traceability

SUSTAINABLE COCOA AT THE HEART
OF OUR CHOCOLATES

For chefs and artisans, it matters more than ever to know the stories behind the ingredients they work with, their origin, and how they’ve been grown.
All to understand true quality. We share that concern greatly.
Since 2015, we have been pioneering in bringing sustainable cocoa farming to a higher level together with Cocoa Horizons. From that moment on, all Callebaut Chocolates support 100% sustainable cocoa.

What’s more: all the farms we work with participate in the Cocoa Horizons program that focuses on:

Reshaping cocoa farming by supporting cocoa farmers to upscale and keep their farms productive long term.
Empowering communities to enable a systematic and lasting change on child protection and human rights.
Regenerating ecosystems to restore the natural production system for cocoa trees to thrive.

Discover Cocoa Horizons

Since 2020, the cocoa liquor for our Finest Belgian Chocolates, such as 811 and 823, are made from traceable cocoa beans. The lots of beans can be traced back to the farming communities in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Ecuador we directly buy from. With this traceability guarantee, we want to be transparent about the communities who grow our beans.

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WHERE WE SOURCE THE COCOA BEANS FOR OUR FINEST BELGIAN CHOCOLATES?

To achieve a perfectly balanced and round taste, we blend cocoa beans rom 3 different countries of origin to create the cocoa liquor for our dark and milk chocolates. Each origin contributes to the chocolate taste in a very specific way.

IVORY COAST COCOA Yields the typical cocoa body of our chocolae and gives it its very recognisable chocolate taste.
GHANA COCOA Enriches the taste with acidic, fruity notes (mainly red fruits).
ECUADOR COCOA Adds pleasant bitter notes

Chocolatier Håkan Mårtensson and pastry chef Kirsten Tibballs take you on a wild cocoa journey from their kitchens in New York and Melbourne all the way to the farmers in Ghana who grow their beans.

Trace back the cocoa bean - Ghana port warehouse

WHAT SELECTED COCOA BEANS MEANS?

We select cocoa beans based on very specific parameters for taste and quality:

ONLY WELL-DRIED COCOA

The moisture content in our beans is between 6% and 8%.
It guarantees the beans to be in top condition for storage and shipping.

ONLY WELL-FERMENTED COCOA

All lots of beans are quality checked to assure
they have been well fermented. Good
fermentation optimises the taste development in
the beans.

ONLY MAIN CROP BEANS

There are 2 harvesting seasons for the cocoa
beans: main crop and mid crop. Main crop cocoa
beans are bigger in size and bring more taste. To
select main crop beans, we apply a bean count on
well dried beans: 100 g of beans should make
less than 100 beans.

ONLY IN JUTE BAGS

Jute bags contain between 60 - 65 kg of cocoa
beans. Jute is the ideal, natural barrier for the
beans to ‘breathe’ during shipping and promotes
further drying of the cocoa beans. For our Finest
Belgian Chocolates, we never use beans that are
shipped to Belgium in bulk.

ONLY WELL-CLEANED BEANS

Before shipment, all bean bags are checked on
pebbles, stones, branches or other non-cocoa
materials. Upon arrival in the port of Antwerp,
every bag is thoroughly inspected and the cocoa
beans cleaned from any impurities before
blending and roasting.

ONLY FROM COCOA COMMUNITIES WE KNOW

We only select cocoa beans from cooperatives
approved by Cocoa Horizons. This guarantees us
a better quality and higher quantity of beans.

METICULOUSLY BLENDED FOR CONSISTENT TASTE

After a thorough assessment of the different
flavour profiles of the cocoa beans, we make
a blend that matches our specific
Callebaut taste to perfection.