Haitian chocolate brand AYITIKA delights visitors at New York’s Salon du Chocolat | Photos

By William Farrington
NEW YORK—AYITIKA, a Haitian chocolate company, had a successful stint at the Salon du Chocolat in New York from March 21 to 23, drawing in attendees with its award-winning flavors and Haiti-grown ingredients.

The company, founded in 2016 by Jean Chesnel Jean in Haiti’s southern region of Les Cayes, showcased its artisanal chocolates at the international fair, where over 70 exhibitors from 16 countries gathered at the Jacob Javits Center. With its plantation-to-bar approach, AYITIKA partners with 2,500 Haitian farming families to produce high-quality cocoa, ensuring that every ingredient in its chocolates is sourced directly from Haiti.

Matsah Jean, who works in marketing for AYITIKA and is the daughter of the founder, said sampling was the key to strong sales.

“I think people really liked it. We had some really good responses from people trying our samples,” she said. 

“That’s how we got a lot of people to buy—because they tasted before buying it. And when they taste it, they just are like, ‘Oh, this is so good.’ And after that, they buy it. We made a lot of sales yesterday, even if it was slow, but we still made a lot of sales.”

Among the standout offerings was AYITIKA’s dark chocolate infused with guava, a fruit grown in the company’s own gardens. The flavor, which has won gold and silver medals in Paris in 2020, 2022, and 2024, was the best seller at the fair.

“Everything is growing in the garden. It’s pure—nothing added, really, just dark chocolate with the fruit or any flavor we put. But the guava one, we won the Gold Gourmet in Paris for it,” Matsah said.

Many attendees were drawn to AYITIKA’s booth, eager to sample the company’s all-natural, Haiti-grown chocolates. Among them was Becky, a New Yorker celebrating her birthday, who especially enjoyed the guava-infused dark chocolate. Her friend Sarah, also intrigued by AYITIKA’s story, found the coffee-flavored chocolate “very rich.” Their reactions mirrored those of many visitors who, after tasting the samples, eagerly made purchases,

Manning the booth alongside Matsah and Jean Chesnel Jean was Reessendy Saint Paul, who helped introduce attendees to AYITIKA’s products. The strong response at the Salon du Chocolat is another step in the company’s mission to continue to bring Haiti’s cocoa to the world.

Below are photos of AYITIKA’s booth at Salon du Chocolat  New York 2025.

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