By Jecca Berta

This summer, we brought back one of Todd’s favorite company traditions — origin trips. In August, a group of fifteen Dandelions traveled to Thailand to visit cacao farms, meet with farmers and producers, and see where those beans are grown and how they’re fermented. Thai farmers sell whole cacao pods rather than individual beans, which is rare. Crystal, Lead Chocolate Maker at 16^th Street, and Stephanie, Lead Barista at our Venetian location in Las Vegas, join us to share more. 

How did Dandelion’s relationship with Thai cacao begin? 

Crystal: Greg (our Chocolate “Sourcerer”) and Ryan, who owns Parliament Chocolate in Redlands, have been friends for years. They were both part of this trip. Ryan has strong ties to Thailand. He grew up going there. In 2016, he joined others in building Thai Cacao Distribution to bring Thai cacao to the world of craft chocolate.

Stephanie: That cacao is fermented at a facility led by Bunnam, who works with local producers in the area. She and her husband help the farmers understand the process we go through to buy cocoa and make chocolate. 

During your trip, you went to Bunnam’s fermentation facility in Chanthaburi. Tell us about that.

Crystal: We drove down from Bangkok in two vans and went straight to the fermentary that Bunnam runs with her husband. We stuck our hands in some fermenting bean boxes and switched over one of the boxes when the beans needed to be rotated.

Stephanie: After visiting some cacao farms, we went back to the fermentary. Some of us went hiking, then we did another turn of the fermentation. We got to cut open the beans and learned what to look for in well-fermented beans. 

In Thailand, farmers sell whole cacao pods rather than selling individual beans. Why is that? 

Crystal: It’s mostly because that’s how they sell produce there. They’re used to selling durian as a whole fruit, so they think of cacao the same way. That’s their mindset.

Cacao is relatively new to Thailand. How did it get started? 

Stephanie: Various trees were brought over from different areas. The most successful ended up being hybrid trees from Malaysia: Chumphon 1 and 2. I think the name comes from the area where they do genetic development. 

Thai farmers grow cacao among crops like durian and mangosteen. Did you eat either? 

Stephanie: Mangosteen was out of season. We did get to try fresh dates, durian, and rambutan. I liked the durian. Crystal did not.

Crystal: I had it in a sorbet, and I had it in regular fruit form. It tastes just like it smells, which is not great. Like burnt onions or something. 

Stephanie: It didn’t smell bad to me. It tasted like if apples and bananas had a custard baby. 

Such a divisive fruit! Any other standout food memories from the trip? 

Stephanie: Bunnam made us a coconut chicken soup called Tom Kha Gai. It was great. I loved it. I’ve had it here at my local Thai restaurants, but those taste nothing like hers.

Crystal: The papaya I had was the cleanest, most delicious tasting papaya. Oh, when we went to a market one morning, I got chicken and rice with a sweet chili sauce. That was a really good breakfast, super simple and a lot spicier than here. 

You also visited some farms and attended cocoa panel discussions. What was that like? 

Crystal: Bunnam, Greg, and Ryan spoke on the panels, and then some of us shared additional information and anecdotes. The panel discussions created space for farmers, Bunnam, and the Dandelion team to exchange questions about cocoa quality, fermentation, and what chocolate makers like Dandelion are looking for. 

We try to create a feedback loop, where we make the chocolate then share our learnings. Right now we’re in the data collection phase. It’ll be a continual experiment. Part of the long-term goal is to build a stronger Thai cacao community with more farmers growing high-quality cacao and more opportunities for Thai cocoa to reach craft chocolate makers. 

What are Dandelion’s plans for Thai cacao? 

Crystal: We’ll be getting Thai beans very soon, and then we’ll start the profile development process with the end goal of making single-origin Thai chocolate bars.

How exciting. Part of the group visited a chocolate maker in Bangkok. How was that?

Crystal: We went to a place called 32Bar X — a small shop that does single-origin chocolate. I bought a set that has fourteen different chocolates. I’ll do a tasting with the team this week.

We’ve been told the itinerary included karaoke. Any highlights?

Crystal: “Barbie Girl” hands down. Greg and Ryan as a duet. 

Stephanie: Greg being the man voice, Ryan being the female. We took a break from karaoke for Bunnam’s husband to play a xylophone-like instrument. I played a drumbeat while he performed. That was cool because apparently he doesn’t often play for others.

What will you both take away with you from your Thailand trip?

Stephanie: The trip opened my eyes to the experiences farmers go through. I was able to put faces to the cacao farmers and understand their worries. I’ve been with Dandelion for four years now, and I grew up with a family in farming, but I had never fully put that in perspective until those panel discussions. I want to go back to Chanthaburi and see the farmers again. I would one hundred percent recommend to anybody that they visit a cacao farm. 

Crystal: Everyone was just so nice, and seeing how what we do affects people was really beautiful and heartwarming. It’s not chocolate to farmers the way it is to us. It’s a crop, and it’s part of their livelihood. I’m often in the thick of it on the production line. It was good to step outside of that. The people we met are super transparent. They care about the whole community and want to see it thrive. 

Now that you’ve gone to a cocoa origin, which origin, in your dream world, would you want to visit next?  

Stephanie: Uganda.

Crystal: Brazil. I’ve been there a couple times but would like to go back to see that side of it. 

Thank you, both.