The World’s First Bean-To-Bar Map!
The original bean-to-bar chocolate makers map created by Geoseph at The Science Of Chocolate
In 2017 I had a crazy idea. To create something no one has thought of yet for the sole purpose of helping the public better locate and find bean-to-bar chocolate makers around the world.
It encompasses:
bean-to-bar chocolate makers (starting with the unroasted cocoa bean)
tree-to-bar makers (who grown their own cacao trees!)
equipment manufacturers
cacao distributors and growers
and even hybrid makers (those who crate both bean-to-bar products and chocolatier products).
Originally the map also included trade shows, researchers, and retailers, but I have had to tighten my focus in order to maintain the app properly.
The chocolate makers here focus on fine cacao that is also ethically and sustainably sourced. With all the talk about lab chocolate as a solution to the problems in the chocolate industry, few people know real solutions have already been in place for years. Lab-grown chocolate is simply a money making machine brought to you by the same people who created the problems they say they will fix. It’s not a real, long-term solution that truly benefits those in need or our environment. The app focuses on chocolate makers and businesses who put ethics and quality first before profit.
Bean-to-bar chocolate making on small-scale is relatively new. Over 98% of the makers on the map didn’t even exist 20 or 30 years ago. Independently owned bean-to-bar chocolate making was virtually unheard of 2o or 30 years ago. Most chocolate was and still is manufactured by enormous multinational companies. The idea of someone wanting to start a business making chocolate from scratch, from the raw unroasted bean, is very new in our world.
Today, we have chocolate makers represent in Africa, Asia, South America, and in places where cacao was simply grown and exported at a very low cost. Bean-to-bar chocolate making allows people in these regions to make their own chocolate, adding value to their own cacao, and also adding their own style and cultural preferences creating chocolate in unique and innovated ways.
I created this map in 2017 and by 2019/2020 eventually became an app! I built it from scratch, and with my own funding and resources. The app is free to use, and free to be hosted all. If you are a business on the app, or greatly appreciate the work I’ve put into this to support the craft of chocolate making, please consider making a small donation to show your support. A little will go a long way.
Download the bean-to-bar chocolate maker’s app today! Discover incredible makers local to your city or country. Use the app when you travel to discover new makers with different styles and flavours. Explore the world of single-origin dark chocolate, chocolate innovation, and support true chocolate craftsmen around the world. Explore a new world of chocolate you never imagined, and join the chocolate revolution taking place.
