We think it’s important to know where your chocolate comes from and how it was made, from bean to bar.
The map above shows the country of origin of the cacao found in Chocablog reviews, where specified by the manufacturer. Click a red pin to read reviews of chocolate made with beans from that country.
This is only really useful for to single origin chocolate and high end blends, as much of the bulk chocolate produced in the world is made from undisclosed blends of various origins. Unfortunately, it’s also the case that the vast majority of chocolate makers simply don’t specify the origin of the beans they use, although in most cases these chocolates are made form bulk West African beans.
Why is this important?
It’s always a good thing to know where your food comes from, but chocolate has particular ethical and sustainability issues that make it important to know the origin of what you’re eating.
Most confectionery is made with bulk chocolate that is sold as a commodity on international markets. With every purchase and sale of this commodity, the original source becomes harder to trace and a middle man gets a cut. We believe farmers should always get a fair price for what they produce, and that process starts with us as consumers knowing exactly what we’re buying.
We hope this cocoa bean origin map will become a useful resource for those wanting to know a little more about where their chocolate comes from, and maybe encourage chocolate makers to be a little bit more open.
Related: See our cocoa solids chart.
Common Origins
These are the most commonly featured cacao origins in Chocablog reviews: