 
Pré Lafont Chemin de l'Espinasse
05230 Prunières
France
18 impasse SURCOUF
97442 Saint Philippe
France
Located in Saint-Philippe on the Souffleur d'Arbonne terroir, Franck Morel's 7.5-hectare agricultural garden has been certified Organic since 2006. His cocoa is transformed into 75% dark chocolate of the Trinitario variety.
Bitasyon Bio is a family farm. Since 2018, Franck Morel has been growing traditional Réunion produce such as turmeric, vanilla, palm kernels and exotic fruits.
He is also interested in different crops such as cocoa, which he harvests and transforms with masterful know-how, from the cabosse (the famous cocoa bean) to the finest chocolate.
His production is stampedEsprit parc national - La Réunion : chocolate bars made from 75% cocoa and cane sugar, Trinitario variety, fermented for 6 days and roasted for 20 min at 129°C.
"For me, chocolate on Reunion Island should remain artisanal to add real value. If associations and farmers are interested in producing cocoa, we could have a beautiful production here and create a new product with Réunion's identity"says Franck Morel.
In Saint-Philippe, on the Souffleur d'Arbonne terroir, Bitasyon Bio is a family farm that has been certified in Organic Agriculture since 2006. On 7.5 hectares, Franck and Benoît Morel use agroforestry to grow fruit, vegetables, spices and vanilla, reintroducing endemic species to recreate a balanced ecosystem.
Committed to traditional recipes, they transform their harvests into jams, syrups, achards, powders and even chocolate, recognized as the 1,500ᵉ Esprit national park-marked product in France.
In their store, accessible to all, you'll find their creations but also other products from the Volcan massif, in a spirit of sharing and promoting the territory.
Here, we don't exploit. We cultivate and enhance our farmland.
We cultivate what grows in Saint-Philippe, we don't force things. So fruit trees, spices too, but also endemics, because for us endemics have their place on agricultural land. These are the first trees that were here before us, so it's important to reintroduce them and create an ecosystem that will balance itself.
We produce, but we also add value to our produce, whether it's jams, achards, syrups, but also anything with a vanilla base, as well as spices like turmeric or ginger.
We decided to use traditional recipes, but also to rework them to offer something new.
All our products are branded.
And for chocolate, we had the nice surprise of being the 1,500ᵉ Esprit parc nationalmarked product in France, so it's a great source of pride!
Cocoa must be grown in agroforestry: it needs trees to protect it, particularly from the wind and sun. It's not easy at first, and production remains very low.
My father was a pioneer in cocoa planting. He planted our first trees some fifteen years ago, and that's where I got my feet wet.
Today, we also take care of the chocolate-making side of things, transforming the cocoa beans into chocolate ourselves. We're totally self-taught, but our chocolate is starting to gain recognition.
 
 
18 impasse SURCOUF
97442 Saint Philippe
France
 
18 impasse SURCOUF
97442 Saint Philippe
France