There are 30 to 50 cocoa beans inside a single cocoa pod. 

Single-origin is the idea that agricultural products from a single geographic region have distinctive and differentiating taste and sensory characteristics. Coffee, tea and chocolate are products most commonly associated with a single origin. Each one is a distinct agricultural product in which the flavor is often the direct expression of the terroir or growing region of the particular bean, leaf or seed.

Specialty roasters and retailers have always embraced single-origin coffees because they offer unique flavors that reflect the growing region and processing methods of the area. Café menus will thus feature single-origin coffees such as Ethiopian Yrgacheffe, Guatemalan Atitlan and Mexican Chiapas, among many others.

For tea, single-origins include Single Estate Darjeeling, Pure Ceylon from Sri Lanka and Chinese Pu-Erh. Each one has distinctive tastes and flavors, such as the flowery, fruity and winy notes of the Darjeeling, the orange notes of the Ceylon, and the thick texture and dry finish of an aged Pu-Erh.

In chocolate, single-origin is the dominant trend fueling the growth in the category. Some of the single-origin areas that provide beans for these products include formerly little-known regions for chocolate such as the Dominican Republic and Peru. Now, these beans are being used to provide distinctive tastes in single-origin chocolate bars, cocoa powders, drink mixes, sauces and confections. Like coffee, those tastes encompass smoky, earthy, fruity and nutty depending on which part of the world the beans were grown in and how they were processed.

The idea of showcasing strong, vibrant flavors in drinks is certainly not new. Nor is illuminating the provenance and history of where these flavors are grown, produced or processed. However, in an increasingly homogenous world, savvy consumers are turning to unusual products with distinctive pedigrees as a way to discover new tastes and flavors. Single-origin products possess all of these characteristics.  

Chocolate is cheaper than therapy and you don’t need an appointment. 

The first book on chocolate was published in Mexico in 1609 – Libro en el cual se trata del chocolate (Book Treating of Chocolate). 

When was the last time you told someone “no?”

Last year, Mont Blanc’s director of quality assurance visited and audited three different production plants that we considered potential manufacturing partners.  All three assured us that they had the equipment, capacity, and ability to run our products, and all expressed a strong interest in working with us.

Mont Blanc works with a number of production facilities across the country. Some are located in key geographic areas to reduce shipping, others manufacture our products that require special packaging. Each plant is an important part of our business, and key to our maintaining top quality goods.

All three of the audited plants already were manufacturing goods for  other well-known companies. They had passed an interview process, one of the first steps we employ when vetting potential new partners. And each plant produced an array of different products and assured us that they met and passed independent testing criteria.

But after the personal visits and audits, our QA director rejected each of them as potential partners because they simply didn’t meet his standards, which are oftentimes higher than those required by the government.

While at a trade show, I was approached by the director of sales of one of the rejected companies. “It was really a shock when we were told that we didn’t meet your standards,” he said.  “However, I want you to know that we appreciate how thorough your audit was, and we have already put into place most of the suggestions that were made by your company to improve our processes and plant. Our last independent audit score improved to a 94 percent because of those changes.  I hope that you will reconsider using us.”

I smiled and told him that I would take the message back to our office.  If the opportunity presents itself, we might reconsider talking with them again.

It’s good business for that plant to take feedback and implement changes; more business could result from those improvements. And from Mont Blanc’s standpoint, we value making things the best they can be and appreciate businesses with the same approach.