Sweet victory: How chocolate-makers overcame the Syrian war

In defiance of war and sanctions, Wouters Chocolate Boutique opened in January in the Abu Roumaneh diplomatic quarter of Damascus. This is the latest venture of Dutch woman Nicole Wouters and her Syrian husband Anas al-Jazayri who have carried on making chocolates through dangerous and lean times and have, with the opening of the boutique, achieved Wouters’s dream. At her elegantly decorated cafe-shop, customers can sit at small tables inside or outside on the patio, drink tall glasses of chocolate or sip tiny cups of coffee while sampling chocolates served on a delicate dish.

Wouters and al-Jazayri met in 1992 in a cafe in Amsterdam, married and had two boys. Wouters’s grandmother made artisan chocolates and she had always wanted to follow her example and open a chocolate cafe. Al-Jazayri, who studied business and had been in importing paper products and publishing, switched to chocolates. Now their oldest son, Jad – who initially opted for law – is chief chocolatier.

Al-Jazayri says Syrians learned to make chocolate from the French who ruled the country from 1923-1946. “Syria has been making chocolates, establishing chocolate shops and exporting chocolates for 100 years.”

Before the war, the couple invested in a factory making upmarket chocolates for domestic and foreign markets. The factory was in Qadam, a historic southern suburb of Damascus located on the pilgrimage route to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The factory was destroyed in fighting between government forces and al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra and Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army fighters.

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[ Ten years ago: Visit to a chocolate shop in war-torn Damascus ]

Wouters and al-Jazayri started over in early 2012 in a garage in Abu Roumaneh. I met them and wrote about them for The Irish Times in an article published on May 9th, 2023, 10 years ago. At that time, their Chocolate Lab had few customers. Most foreigners had left, and many embassies had closed, war raged in Damascus’ suburbs, mortars fired by a collection of armed groups crashed on to streets, buildings, and parks, and Syrian air force planes roared overhead on bombing missions in the suburbs.

Wouters has survived and the Chocolate Lab has been replaced by a new manufacturing operation. The boutique has a steady stream of daily customers and fills large orders for feasts, weddings, and presentations by firms. For Eid al-Fitr, which ended the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, there were tabletop sized boxes of chocolates in rainbow wrappings arranged in mosaic patterns displayed on every flat surface in the boutique. For the mass market Wouters also produces chocolate sandwiches, chocolate covered biscuits filled with jam paste, crunchy chocolate bars, wafer bars, and cookies, under the Snob label.

“We have no problems getting raw materials and exporting. We get the best cacao, cocoa butter, and milk. The central bank is under sanctions, butwe can get around sanctions, ” says Al-Jazayri

He adds: “Syria is not allowed to rebuild. We will not rebuild in my time. Who will rebuild the country? Nobody puts money into the country, [people] take money out. Before the war, Syria was self-sufficient for 10-15 years. There was no external debt.”

The war changed things, but Wouters stayed on and is prospering.