Eduardo Lanfranco and Samir Giha are committed to honoring Peruvian cocoa and putting knowledge before chocolate.
Sam Giha is a Peruvian-born American and CEO of Cacaosuyo. Initially, Sam was in the textile industry, which is reflected in the brand's packaging, with its bright colors inspired by Peruvian textiles. Later, his love of food and adventure led him to invest more of his time in the food business. More precisely, it was his entrepreneurial spirit that drew him to the Peruvian cocoa industry. He realized that, despite the quality of the cocoa, the vast majority of it was exported. Sam's partner Eduardo Lanfranco set up his own laboratory and production unit in Lima, Peru.
The Cacaosuyo company makes "Tree-to-Bar" chocolate. It works with small-scale producers to select the trees where the cocoa will grow and then harvest it. This process guarantees the traceability of both the cocoa and the stumps.
They pay particular attention to the cocoa they harvest at every stage, to ensure the highest quality chocolate. Cacaosuyo is so attentive to the quality of its beans that they are taken to laboratories for analysis. Beans are divided by strain to detect new flavor profiles and rare varieties. This is a crucial step in the manufacturing process, as it protects rare varieties from loss.
Cacaosuyo is the first Peruvian manufacturer to win international awards. There are currently 6 different varieties of chocolate, 3 of which have won medals, notably at the International Chocolate Awards.
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Valley of Quillabamba
A cocoa of the chuncho variety, a regional variety from the plateaux of the Quillabamba valley, in the Cusco region. It's rare to find cocoa at an altitude of over 1,000m. Yet for centuries, the Quillabamba valley has offered unique conditions that allow Chuncho cocoa to stand out for its floral and blueberry notes. Some of the region's cocoa trees are up to 200 years old. It's a cocoa known for its flavour, but also for the naturally high proportion of cocoa butter in the bean.
This cocoa was rediscovered only about twenty years ago and is the subject of a patient work of revalorization thanks to the efforts of hundreds of small farmers, grouped together in cooperatives. diseases, limiting its production.
