainable development.
Its programmes include the development of the Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) framework and social forestry initiatives, working to integrate accountability and sustainability into regional government practices across Indonesia.