“I fell in love with the fine aroma national cocoa with “arriba” flavor from Los Rios, Ecuador!”
The cocoa farmers
After working 9 years with more than 500 Ecuadorian families dedicated in growing and harvesting cocoa as well as with renowned European chocolate producers, developing diverse processing techniques of the cocoa bean, I decided to make a world class chocolate, that goes beyond from the bean to becoming a chocolate bar, I decided to make a chocolate that goes right from the plant cob to a bar and even from the tree to the bar, from the very ground where it is cultivated to a chocolate bar. I made this decision, because the only way to have the best chocolate is if we start from the best processed cocoa bean. We began this adventure several years ago in identifying and restoring the main cocoa orchards of the zone, giving good agricultural practices with complementarily support for the small cocoa growers. Finally, we have been able to obtain organic certification for a lot of these cocoa orchards and so many of our chocolates can come with an organic seal.
The key: Fermentation and Drying
Our production process begins with the very cob selection when we star harvesting it; we handle strict protocols of fermentation with controlled temperatures and a prolonged sun-drying system; we guarantee bean traceability in all its stages. Afterwards, the chocolate making involves an industrial process that has strict norms of quality and safety.
We consider the stage of post harvesting the bean essential, because this makes a difference in the quality of a final product. In this stage lies our distinctive technique, because the direct controlling of fermentation and drying guarantees us a unique product. We work with a 6 day fermentation period where most of the major defects that all the cocoa beans have are eliminated, such as, astringencies, bitterness and acidities, and; for that, we highlight its attributes like the flower, fruit, nut and chocolate flavors. When the fermentation is over we move to a sun-drying process in the slowest way possible, between 21 and 24 days, eliminating any other defects that might still remain. Finally, the beans are re-classified, taking out the ones that don´t pass the quality controls.
National fine aroma cocoa: The best of the world
Ecuador is known as the producer of the best variety of fine cocoa of the world, thanks to many factors, among the most relevant is its geographical location; a place where the warm “Niño” current collides with the cold Humboldt current, generating a greenhouse effect ideal for the cultivation of this cocoa variety, and also the richness of its soil, temperature, humidity, among many other factors. The result of all of these factors explains why 50% of the cocoa produced in Ecuador is of fine aroma cocoa, this is relevant because Ecuador represents around 70% of the 2% of fine aroma cocoa produced worldwide. In terms of quality, these same factors, define its floral, fruit, of walnut and chocolate flavors, unique in its fine cocoa category.

The best fine aroma cocoa: “Arriba” cocoa
Why the cocoa from Vinces, Los Rios? The first reason is because this variety of cocoa is the one that gave Ecuador its nomination of “arriba”, the story says that when someone asked in the Guayaquil shipyards where does the cocoa come from, the dealers answered from the ”up the rivers mister (arriba in Spanish)”. This is the cocoa that converted itself in Ecuador´s national treasure and gave its fame for being the best cocoa of the world. The second reason is because I think that in Vinces is where the best cocoa of Ecuador is produced for its flavor and its aroma; it is the only place where we can find this particular characteristic of floral flavor.
With this bean, carefully selected and processed, we produce all of our chocolates and so, consuming gourmet TAKAL chocolate is a whole sensory experience, that begins with the creativity in each one of our products and their packages, going from the initial experience in sensing the flavor and its texture as it melts down in our mouth to ending up with an emotional experience due to the internal and delightful sensations that we feel.
Don´t miss this experience!
Rafael