The most important factor in creating quality chocolate is the ingredients you start with. Listed below are some of our favourite suppliers of cocoa beans and other ingredients for small bean-to-bar chocolate makers.
If you’re looking for small quantities of cocoa beans to buy locally, we also recommend looking up your closest craft chocolate maker. Other makers are often able to sell small quantities of beans which can be particularly useful for the experimental home chocolate maker.
York Cocoa Works (UK)
yorkcocoaworks.com
York Cocoa Works is bringing back chocolate production to York, the spiritual home of British chocolate. As well as producing ethical bean-to-bar chocolate, they also supply ethical, fine flavour cocoa beans in small quantities for other chocolate makers.
Uncommon Cacao (US / Worldwide)
uncommoncacao.com
Uncommon Cacao work directly with cocoa farmers around the world to source some of the very best, ethically grown beans. With an emphasis on transparency and ethics, they work tirelessly to find some of the best sustainable cacao in the world.
Chocolate Alchemy (US)
chocolatealchemy.com
John Nanci’s Chocolate Alchemy is a fantastic resource for all chocolate makers, but he also sells beans, nibs and other ingredients in his online shop.
Cocoanect (Netherlands / Europe)
cocoanect.com
Netherlands based cacao importer and distributor.
Daarnhouwer (Netherlands / Europe)
daarnhouwer.nl
Netherlands based cacao importer and distributor.
Keylink (UK)
keylink.org
Keylink provide a range of ingredients and packaging solutions for food producers.
HB Ingredients (UK)
hbingredients.co.uk
HB Ingredients provide a range of ingredients for food producers. They are especially useful for UK based makers seeking sugar and milk powerder, and also sometimes have supplies of cocoa beans and pre-roasted nibs.
Laverstoke Park Farm (UK)
laverstokepark.co.uk
Laverstoke Park Farm is an organic and bio-dynamic farm based in Hampshire, who specialise in rearing water buffalo. Of particular interest to chocolate makers is their dried buffalo milk powder, which can produce an intensely creamy milk chocolate.