Beniano Chocolate
The wild-harvested heirloom cacao of the Bolivian Amazon. 15 Beniano bars on Chof, from 8 makers, at an average of 75% cocoa.
Chof's Beniano bars come mostly from Bolivia, Guatemala and Brazil, and every bar lists Beniano the way its maker states it, not as a verified fact. Tasting notes that come up most often: almonds, apricot, candied fruits, dulce de leche, earth and fig.
What is Beniano chocolate?
Beniano is the wild and semi-wild cacao of the Beni region in the Bolivian Amazon, one of the few places on Earth with genuinely wild Theobroma cacao. Gathered from forest islands rather than planted rows, it leans bright and aromatic, with red and dried fruit, honey, floral notes and a nutty backbone.
Beniano takes its name from Beni, a department of lowland Bolivia where cacao grows wild on "chocolatales", forested islands scattered across the seasonally flooded savanna of the Llanos de Moxos. Communities reach the trees mostly by river and gather the pods by hand, so a Beniano bar is about as close as chocolate gets to cacao in its natural state. Its modern revival as a specialty cacao is tied to conservation-minded wild harvesting with the region's indigenous communities.
Genetically it is treated as a distinct wild Amazonian population in its own right, studied specifically in Bolivia (Zhang et al., 2012) rather than folded into the domesticated Criollo line or any single group of the modern DNA map (Motamayor et al., 2008). In Chof, Beniano is emphatically Bolivian: every bar that names it is a single-origin Bolivia. Its flavour leans bright and fruity, with red and dried fruit, honey and floral notes over a nutty, mineral backbone, and it often turns up at a high cocoa percentage.
How to read a Beniano claim
Every Beniano bar on Chof shows the variety as its maker lists it, not as an independently verified fact. Open any bar to see the full bean line its maker gave.
- Beniano is tied to Bolivia and the Beni region, so a genuine bar almost always names that origin.
- The word "wild" is a loose claim, and DNA can now tell genuinely wild cacao from feral or escaped trees (Colli-Silva et al., 2025), so trust makers who explain how and where the beans were gathered rather than the word alone.
Best Beniano bars
Ranked by the Chof Score
- Rank 1:
Original BeansBeni Wild 66%
66%darkBolivia - Rank 2:
Goodnow FarmsAsochivite Guatemala 77%
77%darkGuatemala - Rank 3:
OiallaBeniano Bolivia 78%
78%darkBolivia - Rank 4:
Luisa AbramRio Juruá 81%
81%darkBrazil - Rank 5:
OiallaBeniano Bolivia 100%
100%darkBolivia - Rank 6:
Chocolate BaureWild Beni 70%
70%darkBolivia - Rank 7:
Palette de BineBines à l'érable 60%
60%milkBolivia - Rank 8:
Chocolate BaureWild Beni 55% Semi Dark
55%darkBolivia - Rank 9:
Chocolate BaureWild Beni 86%
86%darkBolivia - Rank 10:
Chocolate Baure55% Lemongrass
55%darkBolivia - Rank 11:
TosierBolivia 75%
75%darkBolivia - Rank 12:
Chocolate Baure70% Asaí
70%darkBolivia - Rank 13:
food by natureItenez 86%
86%darkBolivia - Rank 14:
Chocolate Baure65% Locoto Chile
65%darkBolivia - Rank 15:
Chocolate BaureWild Beni 100%
100%darkBolivia
Where Beniano grows
Makers working with Beniano
Common cocoa percentages
Frequently asked about Beniano chocolate
What is Beniano cacao?
Beniano is the wild and semi-wild cacao of the Beni region in the Bolivian Amazon, one of the few places on Earth with genuinely wild Theobroma cacao. Gathered from forest islands rather than plantations, it is prized for a bright, fruity, floral and nutty profile and a strong single-origin Bolivia identity.
How many Beniano chocolate bars are on Chof?
Chof lists 15 Beniano chocolate bars, from 8 makers, at an average of 75% cocoa.
Which makers work with Beniano cacao on Chof?
The most-represented makers using Beniano on Chof are Chocolate Baure, Oialla, Original Beans, Goodnow Farms, Luisa Abram. Each bar links to the maker that made it.
Sources and further reading
- Zhang et al. (2012). Genetic diversity and spatial structure in a new distinct Theobroma cacao L. population in Bolivia. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution.Describes the wild cacao of Bolivia as a genetically distinct population.
- Motamayor et al. (2008). Geographic and Genetic Population Differentiation of the Amazonian Chocolate Tree (Theobroma cacao L.). PLOS ONE.The DNA study that regrouped cacao into ten genetic clusters, retiring the old three-name folk model.
- Colli-Silva et al. (2025). Wild or Introduced? Investigating the Genetic Landscape of Cacao Populations in South America. Ecology and Evolution.Shows DNA can tell genuinely wild cacao from feral or naturalised trees, so wildness is a testable claim, not an assumption.
Related varieties
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