Jennifer Rojas Cline has tasted some serious chocolate in her time as the category manager overseeing sweets and snacks at Bi-Rite Markets. In the heart of the craft chocolate scene in San Francisco, with leaders like Tcho and Dandelion Chocolate, she carefully curates shelves full of small and local makers, such as Dick Taylor Chocolate and Ritual Chocolate. And yet, Rojas Cline says nothing prepared her for the experience of traveling to the source, standing in the middle of the jungle, and breathing in the aroma of fresh chocolate. “All of the smells that came out of there were incredible,” she says. “They were so sweet, fruity, and chocolaty.”  

Most fans simply love Tcho’s chocolate bars because they’re delicious, rocking a high cocoa content in unique and interesting flavors. Tcho was born in San Francisco in 2005 and moved to a bigger factory in Berkeley in 2014. The chocolate maker also made headlines when it went totally vegan by 2023, doubling down on its commitment to sustainability. It’s nice to know that just like Bi-Rite, Tcho is also a certified B Corp, which means they care about their community and the environment. They have a reputation for ethical sourcing, currently partnering with farmers on the ground in six different countries — Ghana, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Ecuador, and Dominican Republic.  

Traveling to the Source  

Which is how Rojas Cline wound up boarding a flight last fall, joining a small group of chocolate pros on a special trip to Peru. To see where the chocolate is grown and harvested, they touched down in Lima, hopped to a smaller airport, and drove to the edge of the jungle in San Martín, a region in northern Peru. They visited Acopagro, a large cooperative of nearly 2,000 small farmers, focused on organic and regenerative practices. Cacao trees thrive in heat and humidity but not direct sun, so these farmers mix them with other fruit trees and native species. “There’s orange trees, papayas, coconuts, breadfruit, pigs, everything you could imagine, in this super verdant farmland,” Rojas Cline says. They chop pods from trees and scoop out the seeds, which ferment in boxes and dry on beds, resulting in those memorable aromas.  

To get a taste for how the chocolate is roasted and ground, the group continued to the headquarters of the co-op, where farmers drop off hundreds of pounds of cacao seeds, pooling together their resources. At this point, most of the chocolate in the world gets shipped, and the people who grow the beans might never taste a bar, explains Laura Sweitzer, director of sustainability and sourcing at Tcho. But Tcho does things differently, for several key reasons. 

Roasting at the Origin 

Tcho sets up “flavor labs” near their partners, which are basically mini bean-to-bar chocolate making facilities, where they provide equipment and high sensory training. If you’re familiar with wine or coffee growing, it’s a similar approach to those points or grades, scientifically tasting the chocolate to evaluate the nuances of the quality and flavor. This helps Tcho get the highest quality chocolate with specific flavor notes. And it helps the farmers set higher prices with different tiers for organic, fair trade, and a “Tcho premium.” “There’s a buyer for every cocoa bean, but you can earn a lot more when you’re segmenting your best beans … ” Sweitzer says. “Tcho, in a nutshell, invested in partnering with our supply chain and developing a shared language of flavor.”  

Then Tcho actually roasts and grinds their beans at origin, so instead of shipping 25 metric tons of whole beans, that turns into 20 tons of cocoa liquor (almost like a nut butter that solidifies at room temperature). Stripping out the shells roughly reduces the shipping weight by 20 percent and helps lower their carbon footprint. So overall, by setting up farmers to actually taste their own chocolate, Tcho believes it’s better for the chocolate, farmers, and world.  

Tasting the Difference 

The chocolate liquor gets a long boat ride to the Port of Oakland, before arriving at the Tcho chocolate factory in Berkeley. Where the team melts it into a refiner, adds a little sugar, sometimes blends different batches, and grinds them for a good 17 to 25 hours to get a super smooth finish — Tcho likes their chocolate to melt flawlessly, so the full flavor hits your tongue. Then finally, it’s poured into bar molds, and wrapped up in super colorful boxes.  

Contemplating the options on the shelf at Bi-Rite, the Born Fruity is the chocolate that comes from Peru, with notes of bright red fruit like raspberry and cherry. The Holy Fudge hails from Ghana, if you’re into quintessential chocolate flavor, as nostalgic as fudgy brownies. The Dark Duo is both the Bi-Rite bestseller and Sweitzer’s personal favorite, contrasting a crunchy shell from Ghana and a soft filling from Peru. “You’re basically doing the blend in your mouth while chewing,” Sweitzer laughs. Rojas Cline also recommends the fun combos and collabs, whether you’re into toasty hazelnuts or crunchy toffee, or want to go wild with strawberry matcha.  

So the next time you snap into a bar of Tcho chocolate, you can taste exactly where it came from. “I savor chocolate. I love chocolate so much,” Rojas Cline says. “Talking about the nuances of chocolate is just as interesting as talking about wine. In every single bite, there are so many differences from different parts of the world.” 

Becky Duffett is a food writer living and eating in San Francisco. Follow her on Instagram at @beckyduffett.