70% dark chocolate with strong cocoa aromas and notes of ripe red fruits.

Öko-Caribe was founded by Gualberto Torrejón and Adriano Rodriguez, two cocoa professionals with years of experience in the production of cocoa in Latin America. Currently Öko-Caribe works in Duarte province with more than 165 small farmers. They have formed a regional cooperative where they are trained and gain financial support.

Adriano and Gualberto have personal relationships with farmers and provide microfinance for cocoa related expenses and personal loans to family emergencies or other needs of the community in general. Most of the harvested beans are Nacional and Trinitario beans from Ecuador, Venezuelan Criollo and some hybrids. All fruits are preselected for the opening as part of the Quality Protocol of Öko-Caribe and come within 6 hours at the central processing center. The fermentation is carried out in a cascade 4-boxes-system, for 6 days. Thereafter, the beans are dried in solar tunnels.

On the ecological packaging a palmchat is pictured. Chocolate does grow on trees and this is especially true for the beautiful rainforests of the Dominican Republic. Besides high quality Hispaniola cacao, the Dominican Republic boasts over 300 bird species with the palmchat having a status of a national symbol. It is a joyful singer bird that is mostly seen on palm trees – hence, the name.

Cacao producer: Nagua, La Gina, Pimentel, San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic

Cacao type: Trinitario – Hispaniola

Harvest: 2018

Ingredients: organic cacao beans, organic beet sugar, organic cacao butter (6%)

BB: 2020-10 with lot number