FROM SOIL TO SOLIDARITY
At The Belgian Chocolate Makers, we believe that great chocolate is never just a product; it is the fruit of shared values, strong relationships, and collective action. From cacao cooperatives at origin to chocolate makers like us across Europe, collaboration has always been the driving force behind resilience, quality, and positive impact.
We are deeply committed to supporting the wider ecosystem of farmers, artisans, and innovators who together shape a stronger and fairer sector. This spirit of unity, alive in farmer cooperatives, craft movements, and today’s industry associations, matters now more than ever.
A TRADITION OF SOLIDARITY, WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Across cacao-growing regions, smallholder farmers have long relied on one powerful structure to support and sustain their livelihoods: the cooperative.
A cacao cooperative is more than a business, it is a collective organisation, owned and democratically governed by its member farmers. Leaders are elected from within, ensuring decisions are rooted in the voices, needs, and aspirations of the community itself. In this way, the cooperative model safeguards fairness, amplifies farmer resilience, and creates opportunities that extend far beyond individual farms.
Every day, smallholder farmers carry their freshly harvested cacao beans, often still “wet”, to their local cooperative. That’s where the real transformation begins.
Within the cooperative, value is created in many ways:
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Fermentation and drying, carried out with care to unlock the beans’ true flavor potential.
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Tools, training, and infrastructure, giving farmers the means to grow stronger businesses.
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Market access, connecting local communities to buyers both nearby and across the globe.
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Biodiversity and tradition, safeguarded through agroforestry practices and knowledge passed down through generations.
This spirit of solidarity does not stop at origin. In Europe, artisan chocolate makers like us echo these same values, recognizing that collaboration is the key to opening markets, protecting integrity, elevating quality, and driving lasting, positive change.
THE FRENCH MOVEMENT: WHERE TRADITION MET UNITY, AND CRAFT BECAME GLOBAL
The modern craft chocolate mMovement: rooted in solidarity
The modern craft chocolate movement draws on a rich tradition of solidarity, communities united by shared values: preserving artisanal knowledge, fostering pride in craft, and supporting one another.
A defining chapter of this story unfolded in France, a nation with a profound culinary heritage and a unique historical bond with chocolate. From Napoleon’s era, when chocolate was classified as a medicinal product permitted only by royal decree, to the early 20th century, it remained a rare and treasured delicacy.
In the 1970s and 1980s, French artisans mounted a cultural response to the rise of international chocolate brands. They reclaimed chocolate as an artisanal craft worthy of distinction. Small, family-run bakeries and pâtisseries began forming informal networks to share techniques and to celebrate chocolate as more than just an ingredient, recognizing the chocolatier as an artiste.
Thanks to pioneering makers such as Bonnat, Maison Bernachon, Manufacture Cluizel, and Pralus Maître Chocolatier, beans and their origins gradually gained recognition as essential markers of quality and identity. Still, the emphasis remained on craftsmanship, creativity, and sensory refinement.
The Académie Française du Chocolat et de la Confiserie emerged as a moral authority and guardian of the craft—preserving traditions while guiding evolution. Through promoting professional ethics, enhancing technical skill, and fostering excellence, the Académie helped establish chocolate as a true culinary art.
This French movement reshaped chocolate locally and laid crucial groundwork for the global craft chocolate renaissance, a journey reminiscent of specialty coffee’s own evolution. Drawing inspiration from organisations like the Specialty Coffee Association, today’s craft chocolate community is forging international collaborations, establishing shared standards, and cultivating more knowledgeable and engaged consumers.
A milestone moment for the young craft chocolate industry came on September 25, 2023, with the launch of the first-ever Guide for the Assessment of Cacao Quality and Flavour, a global framework that provides a structured approach to evaluating cacao through aroma, flavour, and post-harvest practices.
For perspective, the specialty coffee movement, born in the 1970s, released its second update to the Coffee Sensory and Cupping Handbook nearly 30 years after the first edition. By contrast, craft chocolate, though still in its early stages, is advancing with remarkable speed, collaboration, and clarity of purpose.
All these efforts have led to the emergence of national bean-to-bar associations around the world, each shaped by its own local context, yet all united by the same principles of transparency, craftsmanship, and solidarity.
