It's the 1950's; your country is poor and in the throes of recovery from WWII— but in the south, there's the promise of land. The Japanese occupied the Philippines for 3 years, and after they were forced out, the country was devastated. Many …
Philippines
Metro Manila Chocolate & Where To Find It
In researching chocolate shops in Manila, I re-started the process several times. I couldn't seem to find any chocolate makers in Manila, or even get a good idea of where Manila begins & ends. It turns out that over the years, the metropolis …
What Is Tablea? All About Filipino Hot Chocolate (Sikwate)
I heard the word tablea— also spelled tableya— so many times over my first couple of weeks in the Philippines, back in early 2017. I even bought some honey tablea in Bohol a couple of years ago. Then again, when I went back in to research Philippine …
Chocolate On The Road: The Philippines Part 2
"I almost give up... It's very difficult, because you're dealing with these farmers who have been in this practice for 40 years, 50 years. It's really very difficult to change their mindset [overnight]."-Val Turtur, President of the Cacao Industry …
5 Delicious Davao City Chocolate Destinations
The Davao City chocolate scene is quite developed, with nearly a dozen local chocolate makers using local cacao to make chocolate. More often than not, this cacao is from their own farm. Despite that, most of this chocolate is really hard to find …
How Young People Are Reorienting Philippine Cacao
A commonly-quoted statistic is that the average age of a cacao farmer is 50 years old. That statistic comes from this 2014 article detailing studies done to determine the average age of cocoa farmers in West Africa. So while that number is not …
Chocolate On The Road: The Philippines Part 1
"I would have thought that since cacao came into Asia through the Philippines, through that connection with Mexico, that the Philippines would be in as position now to be one of the top-producing countries of cacao. But now... we just barely even …
Filipino Chocolate & Cacao Culture
People often remark that Filipinos and Mexicans have a lot in common, and this isn't pure coincidence. From cuisine and Catholicism to a parallel colonial history, these shared traits extend to chocolate. Or rather, a lack thereof. For an audio …
Chocolate On The Road: Tree To Bar (A Creation Story)
"When you already have a product, you now have a story to tell about how this product came to be & where it all started." -Wit Holganza Most countries around the world have more than one small-batch chocolate maker. In fact, you can make …
The 12 Rising Stars of Craft Chocolate
To whomever actually reads the introduction, in many ways this is a list of places I want to travel to in the near future (a few of which I've already been to). But this is mostly an article for you, the reader, who visits this site for insight into …
