Exceptional chocolate offering an honest reflection on where it comes from and how it is sourced.
Words by Jen Sobey
Chocolate. We all love it. It is so regularly used as a vehicle for celebration, for commiseration, to mend heartache, spread happiness or to simply say thank you. There is almost no occasion where chocolate can’t play a part. Speciality chocolate however? You’d be forgiven for not having really heard of that.
Unlike coffee, which in recent years has seen a surge in demand for better quality, well-sourced and fairly traded beans, the chocolate industry remains remarkably behind its commodity counterpart. It is almost unthinkable to walk down even the smallest of highstreets and not find a coffee shop with an espresso machine serving specialty coffee. Long gone are the days when the only option for our morning fix is black or white. Sugar or no sugar. We are likely now to know the blend, the origin and the sourcing methods of most of our favourite brands, and yet there is often little thought to these things when considering the chocolate we buy. The farms on which it is grown or the varietal of the bean is, not always, but mostly, left unconsidered.
Aiming to change that, and make a positive mark on the industry is Penryn-based specialty chocolate company Rio Nuevo Chocolate. Set in a small industrial unit just outside of the harbourside town, husband and wife partnership, Sara Castaneda and Andres Altamirano, have created a brand with purpose at the very centre. They describe Rio Nuevo as a creative, ethical and impact driven chocolate company on a mission to change the chocolate supply chain and alleviate poverty in cacao farming.
It is a real feel-good product with true values that pack a punch and make even the most cynical of buyers think a little more before grabbing their normal choice of chocolate bar. Since its inception five years ago, Rio Nuevo has worked with two rural communities in Ecuador, paying around 60% more than Fairtrade prices for the raw product. But their commitment and environmental work goes far beyond the price of the bean. From Colombia and Ecuador respectively, Sara and Andres met in London 15 years ago after having moved to the UK in their early childhood. “Andres moved to London in 1997 when he was 14, and I moved over here in 2001, aged 12,” explained Sara. “Both our families moved to the UK in search of a better future.”
Both Sara and Andres have memories of farming being integral parts of their lives growing up in South America during their early years. Sara grew up on a small coffee farm in Colombia. “I saw my parents having to give up on coffee production because coffee prices were too low. From a very young age I understood the challenges farmers face, how hard they work, how much they love the land. But they, like others, are forced to move to bigger cities in search of other work – all because of social inequality and the unfair market prices. All of these things made me more sensitive to social and environmental issues.”
Andres grew up in Ecudaor where a huge 100,000 families rely completely on cacao production. Despite the heavy reliance on the trade, there is no formal cacao classification system in place and the lack of transparency in the supply chain makes it difficult for buyers to work out the logistics, as well as ensuring the quality. The need for direct trade is essential. Sara explained, “For Andres, although he grew up in a big city, his grandparents owned farms that he would go and visit during the holidays. Ecuador’s history is one of cacao production. The finest cacao variety, Arriba Nacional, which we buy for our drinking chocolate and bars, comes exclusively from Ecuador and Andres grew up hearing stories about his grandmother’s cacao plantation during the 70’s. Whoever had a cacao farm was very proud of it as cacao in Ecuador is referred to as the golden seed. The whole country was built on its trade.” But it wasn’t there that their journey with chocolate began. It was at their wedding in 2014, in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest that this rich farming history began to mould the couple’s future.
While in the rainforest, Sara and Andres met local farmers who showed them how they make chocolate, but also shared with them the troubles they were facing in the industry. Long associated with unfair pay, slavery, child labour and abuse, Sara and Andres’ dream of helping lift cacao farming communities in Andres’ home country was born. “When we heard the cacao farmers stories at our wedding in the rainforest it resonated with me, I understood where their frustrations were coming from, coming from a family who had experienced similar in the coffee industry growing up.” And with that the couple bought 300kg of cacao beans directly from farmers and shipped them back to their Falmouth flat.
The couple joke there are quite a few things that YouTube can teach you, but even with their infectious drive and authentic passion, they admit the journey to make a truly delicious chocolate bar was a little trickier than they had first anticipated. With a roaster in their lounge, they began the journey of learning how to make great chocolate. Sara said, “Another chocolate maker warned us that our first ever batch of chocolate would be a disaster and he wasn’t wrong. We followed the steps very carefully but it did not taste good. It took us about a year to learn the basics, to understand the cacao beans we were working with and how to develop flavour profiles during roasting, grinding and conching and we’re still learning! “But we’ve been very fortunate to have had friends along the way who are in the chocolate and coffee industry who have helped us in this chocolate journey. From tasting training to product development.” Up until recently, the couple hand-made each bar in Penryn. From roasting the beans, making and tempering the chocolate, moulding the bars and grating the drinking chocolate. Right down to hand folding the packaging on each individual bar.
But in another well-thought-out move, Sara and Andres decided to move the production of the chocolate back to the country of origin. “We pay $200 dollars a bag, for our cocoa beans direct to a farmer. There is no co-operative in the middle, we know exactly where the money is going. On the wider market, that bag under normal prices would get around $40-$60. So already we pay a significantly higher price for our farmers,” said Andres, “but we wanted to do more. We still want to do more.”
Moving the production, following the couple’s carefully curated recipe and methods, back to the country of origin means more wealth is retained in Ecuador, supporting a more sustainable industry. While the farmers are at the heart of the company’s ethos and values, so is the environment and sustainability. While it is increasingly common for businesses to have ethical hopes and dreams, most have plans of rolling out more as the business grows. Rio Nuevo however sits somewhat uniquely, having prioritised all of its sustainability essentials from launch.
The cacao used in Rio Nuevo’s bars and drinking chocolate is an ancient native variety under threat. The Arriba Nacional varietal is widely acknowledged as being one of the finest in the world, but due to the rise of hybrid crops, developed to be more pest-resistant, chemical dependent and higher yielding, the native species is struggling to survive. The investment into the varietal by companies like Rio Nuevo means that the cacao can grow in an organic and natural way. This supports the delicate ecosystems of the forests in which it grows, supporting the farmers to be able to grow food to feed themselves alongside their cacao, and to ensure the survival of some of the native species at threat through deforestation. The sustainable theme runs through the product from bean to bar, and even box.
Last year Sara and Andres worked with seaweed packaging specialists Notpla to develop a completely compostable 100% seaweed film. The ambitious proof-of-concept Chocolate Pyramid project was the catalyst behind the brand’s newly launched drinking chocolate boxes which have been created with 30% seaweed and the rest made up from recycled material. Sara said: “We view this project as a natural extension of our commitment to the long-term welfare and success of the cacao communities in Ecuador with whom we have partnered. Contributing to the warming of our oceans, food insecurity and the collapse of vital natural ecosystems, plastic-waste is an issue that reaches far beyond national and geographical boundaries. By working to reduce our plastic footprint, we’re not just helping to keep our oceans, forests and few remaining wild spaces clean; we’re helping to reduce the pressure on cacao farmers in the developing world whose livelihoods rely upon the success of increasingly unpredictable harvests.
“Our Pyramid is an expression of the way in which we like to do business. By working together, and combining the talents of experts across a variety of fields, we believe that we can provide an outsized contribution to the problems that we all face. Whether we’re working to raise the living standards of our growers, or to reduce our own plastic footprint, we think that embracing a collaborative approach and pooling our collective expertise with new partners is the best way to achieve true innovation.”
To receive a 10% discount on online orders use code WELCOMEDRIFT10 at checkout.
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