Today we visited Sibö Chocolate, where we learned about the history of chocolate and got to taste how chocolate evolved throughout history! Our host George Soriano is originally from South Florida and quit his day to day job to develop a gourmet chocolate company, along with his co-owner, Julio Fernandez Amón. We learned that chocolate actually started as a drink that was used for its medicinal properties and its beans were used as a form of currency. While I know chocolate as the tasty treat that it is today, it was extremely interesting to learn about its rich history and how it became what it is today.

As we learned about the history of chocolate, we also learned how Sibö Chocolate developed into the gourmet, sustainable business that it is. Similar to Café Britt, that we visited earlier this trip, Sibö Chocolate focuses on maintaining a high quality product as well as using sustainable practices. Both coffee and chocolate come from a fruit and only a small portion of that fruit is actually used in production. Additionally, chocolate and coffee are both stimulants. Given that coffee and chocolate are extremely similar, places like Café Britt sell both. This makes it difficult for businesses like Sibö Chocolate to compete because Café Britt has such a wide variety of products and can be a one stop shop. However, Sibö Chocolate maintains their commitment to quality, works to get their name out there, and researches to find their target market. Small businesses, like Sibö Chocolate, can compete with Café Britt by targeting a different market segment. While finding their target market is easier said than done, continuous exposure to different groups and years of research will help them compete against major brands.

Similarly to coffee and all of the other tropical agriculture we have studied, chocolate production can be impacted by uncontrollable factors, like the weather. In addition to the challenges of the weather, Sibö Chocolate has the challenge of being a small business that does not necessarily have the resources to ship their products internationally as easy as larger brands. Therefore, it is important that they continue to grow their brand domestically and gradually work on growing their presence internationally. Soriano shared that they sell some products in California, and that is a good step into the U.S. market.

Lastly, it would not be fair to end the blog without sharing my opinions on some of the chocolate! I was definitely surprised by some of the flavor combinations that we tried. For example, we tried a basil and lime chocolate that was weirdly good? The basil flavor definitely surprised me, but it left a sweet lime after taste in your mouth. Additionally, when we were eating a chocolate bar, he told us about how depending on where the chocolate is on your tongue impacts the flavor. If the chocolate was on the tip of your tongue, it had a fruity taste, the sides had a more citrusy taste, and the back was more bitter. Ultimately, it was interesting getting to try all of the different chocolates and learn more about chocolate production as well as history.