Cacao.docx

Agroindustrial The great opportunity of cocoa The change of paradigm: From chocolate milk to chocolate origin as an opportunity of business. By: Javier Maías SE1397 November 14, 2013 This is the most important news for Peru this year: A piurano cocoa has won the gold medal and the prize for the best chocolate bar black origin of the world in the prestigious International Chocolate Awards competition, which takes place annually in London. The news is auspicious, especially for the small community of Quemazón in which the cocoa is harvested. "Awards like this in the region reaffirm that cocoa is a viable and highly profitable crop that allows its residents to live peacefully. Additionally this direct influence on self-esteem" Santiago Peralta said, founder of Chocolates Pacari, the company that developed the award winning bara. Why, if this award has the ability to generate such significant changes, has been overlooked by the national press? Simple: Cocoa is Peruvian, from Quemazón, as is stated on the package, but Pacarí, the company that transforms it into a delicious bar is Ecuadorian. The new paradigm of cocoa Are you surprised that a bar has been produced in Latin America dethroned a hundred European companies that have several centuries of tradition? Since cacao was introduced in the courts of the Old World, and since the first chocolatiers were appearing-was consolidated a paradigm of excellence in the production of chocolate, based in the attributes that highlighted which had a reputation for being the best makers. In Switzerland, cattle country, it was proposed that the best bar was the one with a more creamy texture, and was made, therefore, with the best milk. The French, culinary geniuses said that over roast cocoa to minimize acidity and with it, any typicity that would make a grain be distinguished from another. While the discussion of centuries progressed to know who made the best bar, an interesting change occurred: in the eighties the art of making chocolate was complemented by that of finding the best beans. Since then, the producers started to brag about how much cocoa containing each of its bars, first timidly with 38% stated on the label. Now commonly, it is considered black chocolate

which has 70% cocoa, what leave site for the enough amount of sugar to melt well the pieces when they are placed in the mouth, and so they can express all its flavors and subtleties. It is considered an additional merit point to the place where that delicious percentage of cocoa proceeds. While chocolate milk continues being manufactured, and being valued, it is clear the change of paradigm to the origin chocolate. This is probably the main cocoa revolution since it was "discovered" and molded in a bar. The award given to Pacarí 70% Piura Quemazón, it is a clear reflection of this phenomenon. Revolutions of these characteristics are happening in other fields, as coffee and wine, where the terroir is increasingly important. The spirit of this era privileges the purity of the product, the defined flavors, the traceability and the unique origins. The contemporary consumer prefer precisely the kind of experience that constitutes now an opportunity for the Peruvian cacao, if regional cocoa and native genetic material are rescued. Quemazón is an archetypal example: Since winning his first medal - last year got a silver medal-the best chocolatiers in the world are fighting for that cocoa. While the average cocoa in the region is quoted between U.S. $ 2,500 and U.S. $ 2,700 per tonne, it is known that Pier Marcolini, one of the most famous chocolatiers in Belgium paid $ 8000 for a ton, and today it is commonly accepted among the “insiders” industry that is the best cocoa quoted of the continent. “The peru is a promise”, said Maricel Clip, partner of the International Chocolate Awards Americas, a gateway to global competition. In the country are only two factories that process the bars of all brands-Peruggia and Orquídea, but there is not an industry of "bean to bar", which are those that provide the greatest value. “We need someone that take the risk of setting up a business as Ecuador o Venezuela, and it will occur soon. When it happens, it will have real reason to celebrate. The world is waiting for them”