Bean-to-Bar

Cocoa instead of cocaine: cocoa beans from Colombia

Kakao statt Kokain: Kakaobohnen aus Kolumbien
Located on the southern tip of Colombia, right on the Pacific Ocean, Tumaco is one of the wettest places in the world. High humidity and lots of rain favor the cultivation of plants such as bananas and cocoa. And also the illegal cultivation of coca, the basis for cocaine. The region suffers from drug trafficking, high crime and political conflicts. The cultivation of fine flavor cocoa beans is therefore a real alternative! Since 2011, our partner company Cacao Hunters has been working with cooperatives and farmers in Tumaco, Colombia.

Cocoa instead of cocaine


The Cacao Hunters team saw the potential of cocoa in the Tumaco region for a long time. Farmers are supported with training and a centralized fermentation and drying process. This increases the quality of your cocoa beans and the efficiency of your work enormously. "Those who use the training have already been able to improve their yield significantly," reports Blanca Vivera, a farmer in one of the cooperatives. "Those who didn't do the training couldn't increase their yield."
Through training and improved processes, farmers now achieve 70% higher prices for their cocoa beans. In a region where drug cultivation is very profitable, growing fine flavor cocoa represents an important economic opportunity.


Transparent cocoa from Colombia: Numbers and prices for the Tumaco cocoa beans from Cacao Hunters Transparent cocoa: numbers and prices for Tumaco cocoa beans from Cacao Hunters in Colombia ©Uncommon Cacao


Women in Chocolate

The cocoa beans from Tumaco grow "biodiverse" between banana trees, coconut palms and orange trees. They are harvested between October and December, then gently fermented and dried in the sunlight. Once dried, the best cocoa beans are selected by hand. The Cacao Hunters then buy these beans directly from the cooperatives at a fair price that is communicated transparently. There are currently 586 farmers, 310 of whom are women, organized in the cooperatives. That's really great, because women in the cocoa industry do a large part of the work, but are often severely disadvantaged. In some countries, women do not even have the right to own land. Therefore: all the more important!

Premium Quality: Cocoa from Colombia Premium quality cocoa beans from Colombia ©Uncommon Cacao

Award-winning cocoa from Colombia

We are particularly happy when the award-winning beans have made their way to us. We love them for their intense chocolateiness. Finely spicy notes of whiskey and tobacco round off the aroma perfectly. We refine the Colombian cocoa beans and turn them into cool beans. Wonderfully crisp, wonderfully intense and coated with fine organic cane sugar. Try the Cool Beans from Colombia in our online shop !

More information about the work and chocolate of the Cacao Hunters and the Tumaco region can be found here . Are you really interested in cocoa and chocolate? Then maybe a chocolate tasting as a team building measure would be just the right thing for you 💃🏻🕺🏻.

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