Among worldly chocolate aficionados, Ecuador is recognised as the source of the world’s finest cacao beans.  Though most of the beans are exported to European chocolate producers for processing from bean to delicious, Ecuador’s own Pacari Chocolate has created a business model that sees the pure flavours of the country’s cacao transformed into bars and other products in Quito.  Pacari’s selected flavours of the Andes line of bars complement the high-percentage bars savoured by purists who want to taste chocolate in its finest form.

Cacao fruit on the tree.

Those same purists would be delighted to know that Pacari can arrange a Cacao Route chocolate tour from Quito to visit the source of their pleasure, a cacao plantation in Ecuador’s Amazonia region.  The day begins with a friendly hotel pick-up followed by a three-hour drive along one of Ecuador’s well-maintained highways, crossing two mountain ranges and passing the imposing, snowcapped Antisana volcano.  The ride is an exciting introduction to Ecuador’s varied climate zones and ecosystems, descending from the lofty heights of the Andes to the lower elevations of the Amazonia region’s warm climate, where cacao grows near the town of Santa Rita, a city populated entirely by indigenous people whose livelihood depends on farming.

Rather than exploit the locals for corporate profit, Pacari is a company with a social conscience, aware that its success depends on the well-being of the workers who are its foundation; without cacao, there is no chocolate.  Pacari encouraged local farmers in Santa Rita to grow more cacao to earn more money, then assisted in creating a cacao collective to give them more bargaining power in selling their product.  Pacari then buys the beans from the collective, again looking to boost the economic status of its employees by producing a domestic bar in Ecuador able to compete with the world’s best.

Inside the cacao fruit.

Not only has Pacari met the challenge, it has surpassed its presumed competition by making a unique range of chocolate bars using the organic beans grown without chemicals.  The bars are made in various percentages, from 60% to 100% pure cacao.  The Andes range’s flavours include guayusa (like green tea), uvilla (goldenberry), and Andean rose.

The first activity on the plantation tour is a walk among the trees to see the cacao fruit’s unusual growth right off the trunk and branches.  A tasting of the white fruit and an explanation of the care required to cultivate cacao trees are offered.  Afterwards, a short walk into the nearby town centre takes visitors to the drying platforms to see where the beans are laid out before they are sorted and bagged in burlap sacks for shipment to Pacari’s production centre in Quito.  A tasty lunch is served in an open-air pavilion, followed by a chocolate-making demonstration and a chance to taste pure cacao roasted to perfection.  The return drive has guests back in Quito in time for dinner.

Pacari has won numerous awards for Best Chocolate In The World. Seeing where it all begins and understanding the value of cacao to the local community and the entire country is one of Ecuador’s most rewarding travel experiences.

Written by: Robert La Bua – Global Travel Connoisseur

==============================