The Nib

Origin Trip #50: Davao, Philippines

A Momentous Occasion in Direct Trade: 50 Origin Trips (And Counting)!  After a smooth 40-hour journey Shawn arrived in the Philippines and got right to work. On Monday, Shawn spent the day working ...

Origin Trip #49: Tanzania 2023

Chocolate University Returns To Mababu, Tanzania Our Chocolate University business immersion program students just returned from spending a week in Mababu, Tanzania- truly the trip of a lifetime. T...

Origin Trips #47 & #48: Ecuador- 2023

Shawn returned to Ecuador four years to the WEEK after being unable to travel there due to political unrest and the pandemic. It was a trip of sweet reunions, profit share meetings, chocolate tasti...

Origin Trip #46: Davao, Philippines- 2023

After traveling for over 40 hours, I was thankful to arrive safely in Davao City. It was good to be back in a place I know so well, and that is so near to my heart. We've been sourcing cocoa beans,...

Origin Trip #45: Mababu, Tanzania- 2022

It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years. It feels like it’s been so much longer, but when I go and visit our origins, I feel the same sense of awe that I felt at the beginning. It’s always a hard t...

Fourteen Years of Direct Trade And Counting

This month marks our fourteenth & most challenging year of practicing direct trade and sharing profits to source premium cocoa beans from smallholder cocoa farmers across the globe.  

Origin Trip #44: Mababu, Tanzania- 2019

This years’ profit share was one of our biggest ever because it was a great year for sales of chocolate made with their beans. We always couple the profit share with tasting chocolate, which Lawren...

Origin Trip #43: Zamora, Amazonia- 2019

Monica, our lead farmer partner in Zamora, Amazonia, holds the single origin chocolate bar (now featuring a 2019 Good Food Award emblem!!) made with her co-op’s beans.

Origin Trip #42: Del Tambo, Ecuador- 2019

This was Shawn’s fourteenth visit with Vitaliano; we’ve been buying outstanding Arriba Nacional cocoa beans to make our Ecuador chocolate bars from his small family farm since 2006!! The morning ...

Origin Trip #41: Davao, Philippines- 2019

This year marks our eleventh anniversary of being the first chocolate makers in the world to export cocoa from the Philippines, and of collaboration with our lead farmer partner, Peter Cruz.  Toge...