Cacao

An estimated 5% of the world's chocolate is considered "premium", and 65-70% of that quantity is produced in Ecuador.  We grow Ecuador's "Arriba Nacional", considered by many to be the world's finest variety of cacao. 

While Nacional trees do not yield the high volume of cacao found in other varieties (such as CCN-51), they do provide a fine-flavored cacao that is perfect for the craft chocolate industry and chocolate enthusiasts.  After our beans are harvested, they undergo a 5-day fermentation process before being sun-dried to 7% humidity.

Peppercorns

Black pepper grown around the world is all the same genus and species (piper nigrum), but there are different varieties based on the pepper's origin. 

These distinct varieties (such as Tellicherry, Malabar, Lampong, etc.) have subtle - and sometimes not-so-subtle - differences.  The pepper that we grow in Ecuador is often called Talamanca, which is one of the "hotter" varieties of peppercorns due to the high levels of piperine it contains.