Goodnow Farms is a single-origin bean-to-bar chocolate maker on a 225-year-old farm in Sudbury, Massachusetts, run by Tom and Monica, who source every bean directly from farms they have visited.
It is one of the few American makers to press its own cocoa butter, and in 2026 it won 23 International Chocolate Awards, more than any other maker by its own count.
Goodnow Farms makes single-origin chocolate on a 225-year-old farm in Sudbury, Massachusetts, and does every step there, from sorting beans to wrapping each bar by hand. Its about page is signed by Tom and Monica, who have traveled through Latin America looking for the most flavorful beans and buy directly from the people who grow them. Their view of craft chocolate fits in one line from that page. Great chocolate is true to the bean, and the flavors in the bar should be the ones hidden in the bean.
| Detail | As Goodnow Farms lists it |
|---|---|
| Bar | Almendra Blanca 77% |
| Farm | Hacienda Jesus Maria, Tabasco, Mexico |
| Farmer | Vicente Caçep, whose family has grown cacao there for over 80 years |
| Ingredients | Cacao beans, organic sugar, fresh-pressed cocoa butter |
| Maker's tasting notes | Creamy citrus, roasted hazelnut |
| Price listed | $16 |
A truck to Tabasco every year
The Almendra Blanca bar is the clearest example of how Goodnow works. Its product page tells how Monica found Vicente Caçep's farm on a sourcing trip to Mexico. His family has grown cacao at Hacienda Jesus Maria for more than 80 years. He runs his own nursery for the trees that produce these unusually pale beans, and he does his own fermentation and drying. At the time, the farm was not exporting to the United States. So Goodnow arranged the transport itself. Each year it sends a truck to the farm for the beans Vicente sets aside, and it handles the import from start to finish.
Pale beans are prized in fine cacao, and they are often linked to old Criollo-type trees. Goodnow itself is careful with the labels. Its sourcing page calls cacao genetics a muddy, confusing mess and says no chocolate on the market is made from genetically pure cacao. Its practical answer is to buy from small areas, and in this case from a single farm planted with a few chosen types, so the flavor stays consistent and the fermentation can be tuned to the beans.
Pressing its own cocoa butter
Most bars that list cocoa butter use deodorized butter bought in bulk. Goodnow's process page explains why it does not. Deodorized butter is close to flavorless, so it dilutes the cacao and can add off-flavors. Goodnow presses its own from the same beans it makes the bar from, so the butter carries the origin's flavor too. It calls itself one of the only craft makers to do this. It never alkalizes and uses no emulsifiers or soy lecithin, and each bar is wrapped in a resealable compostable pouch inside a recyclable paper wrapper printed with the batch number.
Close to the farm, and the price paid
Goodnow's sourcing page goes deeper than most. It explains that most smallholders sell wet beans to a central fermentary, because they lack the volume and the boxes to ferment well, and that freshly opened beans have to reach the boxes the same day. In Nicaragua, the wet beans for its El Carmen bar ride on the roofs of local buses. In Guatemala, Goodnow helped fund a larger fermentation and drying facility for the farmers of San Juan Chivite, who now do a special harvest for it from the original ten farms. Its FAQ says it negotiates every price directly and pays well above Fair Trade minimums.
The awards are remarkable for a farm-based maker. In 2026 Goodnow announced 23 International Chocolate Awards, including Gold and Best Overall for its Caramelized Onion bar, more than any other maker by its count. The same year its Old Fashioned Root Beer bar became its eighth consecutive Good Food Award winner.
Where to find it
The Almendra Blanca 77% is part of Goodnow's Signature Line on its site. Goodnow also runs factory tours in Sudbury, and its award winners page is a good map of where to start.
Questions
Where is Goodnow Farms chocolate made?
On Goodnow Farms' 225-year-old farm in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Every step happens there, from sorting and roasting the beans to wrapping each bar by hand.
Does Goodnow Farms use Fair Trade cacao?
It uses direct trade instead. Goodnow says it knows all of its farmers, negotiates prices directly with them, and pays well above Fair Trade minimums.
What is Almendra Blanca cacao?
Cacao with unusually pale beans, from farmer Vicente Caçep's family farm, Hacienda Jesus Maria, in Tabasco, Mexico. He grows the trees in his own nursery and ferments and dries the beans himself.
Why does Goodnow Farms press its own cocoa butter?
Goodnow says most cocoa butter used in bars is deodorized and flavorless, which dilutes the cacao. Pressing its own from the same beans keeps the flavor of the origin in the bar.
What awards has Goodnow Farms won?
In 2026 it won 23 International Chocolate Awards, including Gold and Best Overall for its Caramelized Onion bar, and its eighth consecutive Good Food Award.
