Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #37: DAVAO, PHILIPPINES- 2018
On the first origin trip of 2018 Shawn met with lead farmer, Peter Cruz, pictured here alongside farm manager, Johnny. They inspected our next ship...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #36: MADAGASCAR- 2017
After wrapping up the last week of the 2017 Tanzania origin trip, Shawn took a quick detour to Madagascar before heading home! For now, the details...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #35: MABABU, TANZANIA- 2017
Shawn spent most of the week working alongside our farmer partners harvesting cocoa, fermenting and drying beans, and testing moisture content. And...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #34: ZAMORA, AMAZONIA- 2017
Located in southeastern Ecuador, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, Zamora is lush and fertile, if not challenging to navigate–the tiny village ...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #33: DEL TAMBO, ECUADOR- 2017
Cocoa Pods, Conferences, & Chocolate Tastings. Notes from Shawn’s 12th Ecuador Origin Trip
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #32: DAVAO, PHILIPPINES- 2017
Update from Davao, Philippines: Shawn inspected our next shipment of cocoa beans to ensure they meet our contract specifications. This includes spe...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #31: DEL TAMBO, ECUADOR- 2016
Vitaliano, our lead farmer partner (who I’ve been visiting for a decade now!) who is pictured on the front of our Ecuador chocolate bars, takes ext...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #30: MABABU, TANZANIA- 2016
Shawn traveled to Mababu, Tanzania for his annual origin trip to meet with our farmer partners– this time with 14 high school outstanding students ...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #29: DAVAO, PHILIPPINES- 2016
One of the most important things I do when visiting cocoa farmers is inspect our beans. I can take nothing for granted! Even though we’ve been work...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #28: DEL TAMBO, ECUADOR- 2015
My Ecuador trip last week marks my 10th year of traveling to origin learning about and sourcing cocoa beans from farmers around the equator band of...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #27: MABABU, TANZANIA- 2015
At the beach party we hosted for our farmer partners I received one of the most meaningful gifts ever. I don’t mean from farmers but I mean anyone ...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #25: CORTÉS, HONDURAS- 2015
You’ve probably heard me say “It’s not about the chocolate. It’s about the chocolate.” I’ve been traveling to cocoa bean origin countries for ten y...
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Origin Updates
ORIGIN TRIP #24: DAVAO, PHILIPPINES- 2015
Shawn shares updates from the first origin trip of 2015, to work with our cocoa farmer partners in Davao, Philippines. On the first day, I visited ...
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