What makes Kad Kokoa different is that the use of cacao beans exclusively from Thailand. Paniti Junhasavasdikul and Nuttaya Junhasavasdikul started their business from a seed of knowledge: that Thailand was once a major producer of cacao for large multinational corporations. Motivated to revive Thailand’s chocolate reputation and promote cacao as a speciality crop from the country, they, along with a third partner Leo Sebag, started opening up the Thai bean to Thai people and those abroad.
Dried cacao beans (Photo: Courtesy of Kad Kokoa)
Kad Kokoa has four farms, in Chiangmai, Chanthaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chumphon. Cacao beans grown in these four locations have distinct tastes due to differences in the temperature and soil. After the beans are handpicked by harvesters, they are sent it to Kad Kokoa cafe for quality check and to be transformed to chocolate.
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In addition to unearthing the charms of Thai cacao, Kad Kokoa is also actively contributing its knowledge of cacao trees to support Thai farmers. The chocolate producer’s Seedling For New Lives campaign in Chiang Mai, Mae Hongson and Lampang that aims to raise funds to buy cacao seeds for farmers under the growing operation of Chumphon Horticulture Research Centre and MTT Farm in Doi Saket, to provide to the Department of Forestry. 2020 has been hard on the agriculture of Northern Thailand due to rampant wildfires at the start of the year. Kad Kokoa hopes the project will help farmers and hill tribe members replace the burned trees with something that can provide a source of income. The goal is to reach 750,000 baht, to buy and distribute 10,000 cacao seedlings to the farmers.
Cacao seedlings packaged for distribution (Photo: Courtesy of Kad Kokoa) 
(Photo: Courtesy of Sinwattana CrowdFunding)
As Seedling For New Lives runs for six months, Kad Kokoa will donate funds generated from the sales of their “Thainess Chocolate Set” valued at 1,280 baht to the cause. The Thainess Chocolate Set consists of four flavours of Thai origin chocolate: Dark Single Origin – Chumpon (70%), Dark Inclusion Bar – Salted Tamarind (58%), Dark Inclusion Bar – Shiso Seeds (58%) and Dark Inclusion Bar – Salted Caramel (58%).
Visit kadkokoa.co to learn more and to purchase delicious Thai chocolate.
See also: Sowing The Seeds For Thailand’s Future
