Bamboo Chocolate Factory, Ubud

Contrary to what you'd imagine, Ubud's Bamboo Chocolate Factory is a super healthy place to visit. Why? Because it produces raw, cold pressed chocolate - one of nature's superfoods. Every afternoon at 2pm, the general public may join a tour of "South East Asia's first Bean to Bar" factory to discover how this...... 

..........becomes this.

The organic cacao itself is harvested from hundreds of local small scale farms. Big Tree Farms sources this amazing cacao and is very particular about Fair Trade - or what they call "Transparent Supply Chains". Profitability for producers (often remote families) and sustainable farming with as little environmental impact as possible are their top priority.

This Vintage Ammann Machine (made in Europe in the 1930s) crushes the cacao nibs once they've been  fermented, dried, cleaned, peeled and hand sorted. The product is pure cacao mass (above), which looks so, so tasty (if you love chocolate). As it is not heated at all, this cacao remains high in flavonoids (antioxidants), magnesium, potassium, and zinc. My kids eyes nearly popped out of their heads seeing all that goo - and of course the final product tasted delicious.

Check out the amazing view across the warehouse from upstairs in the Bamboo Chocolate Cathedral - 3,000 bamboo poles reaching up to a 50 foot ceiling. 

We will have to return to visit the Wonder Choc Cafe which is due to open in September 2012. For everyone else, enjoy the welcome hot chocolate and all those samples.