Silva’s Ultimate Sourcing Guide:
Where, How and especially Why we Source some of the World’s Best Cacao…

The only way to make exceptional chocolate is to start with exceptional beans!
As you know cacao is an extremely complex raw material; in its flavour attributes and in the process to get the flavour right. This all depends on the people behind the beans. This is one of the reasons why we source our cocoa directly and travel to the origins to meet the farmers; we strive to fully understand and co-design harvest and post-harvest practices.

Instagram (also our account) is filled with pictures of people smiling in the middle of cacao plantations in Guatemala, Thailand, Uganda, Venezuela and other exotic locations. Colorful trees, magnificent sunsets, mysterious jungles. Scrolling through these stories is a pleasure for the eyes, and it creates a tingling “wish I were there” kind of feeling. But sourcing specialty cacao has little to do with fancy trips in the jungle.
It’s a struggle, a challenge, a huge risk with no guarantees. Fortunately -and not coincidentally- our company and colleagues thrive by the saying ‘ No Pain, no Gain, no Risk no Champagne’, or in our case ‘no specialty cacao’. At Silva, we are always up & ready for a challenge!

At the start of 2023 we’d love to give you glimpse behind the scenes of our sourcing journeys, and what it actually means to have a great plan, built, fall, stand up, become stronger, craft the plan, and finally bring new and origin(al) specialty cacaos to the market…

It’s amazing how words that are constantly being used for a single particular thought, can end up confusing so many people, so let’s start with some clarification on the definition.

Sourcing is the process of encountering, and partnering with suppliers who can provide the cacao one needs. Sourcing is tasked with carrying out research, creating a strategy, definition quality and quantity metrics, and setting up a future-proof and healthy partnership together.
Shopping on the other hand, or ‘purchasing’ is the process to acquire the cacao  based on the needs for its operations. This means listing suppliers that can provide cacao according to pre-defined requirements (such as price, quality or quantity). We compare it with readily available products that can be purchased; you can imagine it like shopping in the supermarket.
Sourcing is focused on developing and managing a supply chain -that possibly does not yet exist- and bringing it to the next level, while purchasing is primarily concerned with already existing supply chain. The path to buying specialty beans can be long and bumpy and many unforeseen obstacles can pop up, while buying beans is quite easy.
Also the time investment and problem-solving can differ quite a lot. For sourcing, lots of time, energy and resources are to be invested because the product is not yet readily available on the shelf. In case of problems, the solving part is based on responsiveness from both supplier and source. Risks are therefore higher as well. While for purchasing less time, energy and resources need to be invested, since the availability of the product, and problem-solving is on the supplier side.
Sourcing puts the focus on ‘who’ makes the product possible, while purchasing focuses on ‘what’ makes the product possible (requirements like price, quality,..). You can compare it with long term satisfaction vs a instant gratification.

‘Great tasting beans’ can be the outcome of both sourcing and shopping specialty cacao, but the way how to get there can be completely different. 

Now that you have an idea of what it actually means to source cacao, we can move to the plan…

At Silva we dedicate a lot of time in sourcing the highest quality of cacao beans in the world. The journey starts always with a very small seed. This can be as small as an idea, an encounter with an inspiring person, an enthusiastic farmer (or organization), or a bigger plan to transform a cacao-region with like-minded partners. There is always a  human interaction involved.

Getting inspired & intrigued – Channeling our inner Sherlock Holmes – Checking out the long term possibilities
Once we got intrigued and inspired by a farmer group, flavour and origin, we channel our inner Sherlock Holmes and start investigating the possibility of working together. Travelling to the source is a serious investment, a lot of work and not always the romantic holiday destination as it sometimes might look; it just isn’t all sunshines and rainbows. Nevertheless, it inseparably connects us to the local farmers and post harvesting heroes, and allows us to forge strong ties for the future.

Always in Good Company – Teaming up with Complementary Partners – Assessing the Situation
Given the complexity of the regions we work, it is never a one-(wo)man show.  We have a network of complementary partners with whom we team-up to get the job done!
To improve qualities and bring new cacao beans to the market, we work with farmers, fermentation experts, NGO‘s and sometimes even government institutions. Together we literally co-develop a chain that brings value back to the farmers and their families to make the cacao communities thrive. Time and time again this makes us extremely enthusiastic and happy. 😊
Together with our partners, we start assessing the situation. We identify the challenges and gaps; we look at what it takes to overcome these challenges, what needs to be done to make it successful and viable in the long term.

Drawing up a roadmap for the future & Just do it!
For each quality or cacao region we start working with, we  draw a roadmap for the future. This is our strategy and plan to make a difference in the ‘specialty flavours’-market, while at the same time preserving/restoring forest areas and creating positive change for farmers and their future. And then we just do it!
The road to specialty beans can be a long one and many unexpected obstacles can pop up unexpectedly. It is especially the partners involved that are essential for success. If the motivation and shared vision we are looking for is not there, it won’t work…

Sourcing is a journey, and while these journeys look great, they are often bumpy and complex and rarely go according to plan. But at Silva, the journey is as important as the destination 🙂

As soon as we have the right partners on board, we get started. Our roadmap is not an “one-fit-all” plan. Every sourcing area is different, has its own context, challenges or work intensity. 
While some farmer groups are already very knowledgeable quality-wise, their organization to export, their access to resources (such as finance or equipment), might not yet be up-to-date. Pre-financing systems, export permits or organic compliance training might have to be initiated to professionalize the chain. 
Other farmers may never have produced “special cacao”, so training and education from the start for harvesting, fermentation, drying and quality control might be required. Or even the set-up of a fermentation center might be in order. This is a development from scratch, and usually takes 2 to 4 years to get it up and running.
For more organized and knowledgeable partners, our expertise in procurement, financing, logistics and commercialization comes in handy…

We often have to adjust our plans depending on what is happening. That is why we prefer to talk about sourcing journeys. Depending on the maturity level of the farmers we work with, our work becomes more intensive, or takes more time. The risk increases, and our plan might require more intensive adjustment… These are often the origins where our impact is biggest, and where the change for the farmers is huge. At Silva we always see the silver lining gleaming brightly! 

Let’s walk you through our most recent project and partnership -of which we are extremely proud.
Our latest new kids on the block are the Guatemalan finca’s ‘Ana Maria‘ & ‘Paso Cocodrilo‘. We had an instant crush on them in 2018. Our shared passion and good vibes resulted in the launch of their sublime cacao last month (December 2022).

Katrien’s first visit to the Lachuá region dates back to 2018. From the very first beginning, Silva Cacao and the local team of Central Cacao in Guatemala realized they have a very strong  shared vision. Not only are we aligned in terms of bio-diverse cacao forest systems (using environmentally friendly technology to have good productivity), we also share the same vision on creating economic and social benefits for farmers and workers.

Talking about a bumpy road… it took us 4 years to finally bring these cacao’s to the market!
In the beginning we had some quality issues, then the covid virus came around, followed by local hurricanes. These category 4 storms ETA & IOTA caused flooding and crop loss, and resulted in significantly increased levels of cadmium in the soil. After intensive soil management and recovery of the cacao plants, we were finally able to export the first lot at the end of 2022.

It was a challenge, and lots of adjustments were involved, but we are very excited, extremely proud and super happy with this great partnership. At Silva, we strive daily for better flavours and to make a positive impact on/for forests, farmers and their future. Without a strong foundation and shared vision, we simply would not be able to deliver on our mission and vision.

This Guatemala project highlights one origin with four new flavours, but remember…each origin has its own story, and requires a different approach.

The last but so important step is to make it work and fly for the future. And here you come around the corner…

We want to make a big call to buy consciously and show genuine interest in the sources of the beans you buy. In this way, you will be part of a remarkable story and development (without even realizing it). Perhaps your decision will change the existence of many farmers who previously did not have the opportunity to reach the special market…

You drive change with your bean-decision, and are an equally important partner to create stability on the long run! This is vital to make these sweet chocolate projects a success, and to build continuity for our partner farmers. Continuous and growing purchases of the same beans and same farmers organization brings stability for the farmers, which is the first basis for family income. The more cacao cheerleaders we have, the more positive and sweet impact we can cause!

We need innovators and artisans with ‘guts’ to experiment with new qualities from unfamiliar organizations. We want to spar with creative chocolate rebels who want to collab to launch new qualities on the market. And we are immensely grateful for the trust some of you place in us by committing to ‘new cocoa’ – even in a preliminary pioneering phase. This allows us to give the best of ourselves every day!

A big shout-out to all our cacao-entrepreneurs and chocolate-partners is therefore rightly in order:
Cheers to all our fabulous farmers, post-harvesting heroes, fabulous fermentation experts, forward-thinking NGO’s & government institutions, smart logistic geniuses, sweet chocolate maker instigators, smart chocolate educators, consultants & journalists, … You rock, thanks for rolling with us!

Revealvalue.com

Kissflow.com

Silva-cacao.com

Bartalks.net

Thanks to Miss Anya Carrasco for the Guatemalan case time-line graph