Archive for the ‘Peru’ Category

Peru Farmers Ditch Coca for Cacao

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Farmers in Peru are rethinking their industries. Time reports that many farmers in Tocache are starting to see more value in chocolate than in cocaine:

The certificate was only one of several that emerged from the prestigious Salon du Chocolat in Paris, the annual summit of the world’s master chocolatiers. But it may be enough to start a revolution in Peru. In October 2009, chocolate produced from the cacao beans of a small agricultural cooperative deep in one of the country’s rain forests was named the most aromatic in the world by the Salon. “We used to be known for making cocaine paste, but now we are known for chocolate,” says Elena Rios, 52, secretary of the Tocache Agroindustrial Cooperative. Rios herself gave up growing coca leaves 10 years ago, opting to take part in a program to replace her plants with cacao. “There were only 12 of us when we started; now we have hundreds. Our success is contagious. No one wants to grow coca in Tocache. Everyone is thinking about chocolate.”

Read the entire article by clicking here.

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Posted in Cocoa Farming, Peru, Production | 63 Comments »

Flavor Labs for Developing Cacao Farmers

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

It’s a strange reality: most cacao farmers in developing nations have never tasted chocolate. NoBellyPrize.com reports one company is changing that, giving cacao farmers the opportunity to indulge in what their crops produce:

This story first appeared on CNET News.

Tcho, a San Fransisco-based chocolate company, gets its cocoa beans from farmers in Peru, Ghana, and other countries. Although many of the families there have been growing cocoa beans for generations, some have never actually tasted chocolate, much less the products made from their own crops. Aside from not being able to enjoy the fruits of their own labor, they have no way to directly understand the relationship between their growing techniques and the final product.

Tcho has solved the problem by bringing the factory to the farm. Using what co-founder Louis Rossetto calls “appropriate technology,” the company sets up “flavor labs” on farms in the developing world using about $8,000 worth of equipment consisting of a Macintosh computer, an off-the-shelf-grinder, a roaster that uses a hair dryer as a heat source, and other equipment that enables farmers and technicians to turn raw beans into chocolate. That way the farmers can get a better sense of what their product will taste like to consumers. That process, according to Rossetto, helps the farmer know which beans to pick and how best to process them.

Read the entire article by clicking here.

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Posted in Cocoa Farming, Ghana, Gourmet Chocolate, Peru | No Comments »