A Sudbury couple employs time and talent to craft single-origin chocolate.
By Lannan M. O’Brien
Cacao beans are like wine grapes and coffee beans: where and how they are grown has a big impact on their flavor. Few are more aware of this than Tom and Monica Rogan, the owners of Massachusetts-based Goodnow Farms Chocolate, which makes gourmet chocolate from single-origin cacao beans.
“A bean from Peru is a different flavor from a bean in Ecuador, and the reason for that is because cacao has different genetics,” says Tom Rogan. “It’s just like how you know a merlot is going to taste different than a cabernet.”
The difference goes beyond the variety of truffles in an ordinary box of chocolates at your local grocery store. Understanding exactly why requires a bit of background on how mass-produced chocolate is made. Rogan explains that the average chocolate bar contains very little cacao, and the small amount it does contain is sourced from many different locations. In this sense, he says, most mass-market chocolate is comparable to Velveeta: a highly processed, additive-laden product with a monotone flavor, which can’t even legally be classified as cheese.
If most candy companies make a “Velveeta” version of chocolate, Goodnow Farms makes – well, real chocolate. “We find the beans and make chocolate only from those beans, and then we add sugar and our own freshly pressed cocoa butter,” Rogan says, adding that pressing their own cocoa butter has a huge impact on flavor and mouthfeel. “It’s a big reason why I think that people respond so positively to our chocolate.”
When customers taste their single-origin chocolate for the first time, they notice the difference immediately. In fact, Rogan notes that many people say they dislike dark chocolate for its bitter flavor when, in reality, bitterness is a result of overprocessing. One bite of a Goodnow Farms dark chocolate bar, and the majority of those people change their opinions.
The feedback that Rogan most often receives is, “I never knew chocolate could be like this,” confirming what he already knew to be true: most people have simply never tasted real chocolate.
Crafting single-origin chocolate isn’t easy. It means traveling to farms in many different countries to find the best-quality beans, establishing long-term relationships with farmers, and maintaining constant communication. A simple change in farming locations or processes can make all the difference when it comes to the flavor of a cacao bean, which can seriously alter the final product. As a result, international travel — often to Central and South America — is a significant part of the Rogans’ work. “We want to support the farmers we work with, but also, if you want to have a consistently high-quality product, you need to know what’s happening at origin,” says Rogan.
One of the many farms they work with is in the Guatemalan village of San Juan Chivite. On their first visit, the Rogans discovered that the villagers needed to improve their fermentation and drying facilities — so they provided the funding. The improvement led to the growth of the farming village, with the addition of new farms and another facility. But more farms meant more genetic diversity in the cacao, and the Rogans quickly took notice. Now, they have an agreement that Goodnow Farms’ beans are only produced by the 12 original farmers, using special fermentation and drying protocols.
To ensure the longevity of their relationships with farmers and keep up with a competitive market, the Rogans buy their cacao consistently and frequently offer the best price. In San Juan Chivite, Rogan says, “We pay more money than they can normally sell their cacao for locally,” even giving their farmers a bonus.
Rogan acknowledges that the complexities and costs of producing their chocolate is reflected in the price tag. But any sticker shock derives from customers’ familiarity of chocolate as a mass-produced candy. “And the way we make it, it’s a food,” he says.
Since it opened in 2016, the chocolate maker has earned numerous awards from the Academy of Chocolate, the Good Food Foundation, the Specialty Food Association— the list goes on. Last fall, Goodnow Farms took home a dozen awards in various categories from the International Chocolate Awards.
At the time of this interview, one of their chocolate bars, in particular, was named a finalist for the 2024 Good Food Awards: the Caramelized Onion bar, made with dried caramelized onions from Burlap & Barrel, a single-origin spice company.
“That was my brainchild, and everyone thought I was crazy,” says Rogan, laughing. He ignored the naysayers, and the final product — along with its rave reviews — proved that savory and sweet are an ideal match.
Another perfect pairing? Chocolate and cheese. The natural flavors of the cacao fruit balance and even enhance the flavors in gourmet cheeses. Rogan first experienced this himself at the recommendation of a local cheesemonger who urged him to try their Ecuador chocolate bar (made in the Esmeraldas region) with blue cheese from Martha’s Vineyard-based The Grey Barn & Farm. “The cool thing about when you’re matching flavors is when the final flavors are more than the sum of its parts. Like there’s more to this than just the flavors of the cheese and the chocolate … it becomes a whole new thing,” he says.
