- The ahead was key a part of Chelsea squad which gained 2012 Champions League
- His ex-team-mates have gone into teaching however he has chosen a distinct path
- The 39-year-old hopes to someday see his merchandise in shops proper throughout the UK
Salomon Kalou tasted candy success at Chelsea, profitable the Champions League, Premier League, the League Cup and 4 FA Cups and now the previous ahead is venturing into the chocolate enterprise.
The Ivorian scored 60 targets in his six seasons at Stamford Bridge through the trophy-laden Roman Abramovich period, ending his profession in west London on a excessive by lifting the European Cup after the Blues’ 2012 conquer Bayern Munich on the German membership’s house stadium.
And reasonably than pursue a profession on punditry or teaching — like his former team-mates Frank Lampard and John Terry — Kalou is trying to make a splash within the confectionery market.
The model is known as Oume, named after his birthplace, with Kalou eager to emphasize the significance of his homeland within the chocolate world. The Ivory Coast produces 45 per cent of the world’s cocoa, chocolate’s key ingredient.
‘My uncle had a cocoa farm and I grew up across the farm and between faculty and on the weekend we’d be serving to him,’ Kalou informed The Telegraph.
‘Rising up, I don’t bear in mind consuming chocolate and didn’t know what it was. It’s costly. It’s extra of a privilege, for individuals who can afford to purchase it as a result of it’s costly.
Salomon Kalou scores for Chelsea towards Benfica through the 2012 Champions League-winning marketing campaign, one in all seven trophies the Ivorian gained in his six years at Stamford Bridge
Kalou enjoys the Blues’ Champions League open-bus parade by way of London alongside (from left) John Obi Mikel, proprietor Roman Abramovich Jose Bosingwa and captain John Terry
The 39-year-old can be a legend for nation, Ivory Coast, for whom he scored 24 targets
‘Individuals don’t know what they make of their farms is for chocolate. However we have now an enormous proportion of the manufacturing. We even have nice footballers.
‘To make a comparability between the 2, a product can come out of Ivory Coast and go international. A footballer could be born in Oume and are available to Chelsea and win the Champions League, could be international.’
Kalou is eager to advertise Oume as a luxurious model, branching his cocoa out into different merchandise and hopes to someday see his chocolate in among the UK’s most prestigious outlets.
‘In the future I’d prefer to see Oume in Waitrose, Selfridges, or Harrods. That may be a proud second.
‘It’s a powerful market with the worth of cocoa rising because of excessive climate and under-investment.’
Kalou, who additionally loved spells at Lille, Hertha Berlin and Feyenoord, gained the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015 and is barely behind Didier Drogba (63) with 24 targets for his nation.
