One of the implications of wanting to partner directly with cacao farmers is learning how to import cocoa beans.

My first ever post on The Chocolate Life was a naive call for small-scale farmers to send me their beans. Little did I know that one of the biggest hurdles to starting a from the bean chocolate business is obtaining high quality, well-fermented cocoa beans! And collaboration is the best way to a successful importation process.

Read more here: http://rootchocolate.com/2014/09/25/importing_cocoa_beans/