Big Tree Farms Has Built The World’s Biggest Bamboo Chocolate Factory & Cultural Center
April 26, 2012 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis 
Big Tree Farms chocolate factory during construction. Photo courtesy of Big Tree Farms.
Built on Bali and inspired by Indonesia’s traditional culture, Big Tree Farms has completed what’s considered the largest modern bamboo commercial structure in the world.
The new three-story bamboo facility is now home to the company’s chocolate factory, a warehouse, a retail store with a cafe, the corporate headquarters, office space, meeting areas, and an events center.
Big Tree Farms chocolate factory being built. Photo by Big Tree Farms.
The events center will include a commercial kitchen for hosting cooking classes and preparing the famous Firefly Supper Series.
“The series is a chance for framers, drivers, officer employees, and us to all get together and put on a delicious diner using what we grow and present it to tourists and locals in a beautiful setting – our farm,” said Ben Ripple, who is co-CEO of Big Tree Farms, along with Fredrick Shilling.
Telling the story of how the new facility came into being, Ripple said, “The goal wasn’t to build the world’s largest bamboo commercial structure. It was just the result of building what we needed and wanted to have under one roof. We broke ground in January 2011, and it has been absolutely incredible to watch. Our architect Pete Celovsky had the challenge of taking our vision and making it a reality.”
“Once the architectural drawings were drafted, they were handed over to Pak Cantor, our Balinese master bamboo builder. He’s around 65 years old and has been building bamboo structures for most of his life,” Ripple continued.