Where to Buy Other Stuff Related to Chocolate

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Permalink Reply by Domenico on April 19, 2008 at 7:26pm

Maybe cocoa beans are related stuff...I am searching hard to find small producers no matter where in the world who'd sell in small quantities. A particular place is Chiapas, but any Ecuadorian Nacional or Brazilian source of Criollo would be wonderful. (I am not mistaken, I have tasted it but could not buy: yes, there definitely is Criollo grown in Brazil.) I'd be grateful for any tip?

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Permalink Reply by Clay Gordon on April 20, 2008 at 11:54am

Domenico:

This is a real challenge - getting your hands on small quantities of beans. The cocoa market is not set up to handle this and there are FDA and USDA hurdles to overcome. There used to be a cocoa broker who was able to snag a bag here and there from larger shipments, but I think he's no longer in that business. I know of someone who has ties to a farm community in Panama that has lots of different kinds of beans and I have been trying to work that angle. There's some positive movement in that direction and I think that things will start to loosen up soon. In the meantime, John Nanci over at chocolatealchemy.com has been selling small quantities of beans of various origins, and he might have some in stock that he can sell you.

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