Our Chocolate Revolution
Have you ever noticed that basically all industrial chocolates taste the same? What a pity when you know that hundreds of different cacao varieties exist in the world - each one being absolutely unique … But why then can’t we taste this richness and diversity in the chocolates we buy? The reasons are simple. The industry only uses a handful of commercialized cacao varieties, blends them no matter what region they came from and applies standardized production processes to achieve the same result. In the end all the chocolates taste the same and we lose this great diversity of cacaos. We want to change this!
Two years ago we started a Chocolate Revolution and co-founded together with 36 cacao farming families from the Alto Huayabamba valley in Peru «Choba Choba» the first Swiss chocolate brand that belongs to cacao farmers. Through this unusual business model we want to reverse the rules by which the chocolate industry plays. The cacao farmers become entrepreneurs, run their own business and benefit from the success of their own company.
Today, with the launch of the «Nativo Project» we take our Revolution to the level of the product. We want to preserve the diversity of cacao by protecting rare and native varieties, creating chocolates out of them and thus fighting against the industry’s standardization of taste.
All the co-founders of Choba Choba 
Rebels of the Chocolate Revolution with cacaos Nativos 
Charito – Choba Choba farmer and co-founder 
Carlos – Choba Choba farmer and co-founder 
In the beautiful Alto Huayabamba valley in Peru ... 
… we have found native cacao varieties. 
We want to preserve these rare cacaos... 
… replant and investigate them ... 
… and create unique delicious chocolates out of them. 
The group of cacaos «Nativos» comprises around 50 different varieties. 
They are all unique and have extraordinary aromas. 
Yet we know very little about them but we will investigate them in future. 
The team in Bern is all for the Chocolate Revolution! 
Pro Specie Rara
Preserve rare cacao varieties and create unique chocolates with us!
In the jungle of the Alto Huayabamba Valley in Peru, we have discovered around 50 cacao varieties that only grow in this part of the planet. The Choba Choba farmers proudly call these cacaos «Nativos» and we know very little yet about these varieties except that they have extraordinary aromas.
The objectives of our Nativo Project are:
- compile an exhaustive and detailed inventory of these cacao varieties;
- build a conservation site to preserve these cacaos in situ;
- analyze each of these cacao varieties for its own distinctive features;
- replant and cultivate them in our communities;
- create pilot chocolates with these varieties.
The 80’000 CHF we want to collect through this campaign will allow us to get started. And already this autumn, we will craft the very first chocolates out of an assemblage of cacaos Nativos: the Nativo Chocolate Box that is at the center of this campaign!
Reaching the objective of our campaign will allow us to embark on an exciting long-term journey! By supporting our project you become an important part of this adventure and will follow its evolution step by step. Year after year, as our research advances, we will create new and every time unique chocolates with these cacao varieties. The assemblage creations of the first years will soon be replaced by single variety creations, meaning: one cacao Nativo variety = one chocolate creation. And we want you to play a central role in this creation process by enjoying these chocolates every year and sharing with us your impressions.
This is how cacao grows in our Alto Huayabamba valley. 
A fruit of cacao Nativo 
The farmers pick the cacao pods by hand from the trees... 
… and open them with a machete. 
They take the beans out from the cacao pod... 
… and ferment the beans for several days. 
After the fermentation the beans are dried in the sun. 
We want to enrich the chocolate world with our aromatic cacaos Nativos. 
And create chocolates with an absolutely unique taste! 
The first chocolate samples out of cacaos Nativos ... 
… we have already tested them for you. 
The chocolate out of our Nativos is simply the best!
Extraordinary chocolates for Christmas!
You help us – we help you! By supporting our campaign you automatically take care of your Christmas presents! ;-) The Nativo Chocolate Box at the center of this campaign is the most extraordinary gift you can think of: unique, meaningful and incredibly delicious!
The Nativo Box will contain three pure dark chocolate bars each with a different percentage of cacao and made out of an assemblage of our Nativos. This will allow you to fully discover the complexity of aromas of these precious cacaos as you enjoy them bit by bit. Our chocolates are crafted by the Swiss chocolate maker Felchlin, one of the best on the planet, and will be delivered to you fresh off the mill mid December – right on time for Christmas!
Browse through these images to discover more rewards of our campaign. Maybe you’ll go to Peru next year?
«One Year Of Chocolates» 
«Your Nativo Chocolate Box» 
«Plant Your Own Cacao Tree» 
«Meet Doriza and Carlos» 
«Rucksack by Jonas» 
«Rucksack by Jonas» 
«Into The Wild» 
«Into The Wild» 
«Into The Wild»