Anarchy Chocolate – Our Bean to Bar Story

Back in the summer of 2018 we had the mad idea of growing cocoa and starting our own chocolate bar brand right here in Thailand.

Well, two and a half years later and we are about to launch our first bean to bar chocolate on the world.

Anarchy Chocolate is made from Thai cocoa beans to create distinctive flavors, exquisite aromas and a remarkable taste experience.

Anarchy Chocolate – Peace, Love & Chocolate

Anarchy Chocolate is made exclusively down on Anarchy Farm in Trat, Thailand. It has quickly developed into a family enterprise.

After viewing a farmhouse for a friend who was looking to buy, we fell in love with the land and could see its potential as a cocoa farm. We ended up buying it ourselves along with the establish fruit trees, mainly rambutan, mangosteen and durian.

We converted the farmhouse, so it was fit for our purpose with a large open kitchen and a ‘control room’ we call ‘the lab’ to keep the food preparation separate from the rest of the living area.

I had dozens of cocoa saplings I grew from the beans of Trinitario and Forastero pods. I was also gifted some Chumphon I pods and grew more saplings that we planted around the farm.

At the time of writing the cocoa trees are to young and have yet to produce pods of their own, but some have started to flower. Maybe in a year or so we will be able to start to produce an exclusive ‘tree to bar’ chocolate from the cocoa we grow at Anarchy Farm.

In our permaculture food forest we also have a number of cocoa trees and they have started to produce pods which we will initially use to grow more tree stock.

Sourcing Cocoa Beans

To produce our first bars of Anarchy Chocolate we have been purchasing quality, single origin beans from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand.

While I’ve been busy feeding, pruning and generally looking after the cocoa trees across our two properties, Katae has been learning how to make chocolate from bean to bar. First by YouTube and then trial and error. Practise makes perfect!

Big shout outs and credit to: Gabe Humphries and Dylan Butterbaugh – CraftChocolateTV of Manoa Chocolate, both in Hawaii. You don’t know how much you helped and inspired us on our bean to bar journey. Thank you!

Tools of the Chocolate Trade

We invested in a winnowing machine (as seen above). This separates the husk from the bean. A malanger (this grinds the beans into a silky smooth mass or liquor) and an oven to roast the beans in a tumbling drum.

There are many processes in making chocolate from the bean to bar apart from the three mentioned above, and we cover them all more fully in our new website www.AnarchyChocolate.com if you are interested.

In anticipation of our first cocoa pods, we are currently developing an area at the farm to ferment and dry our own beans.

Designing a Chocolate Wrapper

More recently, while we have been developing our signature bars; 85% Dark Chocolate and 33% Milk Chocolate, we have been designing the packaging.

We handed our basic concepts and brief to a local designer company and they have produced an eye catching chocolate wrapper that reflects the origins and values of our chocolate.

Our original plan, long before the plandemic was to wholesale our chocolate bars to local hotels and retailers that cater to the tourist and hospitality industry. Like every other SME, all our the best laid plans are subject to change and change again.

Anarchy Chocolate Club

We are offering a subscription model exclusively through our website for you to join the Anarchy Chocolate Club.

Early adopters can have an exclusive Anarchy Chocolate Club box set sent to them directly every month*. Also you will be grandfathered in so there will never be any price increases, ever!

The package includes the following delicious and nutritious items:

1 x 85% Dark Chocolate Bar 80g
1 x 33% Milk Chocolate Bar 80g
1 x Experimental Bar 80g
1 x Cocoa Nibs
1 x Chocolate Tea

Head over to the new Anarchy Chocolate website and be first to register your interest for this great offer.

To tantalise your tastebuds, we will have a soft launch of Anarchy Chocolate at the beginning of 2021 and a bar design reveal a little before then. So keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Follow Anarchy Chocolate on Facebook and Instagram for the taste of freedom and further information.

*Thailand Only

Anarchy Chocolate – Our Bean to Bar Story