6 replies to this topic

[Marmalade]

I´m a North American who lives in and operates a small artisan chocolate shop in Ecuador. I´d be delighted to share my experiences and inside info here on Ecuadorian chocolate, cocoa production, etc. It´s a lot more interesting when you´re on the ground and can see where your chocolate is actually coming from. There´s a limited market for fine chocolates here, and limited availability of good chocolate for a number of reasons, which I won´t go into here. Anyway, I´ve been here almost a year now with my family operating the business, and we are aiming to export before the end of the year. If you ever come to visit Ecuador, I´d be glad to share all the chocolate and cocoa information I can. But for now, I´ll do it on this

[Desiderio]

Jeff, that would be great, I have in the back of my mind the desire to be more involved in the raw chocolate, it would be great to actually have my own chocolate one day hehe, to connect with the farms and be able to create some valuble trades etc. What type of chocolate do you use, is it made right there?Do you follow the entire process?And how hard is it to connect with local farms etc?
Thank you I am really interested in this topic.

Good work

[Marmalade]

Jeff, that would be great, I have in the back of my mind the desire to be more involved in the raw chocolate, it would be great to actually have my own chocolate one day hehe, to connect with the farms and be able to create some valuble trades etc. What type of chocolate do you use, is it made right there?Do you follow the entire process?And how hard is it to connect with local farms etc?
Thank you I am really interested in this topic.

Good work

Hi:

First, I saw your web site and your chocolates look fantastic, and have seen many of your posts. Nice work.

Right now I use a 50% made by one of the main chocolate producers here. There are really only three, and only one I like. There is Nestle (very bad), Tulicorp and Ecuacocoa. I use Ecuacocoa's products. I believe Ecuacocoa makes the "Plantations " brand bars sold in the US. The 50% is a bit sweet for my taste but it's for the local market, which is where I sell most to currently.

The industry is really not very sophisticated here, you can't get the wide variety of %s here like in the US or from European producers. Chocolate is highly protected by high tariffs here so there are no imports of high-quality (expensive) couverture, nor would the local economy support such a product, you just couldn't make money off of it. The company I buy from has a milk, dark, and 100% (liquor) product, and that's it.

If I want to custom order a batch of chocolate per my own formula, minimum order is 1500kg. I don't have that kind of volume yet, so haven't done so. To do so, I could also source my own beans if I wanted or let them source them for me.

I do buy a 70% dark from a friend of mine who owns a 600 ha. plantation. He sells most of his cocoa to Europe, but processes about 4000kg a year here for local sales and export. I have found Rainforest Alliance certified chocolate made by another small local producer here, but it was too costly and not feasible to make money off of-nor is there a market for it here. Even for export, it was too costly for me. Since there isn't the massive volume like in the US, prices can be steep. However, I do pay about $3.40 a kg for my local product. But a 20 piece box (half pound) also sells for no more than $10!

I will be glad to continue telling you more, just ask!

[Lior]

Hi! A while back Jeff (marmalade) mentioned he has a chocolate store in Ecuador Marmalade called Gianduja. My husband was there for work related reasons so I contacted Jeff and he happened to be in Guayaquil at the same time for the cacao conference,. How lucky! I asked him to bring me a bunch of chocolates and some bars. The bars are made with nacional or arriba cocoa from a farm around the area of Quevedo, Ecuador, 70%. I have tasted the little squares which are passion fruit caramel! Here are some pictures:

The bar on top of his box:


Up close:


His chocolates:


Up close:



Some origin bars my hubby bought elsewhere:









I hope Jeff will tell us the ganaches. I know the hearts are Gianduja.

In a week or so he will be in SIngapore and I am sending our own AmritaBala some chocolates and she will send me a macaron! If you see this Amrita I will be Pm-ing you soon!!

Edited by Lior, 25 May 2008 - 10:08 AM.

[Lior]

There are two kinds of passion fruit : the tiny squares (see picture ywo of his chocolates) are with a ganache filling and the larger squares that are molded with lines on top have passion fruit caramel.

[Marmalade]

Thanks for posting the photos of my chocolates. You can see more at www.giandujachocolate.com, which is my website, and read more about my experience here at destinationecuador.wordpress.com.

Those origins bars are made by a local and large confectionery company here called Confiteca, and I think they are quite good. I would love to know where Lior got them if it was here in Ecuador, since they are mostly sold to the US and other foreign markets and you don´t really see them here.

I am working on a project to export single origin bars, so if anyone is interested, let me know! I will eventually be able to source beans, have them processed, and have the bars made so know the chain from bean to bar.

[Lior]

Hi. Those origin bars are from the airport in Guayaquil! Giora got them on his way home! So next time you are in that airport...