Founded in January 2016, Casa Kakau — based in Kalekovets, near Plovdiv — has established itself as Bulgaria's first artisan bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer. The family business was launched by Ivan Ilchev and his wife Ivalina, both with a marketing background. Today the company employs twelve staff and three executives, with Ivan Ilchev serving as CEO.
The company's origins lie in a personal challenge: when the Ilchevs' son Veselin was diagnosed with multiple food intolerances, the family developed a chocolate recipe based exclusively on natural ingredients. This approach — minimal ingredients, maximum purity — became the foundation of the entire brand.
All Casa Kakau products are vegan and free from lecithin, lactose, gluten, preservatives, and artificial additives. The name itself reflects this philosophy: "Casa" ("home") stands for the family spirit behind every product, while "Ka'kau" references the Mayan word for the cacao fruit, underlining the centrality of the raw ingredient. What began as a solution for one family soon resonated far beyond their immediate circle, driven by word of mouth and a growing appetite for clean-label confectionery.
Sourcing and Production
For nearly all its chocolate varieties, Casa Kakau uses high-quality Ecuadorian cacao sourced from a farmers' cooperative in the Esmeraldas region. The cocoa beans are cultivated using agroforestry methods, naturally fermented, and sun-dried before being shipped to Bulgaria.
The company operates on a direct and fair trade basis, ensuring transparent supply chains and fair remuneration for farmers, while explicitly excluding child labour. Every production step — from roasting the beans to the finished bar — is carried out in-house, making the process 100% bean-to-bar.
A Wide and Distinctive Product Range
The Casa Kakau portfolio is divided into several categories:
- Chocolate tablets — 50%
- Chocolate dragées — 15%
- Drinking chocolate — 10%
- Cocoa powder and raw cacao — 10%
- Natural bars — 5%
- Spreads — 5%
- Cocoa husk tea — 5%
Highlights from the chocolate bar range include a craft chocolate with raspberry and pistachio, a variety with three types of nuts, a craft vegan white chocolate with pistachio and lemon, and an extra dark 100% chocolate. For consumers avoiding sugar, a dedicated sugar-free line sweetened with stevia includes varieties such as a dark 100% sugar-free chocolate and an artisanal no-added-sugar chocolate with strawberry and coconut.
Two products stand out as genuine market novelties: Casa Kakau offers the only 100% natural Bulgarian drinking chocolate, as well as a flavoured cocoa husk tea — a category that remains largely untapped across European markets.
Best Sellers: Freeze-Dried Fruits and Bulgarian Rose
According to CEO Ivan Ilchev, the strongest-selling products across all categories are those featuring freeze-dried fruits. Products incorporating Bulgarian rose also enjoy considerable international demand — particularly in Asia, where they account for more than 40% of total sales volume in those markets.
International Reach and Recognition
Bulgaria represents 70% of total sales, with the remaining 30% generated through exports. Casa Kakau currently supplies markets in Austria, the Czech Republic, Moldova, North Macedonia, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
Notably, the company has passed the stringent border controls and laboratory testing required to access both the South Korean and Japanese markets — a mark of product quality that Ilchev cites with particular pride.
Domestically, Casa Kakau distributes through a combination of traditional wholesale partners, online sales, and white-label production for third-party brands. The company has received prestigious awards and international recognition at competitions in the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Bulgaria — underlining its standing as a serious player in the European craft chocolate market.
Source: International magazine, author Dr. Henriette Ullmann
