When people ask what makes Kasama different from other chocolate makers in Vancouver, the answer starts 11,000 kilometres away, on a family property in the northern Philippines.
How a Filipino family farm started a Vancouver chocolate company
Back in 2015, Vince’s father Mario sent a photo from the family property of what looked like mangoes hanging from a tree. They weren’t mangoes — they were cacao pods. A month later, a ziplock bag of dried, fermented cacao beans from the Cagayan Valley arrived in Vancouver, and Vince, together with friends Dom, Stefan and Oliver, turned them into their first batch of bean-to-bar chocolate.
Kasama means “companion” or “together” or “collaborate” in Tagalog, and that’s still how we work: directly with cacao farmers in the Philippines and beyond, making chocolate from scratch — from the bean — at our workshop on Granville Island.
What is Filipino chocolate?
The Philippines has grown cacao since the 1600s, when it arrived on Spanish galleons — longer than almost anywhere outside the Americas. Chocolate is woven deep into Filipino food culture, from tablea (roasted ground cacao tablets) melted into thick hot sikwate, to champorado, a chocolate rice porridge. Yet Philippine cacao is still rare in North American craft chocolate. We’re proud to be one of the few bean-to-bar makers in Canada working directly with Philippine-grown cacao.
Our single-origin Philippine cacao bars
These bars are made from nothing but cacao and organic cane sugar (plus cocoa butter in some), so you can taste what Philippine terroir actually tastes like:
- 75% Tupi, Philippines — from South Cotabato in Mindanao
- 100% Tupi — pure cacao, no sugar at all
- 70% Echague — from Isabela province in the Cagayan Valley, where our story began
- 70% Tuao — from Cagayan province
- 70% Tableya — our rough-ground homage to traditional Filipino tablea, perfect for sikwate or champorado
Filipino flavours, bean-to-bar
Alongside the single origins, we make bars inspired by the flavours we grew up with and love:
- Durian White — the King of Fruits, stone ground into creamy white chocolate
- Calamansi White — bright Philippine lime in an award-winning bar
- Mango Float — a chocolate take on the beloved Filipino icebox dessert
- Kape Moka — coffee and chocolate, barako-style
- Isla de Tanduay — infused with the Philippines’ famous rum
Seasonal favourites like our Ube white chocolate come and go with ingredient availability — join our mailing list to hear when they return.
Where to buy Filipino chocolate in Canada
You can visit our chocolate shop and workshop at 1244 Cartwright St on Granville Island, Vancouver — or order online; we ship across Canada. If you’d like to taste before you buy, join a chocolate tour and tasting at the workshop, where we pour drinking chocolate and sample bars straight from the source.
Frequently asked questions
Is chocolate grown in the Philippines?
Yes — cacao has been cultivated in the Philippines for over 300 years, mostly in Mindanao and northern Luzon. The beans we use come from farms in the Cagayan Valley and South Cotabato, among others.
What is tablea (tableya)?
Tablea are tablets of pure roasted, ground cacao used in Filipino kitchens to make sikwate (hot chocolate) and champorado. Our 70% Tableya is a bean-to-bar version made with Philippine cacao.
Do you ship Filipino chocolate across Canada?
Yes — we ship our chocolate anywhere in Canada, with free shipping to British Columbia on orders over $60.