Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

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Permalink Reply by brian horsley on August 17, 2011 at 4:21pm

hi from peru todd, i just replied to sacred steve about a similar query.  i was in a factory today that produces literally tons of organic FT  cocoa powder, and there are other options here in peru as well.  the production quality is very good.  the beans are mostly ccn51, conventional, not at the high end of fine and flavor, but not like african bulk stuff.  I know everybody down here, if you want a connection let me know.

saludos

brian 

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Permalink Reply by Clay Gordon on August 17, 2011 at 4:30pm

From personal experience, I can tell you that working from the US with Naranjillo is extremely difficult. Customer service did not exist as a concept in their English vocabulary.

Plus, Naranjillo didn't have (as of about six months ago) any export capability for finished and semi-finished products to the US.

Maybe things have gotten better in the last six months or so. In any event, I would not want to work with them unless I had a representative in Peru, fluent in Spanish and in business customs, handling the Peruvian end of the business for me. I can't recommend doing it remotely.

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Permalink Reply by brian horsley on August 17, 2011 at 8:19pm

what clay says is correct, doing pretty much any business in peru requires speaking spanish, spending time in peru, and having a top notch customs person.  customer service is generally poor to non-existent here.  working with a peruvian supplier only over the phone from the us is dubious.

 

i haven't worked with naranjillo, just been to the factory and know them, so take what he says well in mind todd.  i know they make the product you're looking for, and can make an introduction if you want.

 

bh

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Permalink Reply by Clay Gordon on August 17, 2011 at 8:32pm

Brian:

I responded because I have seen and tasted product from Naranjillo. While I would not buy the chocolate they make for domestic consumption, the liquor, powder, and butter are of good quality.

They can make chocolate to spec but the minimums are at least 5 tonnes, as I recall, based on my last conversations with them.

They mean well, but I fear it's the nature of co-operative management in Peru, Bolivia, and elsewhere.

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Permalink Reply by Todd Kelly on August 18, 2011 at 9:10am

Thanks for all the info. I would definitely be interested in exploring your connections Brian. That being said I'm only interested if it is good, high quality chocolate. We are a premium brand so while FT is important I would not chose it at the expense of lower quality. Let me know what you think.

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Permalink Reply by brian horsley on August 18, 2011 at 1:01pm

hi guys, i see i wasn't clear, i was referring specifically to naranjillo's FT cocoa powder in my first response.  naranjillo does make chocolate but its pretty sweet stuff for the domestic peru market, not really anything for a more discerning market.  right now they have a bunch of what they call 55% couverture which is 35% cacao, 20% cocoa butter, 45% sugar, and the cacao they use is mostly ccn51.

 

my impression is that while they want to get into exportable quality chocolate, for now they specialize in butter and cocoa powder, which as clay says appears to be pretty good quality.  their factory is modern and well run. I'm meeting with their manager in lima monday on another matter, if you like todd send me your data and needs, i can give it to him and you can judge for youself if you want to consider them based on his response.

 

just so everyone is clear i have no affiliation with naranjillo, i have no monetary interest in todd's decision,  i offered to help as a professional courtesy, nothing more.

 

brian

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Permalink Reply by giovanni on August 19, 2011 at 12:31pm

Hi Brian

I bought organic liquor from naranjillo several times and I am waiting now a new arrival. It's a good cocoa. But now I want to know, as you say, if in fact they also include the ccn51, and are certified organic. In Ecuador I learned that only national is organic certified, while the ccn51 was not possible.

Grateful for any information you can provide me

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Permalink Reply by brian horsley on August 20, 2011 at 11:34am

I know that the cacao they use is 70% or more ccn51.  i also know that they have organic cert., i just saw the certificate hanging in their office a couple days ago.  Here in Peru ccn51 is grown organically in the areas i work in, so presumably can be and is in the areas naranjillo works in.  i honestly can't speak to how effective or accurate the organic certification is here, or whether naranjillo is separating organic from non-organic really strictly, but ccn51 is grown without chemical inputs here in peru, i've seen it personally.

 

brian

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Permalink Reply by giovanni on August 20, 2011 at 1:47pm

thanks
I knew that they uses a lot ccn51 in Peru, but I thought only for conventional cocoa. I will try to get more information.

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Permalink Reply by Iván Andrade on September 3, 2011 at 12:38pm

Hi Giovanni,

I am from Ecuador and I think I can help you in regard to cocoa national and CCN51, if you want, you can write me to dissupp@yahoo.com and have the pleasure to collaborate with you.

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Permalink Reply by Todd Kelly on August 23, 2011 at 10:19am

I appreciate the assistance. What info would you need from me?

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Permalink Reply by brian horsley on August 24, 2011 at 12:45pm

what products you need

how much of each

product specs

timeline

delivery / incoterms / payment terms desired

anything other detail you can think of

 

saludos

brian

 

 

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