Is Sense of Place the Next Big Thing in Chocolate After Single Origin?

In a recent seminar hosted by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association, entitled “The Future of Craft Chocolate: Can We Grow This Market?” Matt Caputo spoke about buyer and consumer preferences and trends. Caputo’s perspective as an importer and distributor of over 60 craft chocolate brands for his company, A Prior Specialty Foods, certainly puts him in a trend-spotting position for the chocolate industry and his revelations were all tied to one big insight.

While Caputo admitted that sometimes, by the time a trend is identified and named, it is probably already in the decline of its life cycle, one trend stood out as something that still had relevance for brands wishing to enter the craft chocolate market. In short, “sense of place” has become the new “single origin” where chocolate buyers are concerned.

Ambanja Madagascar photo courtesy Dandelion Chocolate

Single Origin Dark Fatigue

He recalls a specific moment when he first noticed this evolution in the market. On a recent sales visit with a major chocolate buyer, as Caputo started pulling out various chocolate bars for sampling, the client bemoaned, “Oh God. Not another single origin dark chocolate tasting.”

This was initially a shock to Caputo because he had begun A Priori in the first place because he believed, “bean-to-bar, single origin dark chocolate was the most culinarily exciting thing I’d ever come across.” (And this, through the lens of his previous career as a cheesemonger.) His early work as a chocolate distributor was largely focused on getting consumers specifically excited about the single-origin category, introducing single-origin cacao stories to people who, at the time, were largely unfamiliar with them.

Fast forward to now, where buyers and consumers have lost some of the romance about single origin chocolate expressions, simply because they have become so much more widely available. Now that single origin chocolate bars can be found in many grocery or even corner stores, consumers have what Caputo terms, “single origin dark fatigue.”

Single Origin Isn’t Going Away

Caputo noted that it’s still necessary for brands to have good single-origin expressions in their lineup, as a means to showcase that they are competitive where the processing of fine chocolate is concerned. A newer appeal to consumers, however, is “sense of place;” terroir, if you will, that goes beyond the country that produced the cacao. Chocolate brands whose products tell stories about where the brand comes from, in addition to simply the chocolate itself, are positioning themselves for better consumer engagement.

Caputo gave several examples of brands he thought were successfully setting the tone for the idea of chocolates that gave a strong sense of place; that offered “travel through taste,” or “chocolate as a passport,” and that allowed consumers to feel they were “participating in more than just something delicious.” These brands also showcased different approaches to a sense of place through various means.

A Sense of Place Through Culture

Caputo offered Cuna de Piedra as an example of a brand that offers a strong sense of culture: a Mexican brand whose chocolates include all-Mexican grown cacao, Slow Food-protected Mexican ingredients, and infusions that pay homage to Mexican cultures, such as mezcal. Domestically, Utah’s Ritual Chocolate nods to its local culture with a champagne and raspberry-infused après-ski bar.

A Sense of Place Through Ingredients and Flavor

Another approach for chocolate that offers a sense of place is specific to ingredients and flavor, and Caputo named Lithuanian-company Chocolate Naive.

as an example of this. Chocolate Naive has two distinct lines of chocolate products, one that focuses on ingredients and flavors from Lithuanian forests and agriculture, including elements such as mushrooms and dark beer, and another that focuses on flavors of the equator, with additional ingredients sourced from around where the cacao beans themselves grow. While both lines are equally well made, Caputo noted that it is the company’s Lithuanian-focused “Forager” line whose products are its best-sellers.

A Sense of Place Through Packaging

Icelandic brand Omnom does include some Icelandic ingredients in their products, but its sense of place, Caputo believes, is more apparent through its packaging and marketing: evocative artwork that is reminiscent of Iceland’s Viking past, and, and seasonal collections that speak to Iceland’s buoyant spirit, despite the lack of sunlight.

A Sense of Place Through Cuisine

Fossa from Singapore goes beyond the inclusion of Singaporean ingredients in their products and actually designs chocolate bars around the flavors of popular street foods. Its Spicy Mala bar evokes a Singaporean hot pot whose flavor components include sesame, peanut, Szechuan peppercorn, and bay leaf, among others. A Salted Egg Cereal bar includes other savory components such as salted duck egg yolk, curry leaves, and chili.

A Sense of Place Through Storytelling and History

Dubai-based chocolate company Mirzam infuses their products with components that tell tales of the Middle East’s role in the spice trade. Its materials include a map that illustrates the various spice trade routes and shows how Dubai was in the center of it all. Everything from English sea salt to Bulgarian rose, to Moroccan orange blossom and Madagascar vanilla, came to pass through its port.

Caputo noted that this is a trend, while amplified by the pandemic, isn’t just resonating with consumers due to a yearning for travel but had begun well before people’s passports started feeling neglected because of pandemic lockdowns. Consumers have been becoming interested in the sources and stories of what they consume.

“The industry has changed,” Caputo noted, from when he started A Priori 15 years ago. (He would know. He helped to change it.) “And where inspiration comes from has to change along with it.”