After Sao Tomé, Madagascar and Peru, it was in Ecuador that our team of cacao enthusiasts
went this year: Marie Laubacher, cacao bean purchasing expert, Sébastien
Harault, head chocolatier, François Granger, traveling pastry chef, Steve Dolfi, one of the happy
owners of our Maisons, and myself, Marie Repoux, who handles communications and tells you
our experience in a few lines…
The À la Mère de Famille cacao team 🙂
REASONS FOR THE TRIP
Eager to deepen our relationships with producers and develop our recipes using
distinctive and flavorful single-origin cacaos, we have been prioritizing and developing direct trade
for several years. To do this, we visit cacao plantations
to select and work closely with those that meet our standards. And
there is no better way to enrich our knowledge and ensure
that we share the same values than by meeting people on the ground.
Plantation and environment
In our view, it is essential to choose a producer whose project fully aligns with
respect for biodiversity and who practices agroforestry : the choice of cacao variety grown,
the diversity of trees and crops on the plantation, the management of natural resources… all of which
ensure the long-term health of nature and promote the exceptional aromatic development of
cacao beans.
Care for the beans at every stage
The care taken at every key stage on the ground is essential: harvesting the
pods when ripe, controlling fermentation and drying to meet our standards, inspecting and
sorting the beans one last time before leaving the plantation…
Social commitments
This quest for flavorful cacao is also based on shared human and social
values. The values that drive us. There is no way to celebrate our sweet heritage here without
considering the conditions of production over there. This caring approach reflects the spirit
of our Maisons, combining tradition and a love of fine things.
OUR JOURNEY and OUR DISCOVERIES
Our journey began in Guayaquil, in the south of the country, before gradually heading north
through the Esmeraldas region, via Quevedo and Santo Domingo. Far from the
tourist route and the Andes Mountains, we visited six plantations as well as the
Pichilingue research center, which conducts scientific studies on cacao.
Sébastien Harault, our head chocolatier
Selecting Ecuador’s iconic cacao
In Ecuador, it is cacao Nacional (or Arriba) that sparked our interest. This ancestral
cacao of the country, which was gradually disappearing in favor of a more productive variety, is making a
comeback thanks to the commitment of plantations that are determined to enhance their resource—the one that
gives the world’s third-largest cacao producer its reputation! Indeed, this variety has very distinctive aromatic and flavor characteristics. Floral and fruity, it is perfect for
creating blends or “single-origin” recipes.
Ideas, projects
At the end of this journey, the team selected three plantations.
And that is the beginning of a second chapter! The beans have been ordered, and the couverture trials
will take place at the factory in the near future, as soon as they arrive. Only then will
the final decisions be made. Choose one for a blend? Another for a single-origin recipe
pure? And why not use different cacao percentages? When we return
from the field, we are energized by our discoveries and the people we met…
The challenge now is to turn these ideas into products and offer you tempting
new creations.
