A Common Language for Cacao: What an Italian Lab Means for Bulgarian Chocolate Makers

Julia Butac was not a chocolate person. A lab assistant from the Philippines, she joined the Cacao of Excellence program in Perugia without any particular affection for the bean. Now she calls it "my baby." The shift happened somewhere between the roasting and the milling, between the first tasting notes she learned to identify and the moment she understood what she was actually holding: not a commodity, but a story.

That story is what Bulgarian chocolate makers and craft food producers should be paying attention to.

Why Sofia Should Care About a Lab in Italy

Bulgaria has the artisanal foundation. The specialty coffee scene in Sofia has matured rapidly over the past five years, with roasters like DABOV and the Coffee Association Bulgaria building a culture of origin transparency and quality benchmarks. The appetite for craft food is real. What's missing is a shared language for cacao.

Coffee has cupping protocols. Wine has appellations and scoring systems. Cacao, until recently, had neither. Each bean's story got lost in commodity trading, where price was determined by volume, not flavour. The Cacao of Excellence program, led by Julien Simonis from a laboratory in the hills of Perugia, is changing that. They've developed a standardised process for evaluating cacao beans: a flavour wheel, processing guides, and a framework that allows farmers, traders, and consumers to speak the same language.

In Sofia, Flow Cacao already works with single-origin Latin American producers and offers ceremonial cacao experiences. Their approach mirrors the direct-relationship philosophy of Cacao of Excellence. It's a local proof point that Bulgarian consumers and makers are ready for this level of transparency and craft.

The Problem Standardisation Solves

Cacao is genetically diverse. A bean from Peru tastes nothing like one from Thailand. But without a common vocabulary to describe those differences, the nuance disappears. A farmer growing exceptional cacao has no way to prove it. A buyer has no way to verify it. The market defaults to price per tonne, and the story gets lost.

According to reporting on the Cacao of Excellence program, this standardisation can lead to higher prices for premium cacao. In an industry where many farmers live below the poverty line, that's not an abstract benefit. It's a lifeline.

Rosaura Laura, a farmer from Peru, saw a 30% increase in sales after participating in the program.

Rosaura Laura

"This is a good way to dignify the laborers."

The economic impact is real, but the shift in perception matters just as much. When cacao is recognised as a craft, the people who grow it are recognised too.

Small Producers, Global Visibility

Roong Kumpan in Thailand is one of thousands of producers worldwide now working with the program. The resources are freely available: flavour wheels, processing guides, evaluation frameworks. This is not a proprietary system designed to benefit one region. It's a blueprint.

Фото: Виктор Младенов

For Bulgarian makers, the lesson is clear. The specialty coffee community here has already proven that a small country can punch above its weight in global markets. The same infrastructure of quality benchmarks, direct relationships, and origin storytelling could apply to chocolate. The framework exists. The question is whether anyone will use it.

What Standardisation Actually Means

There's a common fear that standardisation flattens craft. That it turns artisans into assembly lines. The Cacao of Excellence model suggests the opposite. By creating a common vocabulary, it doesn't constrain what makers can do. It clarifies what they're working with.

A roaster in Sofia who sources cacao from Ecuador can now describe that bean in terms another roaster in Copenhagen would understand. A consumer can compare origins with the same confidence they'd bring to choosing between Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee. The craft doesn't disappear. It becomes legible.

The duality is what makes this work: science and people, flavour wheels and farmers, meticulous process and human stories. A bar of chocolate is connected to a complex web of decisions, from fermentation to tempering. Standardisation doesn't erase that complexity. It makes it visible.

For Bulgarian chocolate makers who want to compete globally, this is the model to study. Not because Italy has figured out something Bulgaria hasn't, but because the framework is open, replicable, and already working. The question is whether Sofia's craft food scene will adopt it before the next wave of specialty markets leaves it behind.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the Cacao of Excellence program?

A: Cacao of Excellence is an Italy-based initiative led by Julien Simonis that has developed a standardised process for evaluating cacao beans. It provides a common vocabulary, including flavour wheels and processing guides, so farmers, traders, and consumers can assess quality consistently. The resources are freely available to producers worldwide.

Q: How does standardisation benefit cacao farmers economically?

A: Standardisation allows farmers to prove the quality of their beans, which can lead to higher prices for premium cacao. Rosaura Laura, a farmer from Peru, reported a 30% increase in sales after participating in the program. This recognition helps farmers living below the poverty line access better markets.

Q: Where can Bulgarian consumers find cacao producers using direct-relationship sourcing?

A: In Sofia, Flow Cacao works with single-origin Latin American producers and offers ceremonial cacao experiences. Their approach mirrors the direct-relationship philosophy of Cacao of Excellence, providing transparency about origin and processing methods.