Malaita and Guadalcanal micro-lots, Solomon Islands 70% - Drinking Chocolate
Bronze Medal winner in the Outstanding Food Producer Awards 2024
This richly satisfying, bean to bar, craft drinking chocolate began with cacao beans grown by the expert farmers in family run micro-lots in Malaita and Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Then in our little foundry, we crafted the cacao together with only one other ingredient; organic cane sugar, to create a chocolate that accentuates the harvest’s easygoing character.
Two ingredients, nothing else. Luxury in every sip. Enjoy.
Made from ground 70% dark bean to bar chocolate, with satisfying smooth tasting notes of velvety chocolate and hints of hazelnut.
Foundry Drinking Chocolate is delicious made with water, milk or the plant based milk of your choice.
Packaging note: the labels on the pouch are not the ones shown in the photos. The pouch instead has plain black and white labels that are not removable, which mean the Solomon Islands pouch cannot be home composted.
Net weight: 250g
Ingredients: Cacao Beans & Organic Cane Sugar.
Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free and Vegan.
Making tips: We recommend using a milk warmer/frother, a coffee machine steam wand or a stick blender. The Milk Frother from Kmart is our favourite, you can see it here.
Origin information:
These cacao beans are part of a project from ADRA International, who work on long-term development programs for communities around the world.
Farmers and their families in Malaita and Guadalcanal have been paired with some of the best in the craft industry and taught skills on growing, harvesting, fermentation and drying, with precise standards to adhere to. They are now seeing increased demand for their cacao beans and realising a premium price.
Cacao is sourced from a selection of farmer family groups – called micro-lots – each consisting of 5-7 farmer family groups. Sizes of the farms range between 100 trees - 1,500 plus trees per family.
The cacao trees in these groups have their origins in the 1950’s and 60’s, when they were introduced from Papua New Guinea and Fiji
The cacao beans in these micro-lots come from:
- Eastern Gate micro-lot, Ghomnua Village, Guadalcanal
- Sunrise micro-lot, Newtenabuti Village, Guadalcanal
- Sali micro-lot, Sali Village, Guadalcanal
- White Stone micro-lot, White Stone village, Malaita
- Kaoabu Micro-lot, Kaoabu Village, Malaita
- Humo Micro-lot, Aiwa Village, Malaita
The premium prices farmers are now receiving for their cacao has already had a wide range of benefits. Some are now able to send their children to high school while simultaneously starting saving funds. Others are now able to reinvest in their farms, while other farms are seeing younger farmers take over from older family members as cacao becomes more valuable and rewarding to grow.
