Lovechock in Ecuador ! Feeling very thankful to have visited the mystical, lush country Ecuador, to finally connect with the very roots of our chocolate, the cacao Arriba Nacional, growing in small eco-sustainable farms. Our cacao is growing in all regions of Ecuador, from the mountains to the beach, thus giving different flavours. Every region has a different flavour of cacao and you can really taste the difference. This in big contrast with the commercial farms where they grow only CC51, a small clone of cacao that is also called the 'working horse cacao' and has a way more flat flavour. Our producer ensured us  that they do a strong quality control at the collection points to make sure the farmers only deliver the Arriba Nacionale.

I also saw the RAW processing of cacao, testing with my termometer, to be 100 % sure............Quite an experience after searching half the world for raw cacao and really wanting to be sure about the rawness !

.Ecuador is an amazing beautiful country with the most rich bio-diversity per square meter on earth. Thus coming there i experienced the full abundance not only of the varieties in cacao, but also the the amount of new fruits that i never tasted before. A country to visit again and for sure to explore more about the cacao !

Much respect for our producer in the way they protect eco-systems, the farmers, the small artisan producers like us and how they encourage the farmers to be proud on their own original local cacao-varieties.

 LOOOOOOOOOOOVE   LAURA