Today we made a visit to Sibö Chocolate where we learned a lot about the history of chocolate itself and more about how they get their products to shelves. It shares surprising similarities with coffee. Both have long histories, involve careful processing from seed to final product, and face challenges tied to climate change, labor practices, and global supply chains.
Like coffee, chocolate starts with fermentation. At Sibö, we learned that cacao seeds ferment until they “die,” then get dried, roasted, and cracked open to reveal the nibs inside. These nibs are ground into the chocolate we know today, but for centuries, chocolate was only consumed as a drink. It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution, with the help of powdered milk (originally invented to fight infant mortality), that chocolate became the solid bar form we know and love today.
Chocolate and coffee have both been deeply tied to colonial trade, cultural rituals, and now, mass marketing. They share global supply chains that heavily rely on Africa, the largest producer of the world’s cacao. That creates a major challenge: maintaining ethical, sustainable practices in an industry known for labor exploitation and environmental damage.
Sibö tackles these issues head on. Instead of chasing mass production like brands such as Britt, they focus on small scale, high quality production with ethical sourcing. They even use cacao husks to increase sustainability in their packaging to reduce waste. They started expanding by partnering with hotels and bookstores, then expanded to online sales and international markets in the U.S. and Japan. They are very selective with who they work with, looking for partners who believe in their business and share the same values.
It is not easy for small businesses to compete against already established ones, but Sibö embraces what makes them different. While larger brands sell convenience and scale, Sibö sells authenticity, education and experience. Their chocolate most definitely tells a story.
