CE 2025 Annual Results Report web

SUCCESS STORY

CHOKO LAKAY

DHL GoTrade’s The Art of Logistics (2024), the Facilitating Trade and Investment between the Caribbean and Africa webinar (2024), Standards and Certification Webinar: EU Market Entry – Understanding the Sustainability Standards and Certifications (2025), and Agroalimentaria 2025. Together, these initiatives helped position the firm to better understand export requirements, strengthen its business systems, and engage international markets. A major turning point came with Choko Lakay’s participation in SIAL Paris 2022, where the company was among 14 firms selected to showcase under Caribbean Export support. According to co-owner Brisly Germéus, the trade fair gave the company critical exposure to the realities of the global marketplace, including buyer expectations around requirements, standards, packaging, and labelling. It also created valuable opportunities to connect with investors, importers, distributors, ingredient suppliers, and other commercial partners. The company notes that this experience directly influenced improvements to its packaging and presentation, helping align its products more closely with international standards and increasing buyer interest. “SIAL enabled us to discover the global market—its requirements, standards, packaging and labelling. We also met investors, importers, distributors, ingredient suppliers and other partners. As a result, we saw growing demand first in Europe and then in North America.” The impact of that international exposure has continued to unfold. Following its participation in Caribbean Export-supported trade and capacity-building activities, Choko Lakay reported stronger interest in its 100% natural cocoa products from overseas buyers. More recently, participation in Agroalimentaria 2025 generated commercial interest from Martinique, Canada, the United States of America, and The Bahamas. The company has since secured orders from buyers in the USA and Canada, while retail buyers in Martinique are exploring distribution arrangements. Choko Lakay now sells both directly and through e-commerce, widening its reach and improving access to new customer segments. The company has also benefited from the broader ecosystem-building effects of trade promotion. Relationships formed through these platforms have led to new collaborations, including engagement with Café 509, where shared networks, workspaces, and distributors are helping to unlock further opportunities. These connections underscore the value of Caribbean Export’s programming not only in linking firms to buyers, but also in fostering commercial partnerships that can support scaling and market entry. Beyond export growth, Choko Lakay’s business has a strong development impact. The company is committed to strengthening the cocoa/chocolate value chain and currently works with approximately 500 cocoa producers, the majority of whom are women. The company also highlights its wider sustainability ambitions, including a zero-waste production model, efforts to improve traceability, and ongoing work toward Fairtrade certification with FLOCERT and organic certification with ECOCERT. These efforts reflect the type of resilience, innovation, and inclusive growth that Caribbean Export seeks to foster through its SME support programmes. While demand is rising, Choko Lakay has identified production capacity as its main constraint. The company reports receiving requests from markets such as the United Kingdom and France, but notes that limited equipment and financing are restricting its ability to scale output and fulfil larger export orders. For this reason, continued support through MSME assistance programmes remains critical to helping the business convert market interest into sustained export growth. Choko Lakay’s journey illustrates the importance of sustained, multi-layered support in helping Caribbean MSMEs move from potential to performance. Through Caribbean Export’s interventions in trade promotion, standards, logistics, digital visibility, and investment readiness, the company has strengthened its export capability, improved its market positioning, and opened new commercial pathways. As it continues to scale, Choko Lakay stands as an example of how Caribbean firms can leverage strategic support to build internationally competitive brands while generating tangible benefits for local producers and communities.

62 | CARIBBEAN EXPORT ANNUAL RESULTS REPORT 2025