Cacao grows in close proximity to the Equator, so we won’t be growing it in Scotland any time soon! But it is our privilege to work directly with some outstanding producers who reside in sunnier climates. All of the cacao we source is from South and Central America, the origin of the Theobroma Cacao plant. Cacao has been growing wild in South America for much longer than humans have roamed the earth.
It is central to our ethos as environmentally responsible and ethically driven people to ensure that all the ingredients and materials we source are part of bio-diverse agricultural ecosystems, and that the social impact of our activity is beneficial to those communities involved. All our endeavours must be to reduce unnecessary negative impact on people and the environment and encourage positive sustainable ways of life, fairness, and equality.
All the cacao we turn into chocolate is only grown in an agro-forestry environment; that means it is grown as a companion to other plants and wildlife which will protect and encourage biodiversity. The cacao can be part of regenerative forestry plan, or wild, but it must not the cause of any deforestation, in particular of primary rain-forest.
Above and beyond paying a good price, we expect our partners to be actively engaged with other effective initiatives to improve quality of life for farming communities. The partners we pay for cacao are typically responsible (amongst other things) for the collection of wet cacao from farms, fermentation and drying of the cacao, then delivery to us in Scotland.
During our visits to origin we have got to know better the farms and individuals who are behind the scenes working to bring us excellent cacao; whilst maintaining the environmental and ethical standards we expect. You can read our travel journals to various origins below.
Hard to believe that 6 years had passed since we visited South America. We were in San Francisco at The Craft Chocolate Experience, a meeting of the worlds finest makers all together celebrating cacao when the pandemic began. What followed was life changing and we stopped travelling for longer than the pandemic lasted; we were …
In 2019 Ali made a visit to Santa Marta in Northern Colombia to visit Jose of Cacao Hunters and the Arhuaco community in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
In 2018 Ali joined Erik Hammar from Kakaw.se to visit Emily Stone of Uncommon Cacao in Punto Gorda Belize! B-Corp Certified Uncommon Cacao are doing exemplary work in Belize, we love their annual Transparency Report, you can find it here!
With Erik and Emma of Kakaw.se and Anders Prien of Original Beans, Ali visited Hugo Chavez, the owner of Agrofloresta in Tabasqueno. We toured Hugo’s beautiful and bio-diverse demonstration farm and the accompanying post harvest facilities which were all up to a very high standard. The fermentation methods were well documented and consistent. It was …
Ali and Friederike took the Chocolate Tree team to visit Luis Mancini of Cacao Tales in Piura, Peru. This was an all round fantastic trip despite some challenges, we managed to make it to Chililique and the surrounding farms. It was so good to have some of the team experience cacao in the field with …
A short film from various cacao sourcing trips… Including Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Madagascar.
I was the first chocolate maker to visit Chililique but I doubt I will be the last. This trip gave me valuable insights, i was able to glimpse how the land is being managed & what the eco system is like. Non-plantation style farming like they have in Chililique is incredibly positive for the environment, …
In September 2016 Ali made the first trip out to meet with Don Aldemar Guzman, who was the farmer behind our Colombian Huila origin chocolate. We stopped working with Gran Colombia after the passing of our partner there, Alex, who was able to bring Aldemar’s cacao to us in Scotland.
Friederike, Fortunato & Roslyn In April 2016 we made a return trip to the Marañón Canyon in Northern Peru where Dan Pearson and Brian Horsley established ‘Marañón Chocolate’. This time we took along our 7 year old daughter Roslyn, it was her first trip to South America. We all had an amazing experience that brought …
Antananarivo Arrived in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, at 2am. Taxi wound its way through the dark streets to our admittedly posh hotel where we slept until 11am before heading towards the factory of Chocolat Robert. These guys make the non-deodorised cocoa butter we use in all our Madagascar chocolate. It’s a wonderful aromatic butter, adding …
Arrived in Quito, Ecuador, yesterday at 10am. By 1pm I was eating Guinea pig at the centre of the world with our Ecuadorian partner…
An armed woman in camouflage outfit and shades looks me in the eye and asks in a no bullshit way if I am carrying more than $10,000 in cash, I say “no”, she says in a steel voice “Welcome to Colombia”.
Day 1 Arrived in Lima. It’s big and noisy but not too hot, the people are gentle and friendly, and it’s cheap. Been listening to combi VW style vans packed with locals tooting through till the wee hours of the morning. What I can remember of Spanish has served us well so far. Will spend …
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