This month in Somerville, the sky is gray, the ground is still a bit icy, and the temperature often a digit short of acceptable. The signs are clear: it is time to escape to the tropical cacao farms of our Direct Trade Partners.

Over the upcoming #sourcingseason our Cacao Sourcing Director, Jesse Last, will be travelling to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and for the first time in Taza's history, cacao farms in a country outside of Latin America and the Caribbean. Any guesses as to our newest origin? You’ll learn soon enough…

To get you all geared up to join Jesse on his travels to find seriously good cocoa beans, the best starting place is our 2017 Transparency Report. It is a deep dive into why we do what we do and we’ll be keeping the stories going while Jesse is on the road with a blog series including what Direct Trade actually is all about, interviews with our sourcing partners at origin, and much more!

Once you’ve taken a look at our latest Transparency Report, check back for next week’s installment where we break it down for you with a Direct Trade 101 and make sure you’re following our social channels for more from the field!