Today we visited Sibo Chocolate to learn all about chocolate history and to also taste some of Sibo’s chocolates. The Sibo Chocolate company started in 2008 when two men named Julio and George quit their day jobs and traveled to Europe to study with Chocolate masters. Julio met with us today and walked us through the history of chocolate as well as how Sibo continues to run their business today. We also got to try a few bonbons and other pieces of chocolate along the way, which was my favorite part. When comparing what we learned today about the production of chocolate to what we have been learning recently about the coffee making process, there are a lot of similarities. For example, different types of coffee roasts depend on how long the beans are roasted for, and different types of chocolate depend on various proportions of cacao.

Both the coffee and chocolate industries focus on quality and sustainability, using beans that are grown at local plantations. One of the most notable characteristics of the Sibo Chocolate company is their mission to make their company as sustainable as possible. A prominent example of this is their packaging, which is made from recycled cacao bean husks. All cacao beans come with a husk that is peeled off to separate it from the actual cacao nibs. The husk has a paper-type feeling to it, so Sibo recycles it to make paper for packaging, as well as boiling and grinding the husks to make paper boxes. As a result, the boxes are 95% cacao shell, and 5% recycled paper. Julio explained that while this process is expensive, they do it because they believe in recycling and making their products more sustainable for the environment. Similar to how Cafe Britt reuses the old parchment from the coffee beans for paper, this shows how these Costa Rican companies really care about the environment here and try not to waste much, while also being energy efficient.

In terms of the chocolate supply chain, there are many challenges. A significant challenge is the high price of cacao. This price keeps increasing, causing trouble for farmers because as a result they will struggle to make ends meet. Growing cacao is good for the environment, and it grows under the shade of other trees. However, if farmers are making little money for their work, this leads to a lack of motivation as they will not want to produce cacao anymore. While chocolate producing companies will pay for the cacao, stores that actually sell the chocolate products often keep the prices around the same amount. This is one of two issues in the chocolate supply chain, the other being climate change. This relates to the place we ate lunch at, Riverside, where they grow all of their produce or buy from local businesses to provide the most authentic food. Climate change will affect their crops and as a result will affect their end product. This shows how the chocolate supply chain has many risks but they need to be consistently monitored in order to continue producing the chocolate products we all know and love.