Krissee and Mariano D'Aguiar started making chocolate in 2017 while visiting family in Northern Brazil, where they realized that delicious food could be a connecting bridge between their life in DC and their community in Brazil. They saw the capability to provide income opportunities in an eco-friendly way — one that doesn't require cutting down the rainforest, but leaves plant canopy and wildlife to thrive.

From the moment they made their first batch of chocolate, they recognized this as their mission: a mission to wrap their heart around. River-Sea sources single-origin cacao from carefully chosen farming communities around the world — each with a story of place, people, and purpose.

Cacao Sources

• Kilombero Valley, Tanzania — Winner of the 2017 Cacao of Excellence award. River-Sea works with the Kokoa Kamili cooperative, which partners with approximately 1,500 smallholder farmers (most farming 0.5–2 acres). Farmers are paid well above market rate, immediately upon delivery of wet beans.
• Dak Nog, Vietnam — Sourced through a French-based company working directly with family-owned cocoa farms in Daknong province. Cacao groups of 30–40 members ferment beans on-farm, and farmers are paid well beyond Fair Trade prices.
• Vanua Levu, Fiji — Matasawalevu Cocoa Farm, 100 acres in the hills of Dreketi, Northern Fiji. Part of a cocoa industry revitalization project led by Arif Khan of Cacao Fiji. In 2015, Matasawalevu Cocoa was selected among the 50 best samples at the International Cocoa Awards.
• Ucayali River, Peru — A central fermentary working with ~400 smallholder farmers along the Ucayali River near Pucallpa. Partnered with USAID and Alianza Peru to provide farmers an alternative market to cocaine, paying a premium price for wet cacao.
• Anamalai, India — A cocoa, coconut, and nutmeg farm near Pollachi, managed by Harish Manoj and Karthi Palaniswamy. Intercropped with coconut palms and nutmeg trees, managed with drip irrigation and natural composting. A small portion of the harvest goes to their own local bean-to-bar line.
• Chumphon Collective, Thailand — An independent group of Thai cacao farmers sourcing fresh pods from 9 districts in Chanthaburi Province. Pods are delivered to the Jaisutthi family farm for fermentation and drying under Collective standards, with farmers paid at farmgate on the spot.
• Santa Marta, Colombia (Sierra Nevada) — Flavor notes: Apricots, Floral, and Fudge. A notorious Criollo varietal grown by indigenous farmers where snow-capped mountains overlook the Caribbean sea. Imported via Sail Cargo.
• Reserva Zorzal, Dominican Republic — The world's first Bird Friendly® certified cacao farm, a 1,019-acre bird sanctuary and organic cacao farm. Flavor notes: Raspberry, Walnut, Brownie.
• La Colonia, Nicaragua — A community of farmers in mountainous rainforests, previously cut off from fair markets. With the help of volunteer agricultural specialists, farmers now ferment and dry their own beans and have gained access to buyers paying fair prices — along with roads and electricity for their community.