Goodnow Farms Chocolate

Founded: 2010
Home: Sudbury, Massachusetts
Founders: Tom and Monica Rogan
Specialty: Single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate
Known for: Directly sourced cacao and freshly pressed cocoa butter
Visit Goodnow Farms Chocolate

Crafting Chocolate with a Sense of Place

On a historic New England farm in Sudbury, Massachusetts, Goodnow Farms Chocolate approaches chocolate much like a winemaker approaches grapes: the character of the raw ingredient comes first.

Founded by husband-and-wife chocolate makers Tom and Monica Rogan, Goodnow Farms produces small-batch, single-origin chocolate from cacao sourced directly from growers across Latin America. Every stage of production takes place at the company’s 225-year-old farm, from roasting and grinding to tempering, moulding and hand-wrapping the finished bars.

Putting Cacao Origin First

Goodnow Farms builds its chocolate around the idea that cacao has its own distinctive sense of place. Beans grown in different regions can produce noticeably different flavours, influenced by genetics, growing conditions, fermentation and processing.

Rather than blending cacao from multiple origins to create a uniform flavour, the company seeks fine-flavour beans from individual farms or regions.

Its sourcing has included cacao from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Goodnow works directly with growers and pays premiums above commodity cacao prices.

That relationship with origin extends beyond purchasing beans. Understanding how cacao is fermented and dried helps the chocolate makers determine how each batch should later be roasted and processed in Massachusetts.

From Bean to Bar on a New England Farm

Once cacao reaches Goodnow Farms, the entire chocolate-making process is handled in-house.

Beans are sorted by hand before being roasted in small batches. Instead of applying the same roasting profile to every origin, the company develops different profiles intended to bring forward the characteristics of individual cacao varieties.

After roasting, the beans are cracked and winnowed to separate the cacao nibs from their shells. The nibs are then refined and conched before the chocolate is tempered, moulded and eventually wrapped by hand.

One part of the process makes Goodnow particularly unusual among small American chocolate makers: it presses its own cocoa butter.

The company produces single-origin cocoa butter from the same cacao used to make its chocolate. This allows the added cocoa butter to retain characteristics of the original beans instead of introducing conventionally deodorized cocoa butter.

For its signature single-origin bars, the ingredient list remains deliberately straightforward: cacao, organic sugar and freshly pressed cocoa butter from the same origin.

Chocolate With a Sense of Place

The result is a portfolio in which origin is intended to remain noticeable rather than disappear behind additional flavourings.

Goodnow’s Asochivite chocolate, for example, uses cacao harvested by Q’eqchi Maya farmers around San Juan Chivite in Guatemala. Its Ucayali chocolate originates with growers along Peru’s Ucayali River, while Almendra Blanca comes from cacao grown in Tabasco, Mexico.

Other origins include Boyacá in Colombia, Esmeraldas in Ecuador and El Carmen in Nicaragua.

Together, the bars offer chocolate lovers an opportunity to compare cacao much as they might compare wines, coffees or teas from different growing regions.

An Award-Winning American Maker

Goodnow Farms has also become a highly decorated name within the international craft chocolate community.

In September 2026, the company announced that it had received 23 International Chocolate Awards in the latest USA competition, including Gold and Best Overall recognition for its Caramelized Onion bar.

Earlier in 2026, Goodnow reported another extensive showing at the Academy of Chocolate Awards. Its Classic Milk, Ucayali and Asochivite chocolates were among its Gold winners.

The company’s awards history extends across several competitions, including the International Chocolate Awards, Academy of Chocolate, Good Food Awards and Specialty Food Association awards.

Awards, however, tell only part of the story. What distinguishes Goodnow Farms is the unusually close connection it maintains between the cacao’s origin and the finished bar.

American Craft Chocolate From Farm to Bar

Goodnow Farms represents a growing side of American chocolate that places origin, craftsmanship and transparency ahead of mass production.

Its Massachusetts location may be thousands of kilometres from the tropical regions where cacao grows, but the company’s chocolate remains deliberately connected to those origins.

By sourcing directly, adapting production to individual cacao varieties and even pressing its own cocoa butter, Goodnow Farms demonstrates just how much work can take place between harvesting a cacao pod and unwrapping a finished bar.

For chocolate lovers interested in exploring the differences between cacao origins, it is also a reminder that chocolate does not have one flavour. The bean itself has a story to tell.