The Terroir of Chocolate
Coffeelovers talk about Ethiopia or Colombia; wine lovers about Bordeaux or the Douro. Everyone accepts that where a coffee cherry or grape grows shapes its taste. Cacao is no different: a bean from Madagascar and one from Ecuador can taste as different as a crisp white and a velvety red, even with the same recipe.
Origin and terroir
Origin is where the cacao was grown: the country, the region, sometimes a single farm. Terroir, a word borrowed from wine, is everything about that place that shapes flavour:
Genetics: varieties like Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario and Ecuador's Nacional each have their own flavour potential.
Altitude: cacao grown higher ripens more slowly, often giving more complex flavour.
Soil: volcanic, mineral-rich or clay soils feed the tree differently.
Rain and climate: rainfall, dry seasons and temperature all shape how the pods develop.
Fermentation and drying: done at the farm, this is where many fruity and floral notes are born.
The cacao belt
Cacao only grows in a band about 20 degrees north and south of the equator, across four main regions: Latin America and the Caribbean, where cacao was first domesticated; West Africa, today the world's largest producer; East Africa and Madagascar; and Southeast Asia.
How each region tastes
These are tendencies, not rules, but they're a great starting point:
Latin America: Ecuador is known for nutty notes, the Dominican Republic for balanced, fruity chocolate, and Nicaragua and Honduras for caramel and nuts.
West Africa: the classic, full-bodied "chocolatey" taste, earthy and low in acidity.
East Africa and Madagascar: bright and fruity. Madagascar is famous for red fruit and citrus, Tanzania for juicy, raisin-like notes.
Southeast Asia: deeper and earthier, with spice, caramel and sometimes a hint of smoke.
Our origins at GLAD
Our chocolate bars are made with cacao from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Nicaragua and Indonesia, each crafted to let its origin speak.
If you want to really taste the difference, try our mini chocolate box. It brings together four different origins, all at the same cacao percentage. Because the percentage and the recipe stay the same, the only thing that changes is where the cacao came from.
Taste them at room temperature letting each piece melt slowly with a sip of water in between.
Our drinking chocolate uses cacao from Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia and Tanzania, and a warm cup reveals new sides of each origin.
Origin isn't everything
Even great beans can be let down in the workshop. Three things matter just as much:
Bean selection: we remove broken, mouldy or defective beans, because one bad bean can spoil a batch.
A careful roast: we roast lightly, with a profile for each origin, so the fruit and flowers survive instead of turning flat and toasty.
A simple recipe: just cacao, cacao butter and coconut sugar. With nothing else added, there's nowhere for origin to hide.
Taste the world
The best way to understand origin is to taste it side by side. Grab our origin tasting box, explore our single-origin bars, or warm up with a cup of our drinking chocolate.
Seven origins, one percentage, and a whole lot of discovery. Which one will be your favourite?