TCHOSource - TCHO

TCHOSource is our unique program dedicated to partnering directly with our growers and working closely with them to produce great cacao. We provide innovation, technology and know-how that empower them to improve their livelihoods and hone their craft. They provide the superior beans that enable us to produce obsessively good chocolate. TCHOSource is the ultimate win-win; setting the stage for long-term growth and sustainable development through fulfillment of mutual self-interest.

TCHO partners with farmers and co-ops in developing countries.

TCHO partners with the farmer organizations that are producing the best cacao that each of our supplier countries has to offer. Direct relationships with farmers, raises the bar (no pun intended) on the level of care and intention that go into every bean we buy. Along with genetics and growing conditions (that are very hard to change…), flavor, quality and value is driven by how the cacao beans are fermented and dried. TCHOSource helps make these farmers and their organizations more profitable, sustainable businesses by investing in these key processes and in sensory training.
TCHOSource Heuristics

Flavor=Value

tchosource is dedicated to knowledge transfer and the creation of feedback loops that support our growers’ efforts to innovate and improve the flavor of their beans — which enable them to earn a better livelihood.

Go Beyond Certification

In the 21st century, individuals and companies have the power and responsibility to act directly to make a better world, not just buy a logo. TCHOSource is based on direct investments and direct involvement with farmers.

Bring Bean-To-Bar
Back To The Farm

Most cacao farmers have never tasted chocolate made from their own beans. TCHOSource installs “Flavor Labs” at our coops so farmers can finally identify the unique flavor profile of their beans and deliver quality based on flavor.
Flavor-Driven

Chocolate isn't just one flavor.

tcho PureNotes™ dark chocolate and SeriousMilk™ celebrate the diversity of the inherent flavors of cacao and chocolate.

TCHOSource helps make this possible by fostering long-term relationships with our growers that emphasize quality and value, thus creating a reliable, sustainable supply of unique flavor-driven cacao and chocolate.
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TCHOSource has formed a strategic partnership with Equal Exchange to implement a five-year, multi-million dollar USAID Cooperative Development Grant. This grant focuses on three key areas – quality, productivity and capitalization – in partnership with cocoa and coffee cooperatives in Peru, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. One of the truly unique aspects of this development program is that these cooperative partners are TCHO and Equal Exchange suppliers, ensuring market access for their ever-improving beans, shortening feedback loops, and bridging the knowledge gap that lies between pods and palettes.

Flavor development begins with fermentation, which occurs on the farm immediately after harvest. In most cases, this crucial fermentation, which unlocks the flavor of the cacao, is done in remote areas with extremely rustic tools and practices. tchoSource works closely with our producer partners to develop exceptional flavor profiles through improved physical infrastructure, methodology, and measurement, with modern instrumentation recording key variables such as weather, temperatures, pH, and Brix.

Following fermenation, beans are dried. Drying is an integral part of developing flavors and insuring quality, since acids developed during fermentation need to be managed to help define the pure chocolate flavors we present to our customers. TCHOSource supports new solar drying models to provide farmers state of the art tools to ensure quality and capture value.

TCHOSource has brought the very same innovation and technology of our lab here at Pier 17 in San Francisco to our farmer partners, enabling them to make small batches of chocolate. (Surprisingly, most growers have never tasted chocolate made from their beans.) We work closely with our coop partners to provide the sensory training that enables them to understand the true driver in the value of their product: flavor.

The final component of tcho’s innovative program is Cropster, a cloud-based software that insures traceability and captures data concerning fermentation, drying, and flavor. TCHO helped adapt this platform from the specialty coffee sector to the emerging specialty cacao sector. TCHO and our producer partners can now truly track cocoa from pod to palate, sharing results in real time so that adjustments to processing can be made quickly as conditions change.

ORIGINS

While most of us think of chocolate as having one flavor, pure chocolate contains a kaleidoscope of flavors, depending on its terroir- the unique taste of a chocolate based on where the cacao was grown. Different regions of the world have different genetic varieties of cacao, and different climatic and soil conditions and cultural practices – yielding very different flavors.

At the farm level, we seek out unique areas and great growers and work with our farmers on fermentation and drying practices that bring these flavors into focus. At the factory level, meticulous attention is paid to roasting and conching in order to fine-tune these flavor profiles.

Simply put, where our cocoa comes from - Peru, Ecuador, Madagascar or Ghana, and where we make TCHO chocolate - at Pier 17 in San Francisco all matter.

PERU

Peru was the first country TCHO decided to focus on to get chocolate from.

Peru was the first country TCHO decided to focus on because we felt it was an up-and-coming origin — undiscovered, but with enormous potential because of its diverse production areas, rich genetics, and strong cooperatives. Peruvian beans are the core of TCHO's "Fruity" chocolate.

Our relationship with Peru deepened in 2009 with the installation of our first flavor lab, meteo station, and database at a single coop, supported by USAID Peru's Alternative Development Program. TCHOSource identified a great community with wonderful farmers and bright, "fruity" cacao.

In 2010, we expanded our program in partnership with Equal Exchange, this time supported by a five year USAID Cooperative Development grant. Our pioneering work is beginning to have an impact throughout the Peruvian cocoa sector.
ECUADOR

TCHOSource has partnered with a young, organic fair trade coop in a region known for its heritage "Nacional" cacao, where we work together to bring out rich, "Nutty" flavors. Through our USAID grant work, we are helping improve quality, increase productivity, and help build farmer income and equity.

TCHO has also participated in a World Bank funded project, where we installed a larger format Flavor Lab at Ecuador's Agricultural Cocoa Research Institute, INIAP so that flavor can guide reseachers can support producers with a greater understanding of the flavor of the distict cocoa producing regions.
GHANA

In the last few years, important changes in the government-run cacao sector in Ghana allow for "traceable" cacao and new certifications, opening up new possibilities for partnering with farmers and making a difference.

TCHO has been asked to install a Flavor Lab at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana and is an active participant in the "Ghana Fine Flavor Cocoa Project." With these steps, TCHO is developing new 'on the ground' partnerships with suppliers to improve quality, develop that deep "chocolatey" flavor, and invest back in cacao producing communities.
MADAGASCAR

In the late 19th century, cacao was brought to the Northwestern corner of Madagascar from Venezuela and Trinidad. Today, the cocoa of the "Sambirano Valley" is some of the best in the world. TCHO works with a close friend whose family owns one of the original plantations and produces exceptional Madagascar cacao. Our Sourcing Team and Chocolate Makers work closely with plantation managers on fermentation and drying, to bring out the "Citrus" notes that brighten the mild chocolate flavor of this unique origin.

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