The truth about bean-to-bar
by teresa nowicki
Explore a new world of chocolate flavours
A new generation of chocolate makers is giving you a never known variety of flavours by sourcing ethically cacao and bringing diversity into a market that was built on slavery and exploitation.
Forget everything you know about chocolate. For generations, we have been sold a lower standard than we deserve by an industry that only cares for profit. The craft chocolate movement is here to change that with an approach that pays back to nature and humans.
What is chocolate?
The bitter taste of chocolate
Whenever you think of chocolate as a sweet treat or as a rich, dark pleasure - what the Mayans used to call food of the gods, today has become a highly processed product. When cacao became a commodity, and industrialization improved, the goal was to create a uniform taste that is available for everyone.
As the demand for chocolate grew, it resulted in deforestation and growing masses of cacao in monocultures. With monocultures came pesticides and overall bad quality of cacao beans. To cover up the bad quality, the cacao beans are roasted very dark. That's why industrial chocolate with a high percentage of cacao tends to taste very bitter. Further, the chocolate is being added stabilizers like soy lecithin and aromas like vanilla.
What if I told you that cacao naturally contains over 400 different aromas? That is more than found in wine or coffee. Most people never get to taste this variety because 60% of the worldwide cacao is being sourced in Ghana and the Ivory Coast and dominated by a handful of big corporations. It's not a secret that the cheap prices for a chocolate bar are being paid with slave labour, often by children.
But a movement of small makers is disrupting the industry. They bring you the best flavours while supporting agroforestry, preserving a diverse range of cacao varieties and setting new standards for fair labour.
It all starts with the bean
Cacao is the fruit of a shade tree. It naturally grows around the equator. The trees can grow along with orange trees, bananas, coconuts, pepper, avocados, vanilla or coffee to name a few. The taste of cacao is influenced by its environment, from the climate to the soil. If these fruits fall off and rot, they nourish the soil. That’s why a chocolate from Madagascar will taste different than one from Ecuador or Vietnam. (Have you ever tasted a bar from Vietnam? Thank me later.)
Farmers can subsist themselves with the fruits that grew along with the cacao and are less dependent on selling only beans.
The Making of a chocolate bar
For the masses
Chocolate making is a complex process. From the fermentation of the beans after the harvest (a step that is often skipped in cheap cacao because it saves time) to the drying and roasting over to tempering the cacao mass and adding sugar - many factors can affect the flavour.
The industrialization of chocolate making led to a product that tastes basically the same everywhere and that has lost all its flavour and unique character.
For the few
Bringing craft into chocolate making is the attention to detail that is dedicated to every step. Small makers source from origins where cacao is still allowed to grow naturally, often from small farms or cooperatives. The beans are being fermented to reduce the bitterness. This takes time, education and quality control. It adds to the export price of the raw beans. Craft makers mostly refrain from using additives and balance out the natural flavours of the cacao bean. Every maker will add their own signature by defining the fermentation process, the melt, the roast and the ingredients.
From the bean to the bar
Setting new standards of accountability
The craft chocolate movement, also known as bean-to-bar, is more than just a term for luxury chocolate. It was meant to bring transparency into the supply chains. Bean to bar refers to keeping the supply chain small and traceable. Where the industry is trying to limit child labour by fair trade, craft chocolate goes the extra mile and does direct trade. Fairtrade is only paying an addition to the volatile market prices of cacao. With direct trade, the makers establish long term contracts and pay stable prices that guarantee a livelihood for the farmers and a secure income even through bad years of harvest.
This way chocolate adds to a new economy, where everyone in the value chain gets a fair share and ends the circle of exploitation.
A secure income is not only the best way to prevent child labour but also give farmers an incentive to grow more sustainably and preserve ancient cacao varieties. All this resulting in a better quality of cacao.
Single Origins & Diversity
Craft chocolate brings a never known diversity of flavours. On the package, you will find the origin where the cacao has been sourced. Sometimes you will find even terms like single plantation. The approach of traceability and highlighting the link to the farmers is an essential part of bean-to-bar chocolate.
Diverse are also chocolate brands. Craft chocolate is an approach to de-colonialization. Swiss or Belgian chocolate is no longer the gold standard for quality. There are excellent chocolate makers coming from Mexico, the Philippines and all over the world. Along with educators and scientists, there is a growing community of chocolate lovers, trying to make the world a little better.
Takeaways
The aim of craft chocolate is to bring diversity - in taste, in the people who run the businesses, in biodiversity. Sustainability and traceability along the value chains improve labour standards.
Your choices matter. Enhance your quality of life by opting for less but better. For every piece of good, handcrafted chocolate that melts in your mouth, a small team of people have put a lot of effort into it and they appreciate your purchase.
I encourage you to try different chocolates from the same maker. Try the same origin from different makers. Explore how different chocolate can taste.
Where to buy good chocolate
If you are looking for good sources:
In Amsterdam, you can find Original Beans and Chocolate Makers at Marqt. Also, check out Cacao & Spice in the Red Light District or Chocolatl in the Jordaan and have a chat with the very skilled and kind staff.
Online shops in Europe:
TrueChox (Cologne, Germany)
Cacao & Spice (Amsterdam)
The Chocolate Shop NL (The Hague)
Cocoa Runners (London)
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