Silva-cacao, Antwerpen (2026)

23/10/2026

West Africa sets the tone: what happens in West Africa doesn’t stay in West Africa 🌍

❣️ As the world’s leading cocoa-producing region, West Africa has a major influence on the wider cocoa market, from supply and availability to prices and volatility. With the 2026/27 season underway, all eyes are on the crop: how is it developing, and how much cocoa will reach the market, and when?

🇨🇮🇬🇭🇳🇬🇨🇲 Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroun and the smaller West-African countries produce around 70 % of the world’s cocoa. When crops, weather or arrivals shift in the region, the whole market feels it. And while specialty cacao is less directly linked, the bigger picture still shapes the specialty market.

📈📉 A market in motion
Cocoa prices surged to unprecedented highs in late 2024, reaching up to US$12/kg, as supply tightened, weather disrupted production and stocks ran low. From early 2025, prices moved back down as supply prospects improved, inventories recovered and demand weakened. In March 2026, prices touched around US$3.50/kg. Since the summer, lower projected volumes, El Niño risks, vulnerable farms with low productivity and speculation have pushed bulk cocoa back up to around US$6/kg.

💶 🫘 Price ≠ availability
The price is one thing, the physical cocoa behind it another. How much cacao reaches the market, when, in what form and at what quality: that’s what matters to buyers. A lower price doesn’t automatically mean more cacao is available or that sourcing gets easier.

🔭 What to watch in the coming weeks
• Crop development, harvest timing and the pace of arrivals
• Updated production estimates for Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, alongside Ghana’s weaker outlook
• Rainfall patterns and how El Niño develops
• Traceability ahead of EUDR: proving where cocoa was grown, also when it crosses borders

And West Africa isn’t one single market. Each origin has its own pricing system and its own way of bringing cocoa to market, from government-controlled to free-market systems.

🔉 Stay tuned for the next posts on field realty and what it measn for craft chocolatemakers.

11/10/2026

What El Niño means for your chocolate 🌦️🍫

🇵🇪 During our trip through northern Peru in July, El Niño Costero was part of almost every conversation: unusually warm coastal waters, heavy rain and disruption to farming and fishing.

El Niño shifts temperature and rainfall patterns worldwide, affecting agriculture and commodity markets. This is one of the strongest El Niño events on record.

🌱 Amazonas and northern Cajamarca, the cacao regions we visited, lie outside the coastal zone. Yet broader El Niño patterns can affect inland growing regions too.

🌎 Our partners reported smaller main-crop volumes in 2026, with more encouraging early signs for the secondary crop. There is no single story for an entire country.

Why visit cacao origins?

🔹 With my background in bioscience engineering and economics, I see cacao as a fascinating intersection of nature, science, agriculture and livelihoods.

🔹 Flavour reflects genetics, soil, microclimate, biodiversity, harvesting and fermentation. Understanding these connections means going beyond the laboratory: visiting fields, observing conditions and listening to the people who know their land best.

🔹 Climate forecasts provide the bigger picture; our relationships with producers reveal what is happening on the ground: how farmers adapt, how harvests evolve and what this means for quality and availability.

🩷 At Silva Cacao, visiting origin means more than sourcing exceptional beans. It means knowledge, trust and long-term partnerships that create value at origin.

We cannot control the weather. But combining science with local knowledge and diversifying across origins helps us build resilience.

Understanding cacao begins where it grows. And resilience in chocolate starts long before the beans reach the chocolate maker. 🍫

28/09/2026

🇵🇪🌱 ‼️ Meet the producers behind three of our exceptional specialty cacao from Northern Peru. (Take time to scroll to al photos)

These producers have been close to our heart since 2023, when we started the partnership with Mocca. Our collaboration is a shared quest to safeguard the native cacao genetics that Peru has to offer while presenting exceptional flavours !

🔹In Bagua, we partner with APROCAM — Around 256 farmers, roughly 60% from the Awajún community, growing cacao in agroforestry systems. We celebrated their Silver Award in the 2025 Coex Awards with the whole team — and tasted their new harvest “Lagunas” lot, from 36 selected farms with native genetics: peach, hazelnut, and a delicate violet note at the end.

🔹Further into Amazonas, in Bagua Grande, we visited CEPROAA — 251 producer families, 188 organically certified, working to conserve the Cajamarca-Amazonas genetics native to the region. Their meticulous control from farm to post-harvest is exceptional, and their work goes beyond the bean: from bio-fertilisers to their own chocolate lab under the UTKKU brand, keeping value at origin.

Further north, close to the Ecuadorian border, we met the team at Oro del Chinchipe — working entirely with Nacional and Marañón genetics. The selected group of farmers, many of them relatives of Noe and Norbil, are organised in a local company and work hard to protect this distinctive genetic heritage for the long run, avoiding cross-pollination with other genetics.

💎💎💎 Three cacaos, one region, three completely different profiles:
▸ Amazonas Lagunas — a soft, balanced base of hazelnut and peach, ending on a floral note of violet
▸ Amazonas UTKKU — delicate notes of paradise apple, kumquat and ylang ylang
▸ Oro del Chinchipe — a pleasant cashew-nut base with surprising notes of lychee, lavender and jasmine

🩷Thank you Freddy, Santos, Rosilio, Cily, Milton, Nayeli, Noe, Norbil, and the teams of APROCAM, CEPROAA and Oro del Chinchipe, for welcoming us. This is what long-term, direct partnership looks like.

🫶🏻We are extremely enthusiastic on the flavour diversity of northern Peru. Do you agree with us?

📍Reach out if you want to explore!

20/09/2026

Behind the scenes of our Peru Origin Trip 🌱🇵🇪

This summer, we didn’t travel to Peru on a solo sourcing trip. We brought a group of chocolate makers with us, so they could meet our partner farmers, taste new-harvest cacao lots and experience the work behind the beans first-hand — from genetics & farming to fermentation, drying & chocolate making. Seeing origin in person changes how you buy & how you talk about the cacao in your own bars.

July isn’t a random choice either: it falls toward the end of the main harvest across Amazonas & northern Cajamarca, so the journey lines up with real activity, not a quiet season. That means walking straight into freshly-picked, fermenting and drying lots — & getting a live read on this year’s quality, volume & timing.

This year’s journey started at Peru’s Salón del Chocolate in Lima, a great opportunity to meet all our Peruvian partners from Vraem, Madre de Dios, Piura and Amazonas, before heading to the north. Our journey went to the cloud forests of Chachapoyas & into the cacao valleys of Amazonas. It’s home to the protected Denominación de Origen “Cacao Amazonas Perú” & to native genetic lineages.

Takeaways from this trip:
▸ Smaller main-crop volumes this year, driven by extreme weather conditions
▸ El Niño Costero was impossible to ignore — the talk of the town, with a real impact on agriculture & fishing
▸ Peru’s flavour diversity never disappoints, though the pull toward hybrid, higher-yielding genetics for resilience remains a trend & risk for genetic diversity losses
▸ Organic takes more work at origin: global contamination pressure, more frequent residue testing & increasingly sensitive detection all raise the risk of rejected lots.
More than ever, relationships matter most when conditions are difficult.

The most emotional moment of the trip? Experiencing chocolate makers share their own bars with the producers, tasting together at the farm, discussing with mutual respect to understand each other challenges.

Our portfolio spans from micro-lot selections to regionally certified cacao!

Reach out for more info & discover the amazing cacao diversity Peru has to offer.

20/09/2026

Behind the scenes of our Peru Origin Trip 🌱🇵🇪

This summer, we didn't travel to Peru on a solo sourcing trip. We brought a group of chocolate makers with us, so they could meet our partner farmers, taste new-harvest cacao lots and experience the work behind the beans first-hand — from genetics & farming to fermentation, drying & chocolate making. Seeing origin in person changes how you buy, and how you talk about the cacao in your own bars.

July isn't a random choice either: it falls toward the end of the main harvest across Amazonas & northern Cajamarca, so the journey lines up with real activity, not a quiet season. That means walking straight into freshly-picked, fermenting and drying lots — and getting a live read on this year's quality, volume & timing.

This year's journey started at Peru's Salón del Chocolate in Lima, a great opportunity to meet all our Peruvian partners from Vraem, Madre de Dios, Piura and Amazonas, before heading to the north. Our journey went to the cloud forests of Chachapoyas & into the cacao valleys of Amazonas. It's home to the protected Denominación de Origen "Cacao Amazonas Perú" & to native genetic lineages that DNA research has only recently started.

Takeaways from this trip:
▸ Smaller main-crop volumes this year, driven by extreme weather conditions
▸ El Niño Costero was impossible to ignore — the talk of the town, with a real impact on agriculture & fishing
▸ Peru's flavour diversity never disappoints, though the pull toward hybrid, higher-yielding genetics for resilience remains a trend & risk for genetic diversity losses
▸ Organic takes more work at origin: global contamination pressure, more frequent residue testing & increasingly sensitive detection all raise the risk of rejected lots.
More than ever, relationships matter most when conditions are difficult.

The most emotional moment of the trip? Experiencing chocolatemakers share their own bars with the producers, tasting together at the farm, discussing with mutual respect to understand each other challenges.

Our portfolio spans micro-lot selections to regionally certified cacao!
Reach out for info & discover the amazing cacao diversity Peru has to offer.

03/07/2026

🌿🇩🇴Taíno Kún Áwata — Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

⛰️🌴 🦎 Hidden behind the mountains in Puerto Plata, Chicho tends a single-estate treasure that offers the perfect micro-climate to grow cacao: Kún Áwata — “The Three Steps” in Taíno language, or Tres Pasos in Spanish. Kún Áwata is named for the three river crossings that once led to this hidden corner of the island. In this farm exceptional genetics, fertile tropical soils, and generations of dedication create a cacao of remarkable elegance.

🧬🌱Exceptional old genetics — Criollo, Contamana, Curaray, Iquitos — meet rich volcanic soils and generations of know-how. The pods are picked at peak ripeness, pre-drained and fermented for 7 days in traditional wooden boxes, then slowly sun-dried — every step protecting the beans’ aromatic complexity and sense of place.

It’s Chicho’s, .cacao and care through every stage — from conserving exceptional old genetics to a carefully controlled harvest and adapted post-harvest protocol — that gives these beans their distinct personality

💎 The result? A cacao bean with real character: delicate floral notes fof violet and geranium 🌸, bright cranberry , silky vanilla, rounding off into something creamy & indulgent, almost like an Irish cream liqueur 🥃

🇫🇷🍫 Fourteen makers, one mystery bean.
During summer camp, fourteen French chocolate makers were handed the very same Kún Áwata beans — no origin, no story, just one instruction: craft the best possible dark chocolate at 75%. Fourteen bars came back, fourteen completely different interpretations of the same bean 📖🍫

🩷 Aurélien and his team from prepared every step carefully. They connected directly with Chicho to understand his reality, his production system, context and history. During the Summer Camp all other makers discovered the identity of the bean 🫆.
Kún Áwata is more than a cacao — it’s a landscape, a family, a heritage. And it’s waiting for the next chocolate maker to interprete these beans and share its story.

❣️⁉️ Curious to discover Unique Dominican Flavours? Reach out to discover our 7 single farm range each with its unique identity 🍫!

20/06/2026

🌿 🇬🇹 GUATEMALA CACAO — A Fingerprint 🫆 Unlike Any Other!

There are origins you work with. And then there are origins that work on you. Guatemala is the latter — and it holds a very special place in our hearts at Silva Cacao.
From the misty rainforests surrounding Laguna Lachuá in Alta Verapaz, where Q’eqchi’ Maya communities have been growing cacao for centuries, to the Pacific Coast farms rediscovering an ancient heritage — we are proud to present our most complete and curated range of Guatemalan specialty cacao ever.
10 lots. 4 regions. One extraordinary story.

What makes our Guatemala range truly unique?

🌱 EUDR-ready — all lots GPS-linked and fully compliant

📍 Fully traceable — QR-linked origin data from farm to workshop

🏆 Award-winning quality — internationally recognised microlots

🌳 Carbon-positive farms — active forest restoration & biodiversity corridors

🧬 Exceptional flavours — centuries-old Maya cacao culture meets modern post-harvest science

🤝 Direct farmer partnerships with Q’eqchi’ Maya families at the heart of the Lachuá lot

❤️behind every lot: an exceptional team in the field — bringing technology, innovation and long-term partnerships that make the difference.

↗️ Full story & complete portfolio: link in bio

19/04/2026

🇹🇭 THAILAND PART II | BY FARMERS FOR FARMERS

Some origins are shaped by rules. Others are shaped by experience. We can’t be happier to announce our partnership with .collective !

💎 CHUMPHON COLLECTIVE represents a farmer led cacao movement in Southern Thailand — where post harvest isn’t fixed, but responsive, and flavour is shaped in real time.

🌱 At SILVA Cacao, we value systems where farmers lead, adapt and decide. Together with the Chumphon Collective, we are proud to bring a cacao expression that speaks clearly of its place, its people and its resilience.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

NA NOD CHUMPHON 1
A farmer led adaptive expression
Flavour profile
🌿 bright lemongrass
🍏 green apple acidity
🍌 caramelised banana
🍍 yellow fruits
🌰 a persistent nutty undertone

📍Sourced from family farms in Na Nod, Southern Thailand, this microlot is grown within a highly diverse agroforestry system — cacao intercropped with banana, durian, mangosteen, coconut, rubber, palm sugar and local herbs.
In a region defined by heavy rainfall and shifting conditions, fermentation and drying are continuously adapted — not standardised.
Here, cacao is shaped through observation, experience and collective knowledge.
Led by Mr. Chok Petchdang, a producer and community leader within Chumphon Collective, who oversees pod collection, farmer coordination and quality control across Southern Thailand. A system where farmers are not suppliers — but decision makers.
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
CHUMPHON COLLECTIVE is built on transparency, direct payments and community investment. From fair wages to free art and cacao education programs for children, impact isn’t added — it’s embedded.
Traceability is structured and clear, following cacao from extended family farms through post harvest adaptation — from harvest to drying, with integrity intact.
This is cacao shaped by farmers, for those who care about flavour with depth, movement and meaning.

✨ Curious?
→ Reach out for samples
Thailand doesn’t do standard 🩷🇹🇭
Neither does farmer led cacao.
Raise your bar.

18/04/2026

🇹🇭 THAILAND PART I | TWO MICROLOTS SAILING ⛵️

Thailand is not one flavour. It’s an origin in motion — shaped by soil, climate, people and real time post harvest craft. And today, we are genuinely proud — and excited — to bring two new Thai cacao identities to the market: Nakhon & Pen Thai. These microlots capture a country where cacao is still being written.
________________________________________
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT
🏅 COEX 2025 — Gold Medal
A grounded, composed and deeply refined expression.
Flavour profile
🌰 roasted nuts
🍯 caramel
🍂 dried fruits
🌸 delicate floral undertones
🍫 a clean, lingering chocolaty finish
Built across 38 smallholder farms in Southern Thailand, shaped by mineral rich red soils, humid tropical conditions and disciplined post harvest control.
________________________________________
PEN THAI PHATTHALUNG
🥉 International Chocolate Awards 2025 — Asia Pacific Bronze
A bright, gently sweet and lifted cacao with clarity.
Flavour profile
🍑yellow fruits
🍇dried fruits
🌰 soft nutty notes
🍫 mellow chocolate tones

📍Rooted in the wetlands of the Thale Noi basin and led by Ms Pen, who controls the full journey from tree to bean across 17 family farms.
Humidity, water influence and adaptive fermentation shape a fruit forward profile that stays clean and expressive.
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
Both microlots are the result of our origins partners work: .io frontline work with farmers, where flavour development, agroforestry and long term resilience are non negotiable, powered by — satellite verified farms, fermentation logs, QR based traceability — not complexity, but clarity.
And as we speak, these cacao lots are sailing from Thailand to Belgium!

✨ Curious ❓
→ Reach out for samples
→ Or come taste them with us at ShowColat, Bordeaux
📍 SILVA Cacao | Booth 59 | 1–3 May

Silva-cacao

23/10/2026

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28/09/2026

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