Cocoa Beans
Cocoa Beans
You should know where your cocoa beans come from. There are some terrible things happening with cacao bean harvesting in some parts of the world. This is why we proudly share where our cocoa beans come from, because we partner with farms and estates who have a commitment of NO SLAVE LABOR. We pay higher prices for cacao beans so everyone gets paid for their work. Know you are not contributing to slave labor when you buy chocolate from us.
We all want to enjoy chocolate. We beleive everyone should get their fair share (Fair Trade Certified) from the chocolate business. Our chocolate costs more because we pay more for cacao beans. All our cacao beans are Fair Trade Certified and Organic. We also believe our workers in the shop should get a living wage. This contributes to our costs. Chocolate should not come from slave labor, forced child slave labor, or workers getting paid less then what it costs to live. Good, quality chocolate should be enjoyed free from the terrible conflicts cheap chocolate produces.
Camino Verde cocoa beans from Ecuador
Type: Central Fermentary
Location: Durán, Ecuador
Certifications: Organic
Tasting Notes: Fudgy, Almond, Floral
Varieties: Neo-Nacional
Fermentation Style: Bag fermented in humidity controlled room using inoculation with efficient organisms
Drying Style: Sun dried on raised drying tables. Mechanically dried if necessary Butter Fat Content: 49-52%
Camino Verde is a privately owned fermentary located in Duran, just minutes outside Guayaquil, Ecuador. Camino Verde and Meridian Cacao Company have developed a long-standing relationship built on a passion for impeccable quality and consistency in beans, as well as an understanding of the applied science in cocoa fermentation that pushes the boundaries for new-age methods of cocoa post-harvest processing. Camino Verde’s owner, Vicente Norero, has years of experience in microbiology, which brings a unique approach to fermentation. With Vicente’s deep understanding of fermentation methods he produces a variety of flavor profiles, using enzymes and inoculants to push specific flavor precursors forward in the beans.
From 2008 to 2016 Vicente Norero operated a 381-hectare cocoa estate. Rehabilitating it after years of disrepair, Vicente brought the cocoa farm back to life. He called his operation and labor of love Camino Verde, and over the eight years he was in charge, the farm became a model cocoa plantation in Ecuador. Vicente used his background in microbiology to develop a multitude of inoculated ferments, highlighting the role of fermentation for chocolate makers and consumers alike.
This next phase as a centralized fermentary allows Vicente to set aside exceptional and unique microlots. The opportunities are endless--the lots could contain beans from a single estate, highlight a specific region, or exhibit a specific fermentation style. Camino Verde’s ‘standard’ cocoa bean will be a 100% Nacional blend fermented to have a classic Nacional profile--a close match to the CV-B beans from the old estate, for those who have worked with those beans before.
Says Vicente, “Anyone can source cacao. Our knowledge of farming and managing a plantation allows us to help the farmer in way that other buyers do not. This support and respect that we share with the farmer creates a trust and loyalty relation that is reflected in the product the farmer delivers to us. The Camino Verde farming and harvesting program guarantees farmers not only obtain a greater productivity and healthy beans but also a higher price for their work.”
Zorzal cocoa beans from Dominican Republic
Type: Private Estate and Central Fermentary
Location: San Francisco de Macoris, Cibao, Dominican Republic
Certifications: Organic
Tasting Notes: Plum, Molasses, Spice
Varieties: Trinitario, Forastero, Criollo
Fermentation Style: 2-2-1-1
Drying Style: In solar tunnels. On mesh tables for 4 days, and cement for 3 days
Elevation: 300 - 1200 feet
Microclimate: Wet broadleaf forest type; humid, wet climate. Rainfall is higher than 10 ft per year
Harvest Season: April - June
Zorzal Cacao is an agroforestry project of Reserva Zorzal -- a 1,019-acre private bird sanctuary and 130-acre organic cacao demonstration farm in the northern mountains of the Dominican Republic. Reserva Zorzal sets aside seventy percent of its land to be forever wild and is committed to reducing climate change through a collaborative approach to conservation and reforestation. They are part of a carbon-offset project with thirteen other landowners, employ wildlife monitors in the community, and serve as a model for the integration of conservation and sustainable agroforestry development. Zorzal is the Spanish word for “thrush” and refers to the Bicknell’s Thrush, a rare, migratory songbird that winters in the tropical forests of the preserve.
One of the sanctuary’s founders, Dr. Charles Kerchner, runs Zorzal Cacao in line with the overall vision of Reserva Zorzal. They also grow macadamia, banana and other foods suitable for sustainable production in a tropical agroforestry system. Zorzal Cacao selects and grafts it’s own cacao trees with cacao varietals specifically chosen for the fine flavor chocolate market. The trees are shade-grown to promote wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Zorzal Cacao will also source cocoa from neighboring farmers who are like minded and take part in the conservation project.
Kokoa Kamili cocoa beans from Tanzania
Type: Central Fermentary
Location: Mbingu Village, Morogoro Region, Tanzania
Certification: Organic
Tasting Notes: Cherry, Coffee, Lemon
Varieties: Trinitario, Nacional hybrid seedlings
Fermentation Style: 3-tier wooden boxes locally sourced and constructed eucalyptus. 6 day ferment.
Drying Style: 100% sun dried on raised drying tables. Direct and indirect sunlight.
Elevation: 600 to 2000 feet
Harvest Season: August to November
Butter Fat Content: 56%
Kokoa Kamili Fermentery was founded by Brian LoBue and Simran Bindra, who have backgrounds in international development throughout eastern and southern Africa. Prior to Kokoa Kamili, a single buyer dominated the area – the local arm of one of the world’s largest soft commodity trading houses. A sole buyer meant it had the power to set the price for cocoa, and farmers had little alternatives. Historically, farmers in the Kilombero Valley received some of the lowest prices for cocoa in the country. In Kokoa Kamili’s first year alone Kilombero farmers received the highest prices in Tanzania for their cocoa.
Today, Kokoa Kamili works with nearly 3000 smallholder farmers, most of whom farm between 0.5-2 acres of cocoa. Kokoa Kamili pays a premium--well above the market rate--to farmers for their ‘wet’ cocoa, and conducts its own fermentation and drying. By taking over the fermentation and drying process, Kokoa Kamili can produce more consistently higher quality cocoa beans. This method gives farmers a reduced workload, along with greater compensation, and the farmers are paid immediately after the cooperative receives its wet beans.Kokoa Kamili also distributes cocoa seedlings to farmers in the community. In the past three years, they have aided in the planting of over 140,000 trees.
Kokoa Kamili is situated in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, an area known for its abundance of bird and mammal wildlife. It is most famous for the eleven different primate species, bird life, and is one of three remaining sites that support Savannah Elephants in a mountainous environment. Current estimates say that 2,000 elephants reside in and around the Udzungwa area.