A simple photo of a chocolate maker with Samuel Maruta at a chocolate event, followed by a hug icon, on Facebook. Almost I wanted to reply him that it’s indeed such a shame that events are not possible now. But then it hits me… No, this does not mean what I think it means, no? A quick look on the Facebook page of Samuel…
Shock. Disbelief. Sadness…
One of my all time chocolate heroes is no longer amongst us.
You have been a constant presence from the day I discovered origin chocolate. You and Vincent, in the audience of a Friis Holm tasting during the Origin chocolate event in Amsterdam, 2013. Two excited guys, discussing the difficulties of making chocolate in the tropical setting of Vietnam. A year later, you were on stage yourself, presenting Vietnamese chocolate. Later that day, a tasting, where you slipped me a preproduction sample of the Dak Lak bar. Just for me, the reviewer, you said with a big wink.
Samuel Maruta was one of the warmest people I got to meet in the chocolate world. Always enthousiastic about their product and cocoa. Always smiling. Your chocolate dream started out with small machines in a small building – Two engineers making chocolate in Vietnam. By now Marou is a well established name in the chocolate world, supplier of prestigious customers such as michelin star chefs and airlines. And yet, your products have maintained the same exceptional quality as we in the chocolate world came to expect. You remained the same lovable person, admired by an entire community. You have touched the life of your customers, but even more importantly, you also changed the life of the people you worked with to create Marou as a brand and its products. At the origin of the used cocoa beans. Creating a significant impact on all of the families involved.
Goodbye Samuel. You will be missed by so many people all around the world, who were close to you. But know that you have not only touched the lives of those close to you. You were an inspiration in the chocolate world. I’m confident you will remain an inspration to so many for a very long time to come. We will all remember you, every time we see or taste a Marou product…. or even sip a glass of Armagnac in my case. I salute you.
My deepest condoleances to the family, Vincent Mourou, friends and co-workers of Samuel. And to the chocolate world in total.
We will miss you!
