Part 1 of STIMY's episode with Ning-Geng Ong - a farmer, chocolate marker, flavour fanatic and founder of Chocolate Concierge & Culture Cacao, where he makes incredible single-origin Malaysian chocolate. 

In this episode, Ning shares his journey from majoring in physics and computer science, to founding a business in chocolate making. In particular, what it is like working with the indigenous community (including stories involving tigers, a durian thief and a murder!).

Highlights:

• 2:31: Loving the outdoors (the dangers of being a boy scout!)
• 5:52: Backpacking in Europe
• 6:59: Doing programming work
• 11:53: Diving into the world of fermentation
• 17:37: Why chocolate making stood out
• 21:39: Cocoa seeds taste like.. Unicorn milk?!
• 24:26: Obsessing over creating Malaysian single origin flavour
• 25:08: Chocolate-making process
• 26:33: Creating the universe
• 27:08: Why Ning struggled to find reliable cocoa beans
• 30:13: Starting Culture Cacao
• 32:11: Living with the Semai community
• 38:38: Tigers
• 40:15: Durian thief!
• 44:17: Not having a contractual arrangement with the indigenous community
• 49:08: Struggling to get cocoa beans from the indigenous community
• 50:52: Giving up?

Stay tuned for PART 2 of Ning's episode, coming out this Wednesday!

📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/50-1 

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