Chocolat Portugal

The Questions the Cacao World Is Still Asking — and the Connections Between Them

Porto, Portugal 2023

The cacao world holds questions that have not yet been answered.

Porto was where I found myself standing in the middle of that conversation.

Chocolat Portugal — an international chocolate event held in Porto. A gathering of cacao professionals from around the world, each bringing their own perspective to the question of where cacao is heading.

The event was led by Vinte Vinte Chocolate, a maker working across both Port wine and bean-to-bar chocolate. In a city where two fermentation cultures meet, the discussion unfolded.

The Problem with the Name "Bean to Bar"

Cacaogoto exhibited at the event as part of the Japan Bean-to-Bar Association, introducing Japanese bean-to-bar chocolate.

Over the course of the event, representatives from bean-to-bar associations around the world and other cacao professionals gathered — and the conversation gravitated toward a single question.

The name "Bean to Bar" itself.

Small-scale makers who care deeply about traceability, who source exceptional cacao and craft their chocolate with attention and time. And large-scale producers turning out mass-market products. Both operate under the same name — and yet what lies inside it could not be more different.

For consumers, the same label carries wildly different prices and qualities. That contradiction, some argued, is preventing the true value of fine cacao and craft chocolate from being properly understood.

Should the name be changed? Or should the definition be revisited?

No clear answer emerged. But what did become clear — unmistakably, in that room — was that cacao professionals across the world are all holding the same question.

Toward a Single Global Network — An Attempt

The conversation widened further. Could bean-to-bar associations from different countries find ways to work together, and in doing so, build greater collective influence?

Every association faces common challenges. Most are sustained by small-scale operators, navigating the distance between ideals and operational reality.

From that shared difficulty, a desire to cooperate began to take shape — and yet, the very diversity of perspectives and circumstances in the room made the idea of unifying them genuinely hard.

In the end, the effort did not come to fruition. But the experience of knowing that people who share the same convictions are also facing the same walls — that stayed with me.

The Cacaogoto Ceremony

During the event, we held the Cacaogoto Ceremony for a group of around twenty cacao professionals.

Every person in the room was someone deeply embedded in the world of cacao. The experience of bringing together the spirit of tea ceremony and cacao drew genuine, concentrated interest.

People of different backgrounds, sharing a single moment through cacao. In that room, a kind of understanding was forming — one that is different in nature from what discussion alone can reach.

An Unexpected Reconnection

Among those present was Katrien — the person who would later bring the collaboration with The Jane to life.

I thought we were meeting for the first time. But later, through conversation, we realized we had been in the same class at a Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute program held in Japan in 2018.

It wasn't something we recognized in Porto. It came to light afterward, as the connection deepened.

The cacao world is wide — and yet somehow, the threads always connect. The encounter in Porto had been quietly leading toward that night in Antwerp.