We have such a connection to chocolate, often seen as a guilty pleasure, an indulgent moment or as a reward, but rarely do we stop to question how it has come to be a perfectly packaged moment for us to enjoy. Where do all the ingredients come from and what do they go through to become a chocolate bar?

At Loving Earth, it really matters to us where our chocolate comes from every step of the way. Our purpose is to make all our products in a way that honours the indigenous people that have cultivated them for thousands of years, the ecosystem in which they are grown, and make them with the highest density of nutrition available.

{image -The jungle of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta}

Roasting cacao simplifies the flavour and brings out the strong chocolate taste. Conventional cacao is difficult to eat raw because of its bitterness, which is subdued by roasting. The aromatic varieties of cacao we work with are much more complex in flavour and fuller on the palate, the sophistication of which is simplified when roasted. That is why we use raw cacao beans to create our chocolate.

This led us on the journey to produce really raw bean to bar chocolate. To do this we had to source pure heirloom aromatic cacao beans. We have been lucky enough to be sourcing our cacao from the Satipo region in Peru for 10 years. Last year we were able to import our first micro batch of 10 tonnes of beautiful raw heirloom Amazonico Criollo Cacao from Kemito Ene the Ashaninka cooperative from the Rio Ene region.

{image - The beautiful Ashaninka people out for a day of cacao harvesting}

We have helped them with the organic and fair trade certification, ensuring that their Cacao is Certified Organic and fairly traded. Indeed, the proof is in the pudding – anyone who’s tried our raw chocolate will have experienced the superior flavour, aroma and nutritional content, which these growers and their methods produce. By not roasting the beans we are able to really showcase the complex flavour profiles of the beans, where each mouthful is like a journey through the bio-diverse ecosystems where they are grown.

The current batch of cacao has beautiful coffee and fennel notes in it. There is a lot of coffee grown with the cacao in an ancient permaculture like system that is used in the understory of the forest that the Ashaninka people have been custodians of for generations. This means that we get access to an amazing completely unhybridized aromatic cacao that is truly unique.  It also means that the Ashaninka people can conserve their traditional cultural practices in the face of encroaching modern society.  And they have a viable source of income that helps preserve the forest helping to contribute to an ambitious project in the region to save 100 million trees.

{image -the Ashaninka tribe in Peru}

So how do we make our Bean to Bar Chocolate?

Sourcing our beans + harvest
Our completely wild Criollo Cacao is grown by the Ashaninka communities that make up the Kemito Ene cacao cooperative in the Rio Ene region of the Peruvian Amazon. The beautifully coloured heirloom cacao pods are harvested from the trees, cracked open and the beans and pulp are removed from the pod.

{image - The whole community comes together to harvest the cacao}

Fermentation + drying
The beans and pulp are fermented before they're sun and air dried in specially made wooden platforms with clear perspex roofs to allow the sunlight in.

Once dried, they travel anywhere up to 100km by canoe down Rio Ene to Puerto Ocopa where the nearest road is. The beans are then transported over the Andes to Lima and shipped to us in Australia.

{image - our raw cacao beans travel up travel anywhere up to 100km by canoe down Rio Ene to Puerto Ocopa}

Winnowing
When we receive the beans we disinfect them with certified organic disinfectant and dry them in our temperature controlled commercial dehydrators. Next we winnow the beans into nibs, which simply means cracking the beans and separating the skin from the inner part of the bean, which is called the nib.

Conching

We conch the nibs with our wholefood ingredients for hours to give the chocolate its silky texture. We use nuts to create our creamy bases and add essential oils and wholefood powders to flavour our chocolate.

Tempering + pour

The chocolate is tempered using controlled temperatures to give it a smooth texture and a nice snap. It’s then poured into moulds and cooled.

Wrap
Our chocolate is wrapped in home compostable wrappers made from sustainably managed plant sources. Our chocolate boxes are made from 97% post consumer recycled fibre. Everything is printed with vegetable inks.

{image - our 80g boxes are made from 97% post consumer recycled fibre}

Inspiring conscious living in all those we touch is a core part of why we exist as a company. Our mantra of “Healthy. Sustainable. Fair” helps us to realise our vision of being an uplifting presence in the world. Producing ethical, delicious chocolate from really raw cacao, is how we make that vision a reality.