The Chocolate of São Tomé & Príncipe.
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An island shaped by cacao.
For Cabana Magazine, we travelled to São Tomé and Príncipe to document traditional chocolate making on an island where cacao has shaped land use and livelihoods for generations. Once the world’s largest cocoa producer during Portuguese colonial rule, many plantations later fell into decline, leaving behind infrastructure, trees, and knowledge that are now being reconnected.
Before chocolate becomes chocolate.
The project follows Lina, a Portuguese chocolate maker involved across the full production process. Rather than focusing on chocolate as a finished product, the story traces each stage, from fermentation and drying to roasting and tempering. Decisions are guided by temperature, smell, colour, and texture, supported by simple tools used to assess sugar levels and fermentation progress.
Visually, the work stays close to the process. Hands, tools, raw cacao, and working environments are shown in detail, emphasising repetition and shared labour. Production is organised across multiple teams, reinforcing that chocolate making here is collective rather than individual.
Every part of the cacao pod is used. Pulp is turned into spirits, husks are dried for tea, and butter and powder are extracted before the final bars are moulded. The finished piece places chocolate firmly within its local context, shaped by soil, climate, and labour, aligning with Cabana’s wider interest in material culture, process, and provenance.