More and more Belgian chocolatiers going from bean to bar

The production process that turns the cocoa bean into a chocolate bar requires many intermediary steps and involves multinational corporations. 

More and more chocolatiers all over the world now want to take the whole process in their own hands. Their raw material of choice is not liquid factory-supplied ‘couverture chocolate’ delivered in large cisterns, but cocoa beans which they personally select in the South. This growing group of artisanal chocolatiers – known as the bean-to-bar movement – resolutely targets quality rather than mass production and looks for top-range beans with exquisite flavours. 

Their work mostly results in a good relationship with cocoa growers and fair pay for the growers’ tough labour.

A new publication of the Trade for Development Centre