In Ecuador, the best chocolate in the world

Where is made the best chocolate in the world? This is a tough choice, but many would say in any country of Europe. Because Santiago Peralta is determined to show that it's around the corner, in Ecuador. "I'm sure that Ecuador will be the Switzerland of Latin America to the chocolate," he said. And it comes winning arguments in his favor.
The Ecuadorian Peralta is owner of Pacari. This tag, not distributed in Brazil, is the most awarded in the world recently. In the last three years, won the main category, for best bar of dark chocolate (bitter), at the International Chocolate Awards, plus other 100 awards.
"It was a surprise in the world of chocolate," said Peralta on first prize in 2012. "Many must have thought it was beginner's luck. But after we won again. There is no better luck. Or is a lot of luck, "joked, laughing, in an interview to the value, at the Office of Pacari, in an elegant central neighbourhood of Quito. The plant is in the South of the capital of Ecuador.
You need to look carefully for these competitions. Are commercial events, pay for, and the best known brands in general do not participate. Still, three titles in a row are impressive and designed the Pacari chocolate in the world.
Peralta and his wife and partner, Carla, were not exactly novices. They founded the Pacari in 2002. "We started making sure the first organic cocoa farms country independent. Little by little the thing grew, and today we have 3,500 families, an army of people. We have been learning all about the cocoa a lot by trial and error, because we had no background. We are da serra, cocoa is on the coast. Until 2007, we used folder and other cocoa products for export. But the value added was small. The challenge was how to create a brand of chocolate. "
The Ecuador's cocoa in your DNA. The oldest vestige of chocolate in the world, with about 5,500 years old, was found in the country, which suggests that the plant may have originated there. "Ecuador has a long time reputed to have the best cocoa in the world. It is a historical issue here. The first banks came up with money, the richest families came, were the barons of cocoa. The Ecuador came to produce 70% of the world's cocoa, "he said.
Today the country produces only 2% of the world's cocoa. But he responds for about 50% of the so-called fine cocoa. "This is a cocoa which, by their nature, genetics or by its terroir have not only taste of chocolate, but secondary flavours, floral, fruity, caramel, nuts, spices and others," says Peralta.
And it is precisely this diversity that Pacari search explore with different chocolates ' terroir ' and species. The award-winning bar in 2013, for example, was made with a variety of cacao albino. "Ecuador produces 230 thousand tons of cocoa a year. This variety had only 3 tons. "
The ' terroir ' (set of features that include soil, climate, location, cultivation) generates different flavors in different locations. "We all see how cocoa from Ecuador, but there are many cocoas, is something more complex. The difference in taste between them is amazing. It's like wine, more or less. When the chocolate begins to be seen with the respect that the wine has, the thing changes. "
In addition to the different cocoas, Pacari sought to innovate with a unique range of flavors. "We did the first world chocolate with organic, Andean plant physalis. Made with mineral salt of Cusco, with a mapuche of Chile condiment called merken [a type of pepper], with ' yerba luisa ', which you in Brazil call lemon grass and that is one of the most universal, there is in all the tropics. Made with chocolate flavor of the tropics, because all versions of chocolate were milk, Switzerland, cow with almonds, raisins or nuts. There was a dictatorship of taste of chocolate for a hundred years. We started having our own identity. "
But Peralta didn't just want to make a good chocolate. The Pacari is part of a wider movement that seeks to bring the production of chocolate where the cocoa, which allows adopting the concept "from tree to bar", by which the company controls the tree product, the cacauzeiro, to the chocolate bar. All the ingredients are organic. And the production must be environmentally and socially sustainable.
"It cannot be that, when you give a gift chocolate to your wife, your mother, your children, why you love them, give them a product made with slave labor. But 85 percent of cocoa comes from slavery, people who earn less than $ 1 a day in Africa. There are children who work for bread and water. The chocolate is linked to the most noble feelings of the man. It cannot be connected with garbage. It's a matter of consistency. And you have to report it, why is very serious, "he said. According to him, their producers earn at least $ 500 per month, "value that rises a lot at harvest time.
So, Peralta says that your chocolate is expensive. 70 g bar costs around $ 3 ($ 10.50) at retail in Quito. "This is a very special cocoa. We pay well and charge well. We can't sell the best cocoa in the world at a low price, "he says. "If you don't pay well the farmer, will never have the best cocoa [...] It's not just genius, the raw material is very important. "
About chocolate Brazil, Peralta cites "a company that I really like, the Amma, Diego B. A marvel. We're the only two latinos making noise and talking about these issues [social and environmental responsibility], with all those Europeans and Americans, it doesn't matter. "
The Pacari, with 70 employees, does not disclose billing data. Peralta is justified saying that, last time I quoted values, there was an attempted robbery. "The chocolate business today is small in Ecuador. Do not profit million. But I think the quality of chocolate you eat here you don't eat anywhere in the world. The Ecuador didn't press for quantity, but gives lessons very interesting trend. "
The problem remains: how to convince consumers to let the Belgian or Swiss chocolate on the shelf and buy the Ecuadorian, maybe more expensive? "They don't know and are losing the best chocolate for ignorance. It's a matter of education, to develop the sense of taste in chocolate. We do a lot of tasting. When people experience, they understand us. There is also a cultural issue. Latin America's elites do not value what is done here. Chileans have a great love for its wine. The Argentines also. But when it comes to chocolate, is gringo. I love the Argentinian and Chilean wines, and when it comes to chocolate, is the Ecuadorian. But little by little it changes.