At the cocoa farm, 400 people work with cocoa beans - they are all employed year-round in accordance with Ecuadorian labor laws. This means they are paid the second highest wages in Latin America and child labor is strictly prohibited.
"Not controlling the cocoa beans when making chocolate is like not controlling the vines when making wine"
All our cocoa beans come from our 100-year-old family farm "Hacienda San Jose" in Los Rios, Ecuador.
We have honed our fermentation process for the beans for five generations and implemented harvesting techniques from other crops such as bananas, making our production yields the highest in the country. We use the land and water in the most proactive and efficient way possible.

We are committed to sustainability at all levels and have therefore launched various projects through our PRODETI foundation that meet the certification requirements. PRODETI stands for "El Progreso Depende De Ti" in Spanish, which means "Progress depends on you".

This foundation was created to empower our employees, their families and the local community.

Sustainable

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Small batches

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A single plantation

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Award winners

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100% traceable

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From seed to chocolate bar

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No palm oil

Sustainable - Small batches - Single plantation - Award winner - 100% traceable - From seed to chocolate bar - No palm oil

INITIATIVE

Super Barato

A non-profit supermarket started inside the farm, bringing together different crops and products from nearby farms. There, all our employees and the nearby community can benefit from good prices and proximity to their households without traveling long distances to the nearest town.

Schools

We have established a school adjacent to the farm entrance where we help about 120 children belonging to the community. They spend their days in the classroom while their parents work. The Ecuadorian government evaluates the school every year and the children can go on to higher education when they graduate, thus continuing to shape their future.

Irrigation

We have implemented irrigation and drainage systems where we have 100% control over the water we use and reuse.

Growing courses

By growing crops in the gardens, we teach our employees' families and communities how to grow food in their own households.

Beehives

We started using three hives in 2016. Today, in 2025, we can proudly say we now have 45 hives on the farm; this is an excellent indication that the farm is a good environment for bees and other insects. The extra honey collected in the hives is harvested and "sold" without profit in the supermarket "SUPERBARATO" or is also allowed to be sold by our farm workers to get extra income.

Composting and fertilization

This is an important issue because a cocoa plantation uses a lot of nutrients from the soil. We need to be careful and efficient in returning these nutrients and organic matter to the soil to maintain soil balance and promote sustainability.

Craft courses

We offer the opportunity to learn or re-learn crafts and benefit from fibers from e.g. bananas. We then buy from them most of these crafts where we can promote the farm and the chocolate and they can get an extra household income.

Tree planting

There are 100,000 m2 of primary forest inside the farm, and we are experiencing continuous growth and development thanks to the introduction of endemic trees in strategic zones around the farm.

Transparency

The door is always open, which makes all the difference. We invite and welcome many guests from all over the world to the farm every year, where they can see how production is done. They can, like us, make sure that sustainability is in focus.

All our cocoa beans come from our 100-year-old family farm and plantation "Hacienda San Jose" in Los Rios, Ecuador.

1°53'15.7"S 79°29'18.8"W

At the cocoa farm, 400 people work with cocoa beans - they are all employed year-round in accordance with Ecuadorian labor laws. This means they are paid the second highest wages in Latin America and child labor is strictly prohibited.

"Not controlling the cocoa beans when making chocolate is like not controlling the vines when making wine"

All our cocoa beans come from our 100-year-old family farm "Hacienda San Jose" in Los Rios, Ecuador.

We have honed our fermentation process for the beans for five generations and implemented harvesting techniques from other crops such as bananas, making our production yields the highest in the country. We use the land and water in the most proactive and efficient way possible.