Why Are Your Chocolate Bars So Expensive?
This is not your ordinary chocolate. Below I will explain a few reasons why the bars sold at Bean To Bar World are much more expensive than chocolate bars you find in your local grocery store or even top chocolatier shops. ate shops.
The cacao used is more expensive
Image by Bean To Bar World.
Chocolate is made from cacao beans, which are just the seeds of the cacao tree. Cacao seeds require a great deal of human labour not only to grow, maintain, and harvest, but also to cure (ferment, dry) before even making it to the chocolate maker. This is true regardless of whether the cacao is fine or bulk cacao.
Bulk cacao is grown all around the world, and is what is used for all the major large chocolate makers (Lindt, Cadbury, Mars, Nestle, Callebaut, Cacao Barry, etc.). It is what is used even for the couverture chocolate of nearly all chocolatier shops in the world. It is called bulk cacao not because of the specific variety per se, but because of the qualities which make it bulk and not fine cacao. Bulk cacao makes up the majority of the cacao grown in the world.
Fine cacao is grown around the world at a much smaller scale. Depending on who you ask, fine cacao may consist of 5%-15% of the world’s supply. The same countries that grow bulk cacao may also grow fine cacao. Let’s go over some differences between bulk cacao and fine cacao.
Bulk vs Fine cacao Traits
Bulk cacao
This is the cacao used to make most of the chocolate you have consumed in your life. Even fair trade and organic certified chocolate can still be (and usually is) made from bulk cacao. So what makes bulk cacao considered “bulk”?
Flavour
Bulk cacao is often more bitter, and more astringent.
Has a more simple basic cocoa flavour. Not necessarily a bad flavour, but simple and what we are used to when we think of the flavour of chocolate.
Greater chance of poor or off-flavours
Cost To Grow
Pods are often bigger. More seeds per pod, and therefore more cost effective to grow (same work for more seeds)
Varieties or strains that were selected to be more resilient, but also coincides with less interesting flavour or more off-flavours. Think of flavourless grocery store tomatoes or strawberries. Being more resilient and less susceptible to disease makes them more profitable for the farmers and those buying the seeds.
Variety
This is a contentious issue, and not everyone agrees. The more outdated way of thinking was all this cacao was of the “Forastero” variety. Today much of what was labelled as Forastero appears to be mostly from the Amelonado variety. That said, some argue that even within Amelonado you can find good quality with great flavour cacao, and poor quality. This is true even for other varieties. For the most part, we don’t know exactly which varieties are used, and regardless of what variety a specific cacao is called, what matters most is the qualities (see above for bulk and below for fine).
Fine cacao
Fine cacao is cacao that has certain traits listed below. Some may associate it with a specific variety (a bit overgeneralized in my opinion), a specific heirloom, or a specific region. Regardless, they often share these main traits.
Flavour
Fine cacao is often not bitter, or has a low level of bitterness and astringency.
A much more unique flavour, and more desirable flavours. These flavours are often not picked up in the cacao as much as they will be noticed once the cacao is turned into chocolate. Floral, nutty, fruity, spice notes may be apparent.
Shouldn’t have any off flavours that are associated with the genetics of the tree or the way the cacao was fermented/dried (hammy, mold, rubber)
Cost To Grow
Pods are often much smaller in size, and therefore less seeds per pod. It requires more work for the farmers to get the same amount of cacao from bulk cocoa bods.
Often more susceptible to diseases which plague cacao around the world. This makes it more of a challenge to farmers to harvest and make a profit. Also the costs associated with treating the trees.
If organic, then there is more work and therefore more costs associated with growing and harvesting this cacao as well.
Sometime this caca is fairly traded, transparently traded or directly traded, which can add to the cost.
Variety
In the past, many within the fine chocolate industry talked about Criollo cacao being the very best. Trinitario was a hybrid of the “Forastero” and Criollo, and though to be fine cacao as well, but not as good as criollo. It’s not quite that simple, but this is what was often taught. As mentioned earlier, there is believed to be many wild varieties of cacao, possibly 10. It’s a bit too simplistic to say that one or two are above the rest. And the truth is, many of these grown around the world carry genes from more than one variety. It’s not often you find one single pure strain of cacao as you would for perhaps wine grapes or coffee beans. Some may argue that within any variety there may be individual trees or heirlooms or sub varieties that may hold wonderful traits of low bitterness and favorable aromas.
So Why is fine cacao expensive?
Bottom line, it costs more to grow and take care of. It is not always sold for more, as some farmers sell their cacao at the market value regardless. If they have a buyer who is willing to pay more for their fine cacao, they will sell to them. This is what you see with the caca used to make chocolate in the online shop. These are often purchased from a distributor, who purchased it from a co-op. These co-ops are often where dozens of farmers pool their cacao together and ferment and dry them. Less often, a distributor or a chocolate maker may buy directly from a co-op or a specific farmer (single estate chocolate bars).
If a farmer is going to take the extra effort to grow fine cacao, they need to be paid more for it, otherwise they will switch to bulk cacao or focus on other more lucrative crops. If the farmers can find buyers who are willing to pay them for their fine cacao, and if the buyers agree they are worth the cost (flavour etc.), then they can perpetuate a sustainable relationship. However, the reason why many growers over the years have decided to grow bulk instead of fine comes down to not being paid enough to make it worth their while. With the surge in fine chocolate makers seeking out fine cacao, and willing to pay more, many fine cacao growers may continue to grow this fine cacao. Therefore, the better the consumer understands fine chocolate and fine cacao, and be more willing to buy it, the stronger and more sustainable this link between the farmers-makers-consumers will be.
How much is it purchased for?
It depends, but around $6-12+ per kilo is what many fine chocolate makers can purchase their cacao for. This depends on many factors of whether they are buying locally, direct from farmers or through a broker/distributor, the country of origin and the costs associated with export, etc. Many of the large companies buy their cacao from around $2 per kilo give or take, maybe a couple more for fait trade certified cacao. That is a huge difference from what your small-scale craft chocolate maker buys their cacao for.
For a large company, or a large company buying cheaper bulk cacao, the fair-trade certification is less of an impact on their profit margins as is with small-scale craft makers and the small-scale farmers who can’t afford the costs and measure associated with certification. It can a hinderance more than anything, even if the cacao is fairly traded (or even better (transparently or directly traded).
Economies of scale:
The scale of the operation is another factor in why these chocolate bars cost more. Keep in mind also, if you want to make high quality food be it chocolate or a fine dining restaurant, you can only be so big. There is a tipping point where quality will decrease as the operation increases in size. This is inevitable. The same attention to detail cannot be retained at high volume operations like Nestle, Lindt, and Callebaut. Although many fine chocolate companies would like to grow, there is a point where some grow so big you can begin to taste the their growth, and it's often disappointing.
The majority of the craft fine chocolate makers in the world are quite small-scale. Some may be as small as a few table-top refiners (producing a few kilos each) to a few larger refiners producing 90 kilo batches. This still does not compare to the other end of the spectrum of where bulk chocolate makers have dozens of large fridge-sized refiners are pumping out tons of chocolate at one factory.
The scale of production is a big impact on cost not only for production costs, but ingredient and supplies cost. Fine chocolate makers often buy more expensive sugar, organic ingredients, smaller quantities of these ingredients. Packing is much more expensive. Not only do fine chocolate makers spend more on more luxurious packaging since they are deal with with a fine food product, but the scale they order will make packaging cost more than say the packaging for chocolate bars you find in the grocery store. and packaging is much more expensive.
Other factors & limitations on price
Marketing & Packaging
Larger companies have even larger marketing budgets. Most of you have never heard of many of the brands on this site, or found on the Bean To Bar Map App. These are often small-scale operations with local advertising budgets. Those that do put more money into marketing dip into a big chunk of their profits.
Certifications
The main certifications are organic or fair trade certifications. These cost money not only for the chocolate maker, but also for where the cacao comes from. The amount of red-tape and costs for both farmers and small-scale chocolate makers doesn't allow most fine chocolate to be certified. In my honest opinion, I've never tried fair trade certified chocolate I would consider fine chocolate. Nearly all the fair trade certified chocolate on the market is mediocre or bulk cacao that happens to be fair trade as well. Therefore, they can afford the extra cost of the certification because they are using cheaper cacao to begin with. Fine chocolate makers don’t use this cheaper bulk cacao, or they wouldn’t be fine chocolate makers.
Fine chocolate makers still use fairly traded cacao (or like I said even better transparently traded or directly traded) but without the certification. Keep in mind that many of the makers on this site and on the app often use organic cacao or other organic ingredients, but without having their product certified. Therefore, fine chocolate makers are using a more expensive ingredient/cacao, but not benefiting from the marketing value certifications carry since they can’t afford it. .
Import duties/country of origin
Depending on which country the chocolate maker is located, and which country the cacao is coming from, there are different levels of costs associated with importing the cacao, the costs the brokers deal with in regards to travel, paper work, certifications, etc. Some countries are much more challenging into regards to exporting their cacao. Other variables such as seasonal changes of where the cacao was grown, natural disasters, etc. can all impact the cost of the cacao beans.
Third party distributor
Obviously cacao will cost more if purchased from a third party instead of directly from the co-op or the farmer. Most chocolate makers buy through a third-party, and so there are costs associated with that. There is a great deal of work and costs the distributor/broker needs to cover in order to locate the cacao, build relationships, deal with exporting, finding the buyers, and keeping the flow going.
Limitations on price
So does this mean the higher the cost the better the chocolate? No!
Keep in mind that a chocolate maker can get their hands on fine cacao, but what they do with it depends on their skill set. A great fine chocolate maker combines great skill set with great cacao beans. They have to know how to roast/refine them to bring out the best flavour. They need to have the discernment to know which cacao is better than others (often by trial and error). Unfortunately there are some well known "fine chocolate makers" who win awards, check of all the boxes of being a fine chocolate maker, but their products are sub par. I have had discussions with those in the industry and customers who are embarrassed to say they don't like it because it is so well regarded. They feel it will make them appear as if they don't know fine chocolate very well.
Also, some brands spend a lot more on packaging and marketing than others. That could be why their bars are more expensive. Keep in mind like all industries, there are those who shine because they deserve it, and those who shine because of the money they put in or the backs they scratch. It is up to you as a consumer to find who are the fine makers, and who are posing as ones.
Also keep in mind some may be new makers, and may take a few years to really develop and shine. As well, you just may not like the way a maker makes their chocolate. Just like there maybe a local bakery who makes everything from scratch, but you prefer another one because of individual preferences. There are some makers I admit are fine makers, but I just don't appreciate their style of the craft. There may be some bars or brands that are high in cost for good reason (where they get their cacao, how much they pay for it, their own overhead costs) but it may be just as good as a bar that is a few dollars cheaper.
I would say that you will be hard pressed to find a really high quality fine chocolate for under $9. I have seen some single origin dark bars go for $20+. Some were superb, and I understood why they cost more, but I wouldn’t say they were any better than a $12 bar from another maker.
Although more can be said about why fine chocolate costs so much, I hope this brief overview of the main points helps you begin to understand why.