origins
COCOA FROM THE BEST ORIGINS
CHAPARRAL
A novel source for cocoa Aroco of Colombia and Cholaca have joined together to produce some chocolate that is sure to be acknowledged as world-class. Cholaca and Aroco use post-harvest drying methods that are based on centuries of tradition and incorporate new technologies while working closely with local farmers to produce a consistently high-quality product. We work together as one organization, one part of a global community to better the lives of local farmers and alter how we manage our trees by raising the price of their cocoa.
RIO CLARO
Gewan Gangaram, a young farmer, owns and runs the central fermentary Rio Claro House of Cocoa. Due to the 1982 purchase of his family's estate, Gewan grew up around cocoa. His parents recognized the potential in the land, which at the time required a significant financial commitment for the family. Banana, timber, and ICS variety cocoa trees, as well as growing cocoa plants, were present on the property.
CAMINO VERDE
A privately owned fermentery may be found in Duran, a short distance from Guayaquil, Ecuador. The long-standing partnership between Camino Verde and Vision Cocoa Company is based on a love of beans of the highest caliber and consistency, as well as a knowledge of the applied science of fermentation in cocoa, which pushes the envelope for cutting-edge post-harvest processing techniques. Vicente Norero, the proprietor of Camino Verde, has a special perspective on fermentation thanks to his years of training in microbiology. Vicente generates a range of taste profiles employing enzymes and inoculants to advance particular flavor precursors in the beans thanks to his profound expertise of fermentation techniques.
GUATUSO
To promote and acquire high grade cocoa from indigenous communities in northern Costa Rica, Nahua Cocoa was established in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 2011. Although the area is home to many natural cocoa trees, Nahua discovered that there was a lack of understanding of best practices in managing and harvesting cocoa trees as well as limited access to resources. Since their inception, Nahua has run a cocoa renovation program that aids smallholders in raising productivity, gaining access to financing, expanding into foreign markets, and protecting the local environment. Nahua purchases premium cocoa from the network's growers and employs a neighborhood-based central fermentation facility to ferment and dry the beans.
BAHIAN
Before the Portuguese entered modern-day Brazil in the sixteenth century, indigenous people had been growing theobroma cacao in the Amazon basin for thousands of years. Landowners built enormous cocoa plantations in the Bahia region at that time. They depended on the labor of tens of thousands of underpaid farmworkers, and they benefited greatly from massive yields, high prices (three times those of 2017, inflation-adjusted prices), and little international competition.
PIURA WHITE
The Piura district, which is located on Peru's northern desert coast, is where the Piura White beans are grown. The chocolate originates from the Cooperativa Agraria Norandino, a group of a few hundred small-holder farmers, and is specifically from the provinces of Piura and Ayabaca, more specifically from the districts of Las Lomas, Tambogrande, Montero, Paimas, and Suyo. At elevations between 50 and 400 meters above sea level, the beans are harvested. They typically contain about 30% white beans and are genetically a mixture of native criollos.