And away we go...

The people of Finca Rica

The launch of this website with these products has been years in the making. Converting the nameless farm from African Palm oil production to Finca Rica cacao farm has been no easy task. The goal has never been just to make chocolate. The goals included employing people, caring for the Earth and land, helping the community, and making great chocolate. So, choosing to convert from African Palm to a native crop here at the equator was an an easy choice. But picking the right cacao, sowing it, waiting for it to mature, and tending to it until it produced was one long endeavor of love.

Then came the development of the cacao. It has been a process to move from selling wet cacao - which is the most basic commodity form - to higher more "value added" forms. First we moved to dry cacao, then learned the correct fermentation processes to sell fermented and dried cacao. Then came the assessment and refinement process. And finally, the production of the Finca Rica chocolate represented here.

This has been a group effort. I'm very proud of the people that have brought these products to you. And I'm very proud of our products. You can taste the care and craftsmanship that went into them. I hope to hear from some of you: how do you like them? What else would you like us to produce? What changes would you like?