Article: Origin Trip #55: Davao, Philippines- 2026
Origin Trip #55: Davao, Philippines- 2026
Our 55th Origin Trip (And Counting)
Shawn landed in Davao, Philippines for a few days of farm visits, cocoa inspections and celebrations with our lead farmer partners, Peter Cruz and Johnny Silva. These farm visits and bean testing are super critical components of not only our Direct Trade program, but the final flavor of each finished chocolate bar. Why?
Because flavor begins at origin. Fermentation, which happens at the farm, is a crucial step in the post-harvest techniques that impact the flavor of the bean, even after it’s roasted and turned into chocolate at our small factory!
We inspect the drying and fermentation facilities, and go through our entire shipment of beans to randomly select samples for their moisture content, which we stringently monitor as per our contract with each farmer group. If beans are too high in moisture, they will get moldy— this does not make for great chocolate!! If they are too dry and brittle, they will roast poorly and this also does not make for great chocolate.
So visiting our farmer partners yearly to meet and discuss these points is critical. Not only our relationships, but also our chocolate bars, too.
Great beans make for great chocolate, and our farmer partners are the best in the business— experts at their craft and incredibly skilled in growing, drying and fermenting their beautiful Trinitario beans. We’re proud to be one of the only craft chocolate makers importing beans from the Philippines and honored to be making chocolate that highlights this terroir.
Since 2009, we’ve had the amazing opportunity to partner with teachers to create self-sustaining lunch programs for undernourished children in the Philippines through our nonprofit, Chocolate University (and generous donors). This partnership serves the community and surrounding farms where we purchase our cocoa beans, truly full circle!
When Shawn visited Bagio Elementary this week, he met with school leaders to discuss the offboarding of Chocolate University in this program. This is the fifth school lunch program we’ve facilitated in Davao, and all are created with the intention of becoming self-sustaining. So, Shawn spent time hearing the teachers' proposals and workshopping solutions for funding to ensure this program continues to support students. We’ve been able to watch over the years how meeting basic needs—like hunger—helps give children the basics they need to thrive.
Shawn was able to see the program in action this week and witness in-person the results of this initiative. From students enjoying their lunch (egg sandwiches, veggies and juice) to the school’s cocoa tree seedlings nearing their first yield later this summer, which they intend to sell to fund the program. And importantly, all students are now meeting the UN guidelines for “nourished”!
One of the sweetest (pun intended!) parts of every trip is the chocolate tasting. In addition to several Davao origin classics for the farmers to try, Shawn brought our new 73% Dark Chocolate + Butter Toffee Bar— all made with these farmers' cocoa beans, of course. Tastings are a time of joy, and also discussion and analysis around flavor profile.
Shawn learned early on that it’s vital for our farmer partners to taste the chocolate made from the cocoa beans they’ve worked so hard to harvest, sort, dry, ferment, and prepare for shipment. Offering everyone who’s involved at each step in the post-harvesting process a taste of the finished product strengthens their sense of pride and can help shape how future crops of beans can be tweaked or improved!
After the chocolate tasting, attended by co-op members and their families, Shawn presented a banner to Peter and Johnny commemorating our recent Academy of Chocolate award-win for the 77% Davao, Philippines Dark Chocolate Bar we make using the outstanding cocoa beans grown and harvested from their region. This is Direct Trade, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
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