SIGN UP FOR OUR 
Costa Rica’s Sibu Chocolate company recently took the silver medal at the International Chocolate Awards ceremony for its apple and lemon caramel-covered milk chocolate bonbon, made with 55 percent cocoa, said a report in Central America’s Summa business magazine.
Sibu stood out among 650 chocolates submitted from around the world, and was the only award winner in Central America.
The caramel is handcrafted with natural ingredients, and the chocolate made with organic cocoa from Guácimo that is milled for 48 hours at the company’s facilities in San Isidro de Heredia. Sibu also offers at their site daily tours, and other educational opportunities for those interested in chocolate making.
In July, Sibu was awarded for their outstanding contributions to the chocolatier guild by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association. The international recognition was for establishing the first cocoa educational program for chocolatiers from around the world. The program is carried out in Costa Rica in conjunction with the Canadian academy Ecole Chocolat and has graduated about 100 students over the past 10 years.
An excerpt of the Costa Rican small business’ history as recounted on their website is as follows;
“It took three years for historian Julio Fernandez Amón and journalist George Soriano to take the plunge and leave their day jobs in Costa Rica to follow a dream of making chocolate. The decision would come just in time for the great recession of 2008.
Despite the odds, and ignoring the advice of friends and family, the two forged ahead with optimism and perhaps just the right amount of naiveté. And so Sibú Chocolate was born. The mantra: the chocolate had to be organic, it had to be made start-to-finish in Costa Rica, but most importantly, it had to be good enough to stand up to best chocolates in the world. If not, then why bother?
The years prior to opening their business were filled with research—seeking out and sampling some of the best chocolate from around the world, as well as studying the history of chocolate and cacao production. Intense training in the chocolate arts followed, taking them to France and Italy to practice alongside master chocolatiers, a title they now share with their mentors.
Upon returning to Costa Rica their quest began for the country’s finest cacao beans. While flavor and aroma were of utmost concern, the beans also had to be organically produced to adhere to their vision. They travelled to remote villages and wild lands on both coasts trying cacao and meeting with growers. And then, Eureka! On a family-owned organic plantation on Costa Rica’s Atlantic slope, they found fine cacao flourishing under the protective fronds of laurel and plantain trees. The farmers were expertly fermenting, drying and roasting the beans onsite.”
The company in 2012 won the most environmentally friendly business award in the 6th Annual Small Business Awards, and in 2010 the national prize for innovation at Costa Rica’s First National Conference on Innovation, among other prizes and recognitions for their top notch products.
