Creating Chocolate with a Conscience at Bibamba

The origins of Patrick and Mara Tcheunou’s chocolate business, Bibamba, are not from a lifelong dream of being small business owners, but a lifelong love of chocolate. Back in 2015, Patrick heard an NPR story about how the chocolate industry was in danger. 

He knew he could not let his favorite food become scarce and immediately sprang into action. Patrick knew that you could grow cacao in his home country of Cameroon, so he soon began looking for land.

Not only did he want to help maintain the chocolate industry, he wanted to combat some of the many reasons that it was failing. In an industry known for environmental degradation and unethical wages, Patrick and Mara knew they could do better.

Consumers of chocolate may be used to the “fair trade” label on its packaging. This refers to chocolate made from cocoa beans produced by growers being paid a living wage for their work. While this is a step in the right direction, Patrick and Mara go one step further. The “trade” of fair trade means that cocoa growers are selling their product to a middle man who is then selling the cocoa to chocolate producers. Cutting out the middleman, Patrick and Mara directly employ every farmer on their land in Cameroon as employees of Bibamaba. They are each ensured ethical wages and access to healthcare.

Not only are Patrick and Mara looking out for their workers through their business, they are looking out for the environment too. Collecting environmental data allowed them to find land in Cameroon where they would be able to maintain their farm on rainwater alone, without any added irrigation. Additionally, they incorporate regenerative farming techniques like crop diversification and rotation into their land – growing mangos, pineapple, papaya, peppers, and plantains to enrich the quality of the soil. 

One of these crops, plantains, is featured in their jungle crunch chocolate bark. Jungle Crunch was Patrick and Mara’s first creation, which they began selling at a Denver farmers market in 2020. With positive feedback they slowly began to expand and now offer milk and dark chocolate bark, chocolate spread, hot chocolate mix, Dubai bars, bonbons, and more – but the Jungle Crunch remains their favorite.

As they continue to expand, they have created delicious combinations of products that are perfect for gifts or getting a taste of their wide selection. Right now, they are selling a Valentine’s Day box only available at their Edgewater Public Market shop.

The front of this shop is a storefront where customers can sample chocolate and get access to a wider selection of goodies than is available in retailers or at the three farmers markets they now attend. The back of the shop hosts their kitchen where they make all of their products on site. 

Alongside their small team of staff, they prepare Cameroonian cacao nibs for production. These nibs are mixed with the sugar, milk, or other ingredients necessary for each delicious creation. They learned all of this from research, dedication, and by taking  a local chocolate-making workshop. Now, they are spreading their wealth of knowledge through hosting their own chocolate-making classes in Denver. 

If you are interested in learning from Patrick and Mara or tasting their delicious chocolate, visit their Edgewater Public Market shop, their website bibamba.com, or stop by at the Boulder Farmers Market every Saturday April – November. Their chocolate is also available through the Boulder County Farmers Markets online market at shop.bcfm.org.