Greetings Chocolate connoisseurs,
Just letting you all know that I am a direct source for (certified organic) 100% Arriba Nacional Cacao sourced from these the pristine high elevations of these regions: Country of Origin: Ecuador (Vinces, Manabi, Esmeraldas). Grown in high elevations and irrigated by all natural springs, glacier melt waters, and natural rain fall, these trees span from 30-80+ years old. Grown in these highly mineralized volcanic soils, we bring our cacao (pods) down by donkey back from the mountains to small collection centers then transport to process in our facility near Guayaquil. We have the following cacao products :
Cacao Beans, Peeled Beans, Butter, Nibs, Paste and Powder.
The cacao is gently washed with a mild ozone treatment to eliminate any negative bacteria, fungus, coliforms, etc. The first stage is the beans - they are fermented for around 3 days to bring out the natural, rich and complex flavor and then a portion are hand peeled when "wet." The remaining are then sun dried. After they are sun dried a portion is offered in their whole form with peel and then the remaining go to be winnowed or crushed/peeled to generate the nib form of cacao (the outer skins are blown off after winnowing). From the nib they are then stone ground to generate the paste which is then poured into moulds and then solidified. While still in a ground state the cacao is then pressed for the cacao mass and oil. The oil is portioned out and solidified for the cacao butter. The remaining is cacao mass that is milled into cacao powder. There is temperature monitoring at all states of the processing to ensure its Raw state. All of the cacao is certified organic and certified Kosher by Earth Kosher.
We do offer lightly roasted selections for certain situations as well.
As you all know, true Arriba Nacional is Ecuador's pride and joy heritage, heirloom variety in which the recent "infestation" of CCN-51 and other hybridized varieties has been making it in the cut for most if not all of the cacao exported from Ecuador on larger scale operations no matter what the claims may be. The demand for Arriba Nacional helps preserve Ecuador's heritige otherwise getting drowned out by CCN-51's mass production style farming operations that threaten the highest quality, best tasting cacao on the planet. This not even mentioning the use detrimental farming techniques not doing anyone a favor (except the $$ makers) including the land itself to the end user. (Sacrificing quality for quantity in this game)
FYI: CCN-51 are trees grown usually in open sun and mono cropped with no thriving ecosystem surrounding them akin to traditional shade jungle grown cacao (like our Arriba Nacional- full thriving eco-systems in wild) CCN-51 is grown because you can get a higher price for this varieties higher oil content and is a high yielding plant. This originally geared towards the cosmetics industry is now exported as Ecuadorian cacao used in many finished chocolate products, unless you are getting it from us- the only exporter from Ecuador with True Arriba Nacional.
Your dollars demanding this variety helps local people earn wages far beyond the normal pay rates out there, for we have our own "sense certification" process that ensures we pay our workers wages far exceeding normal jobs they would have there. We feel it is integral for our end product that everyone along the way is completely taken care of for the success of our company and desire to preserve and make accessible the variety (Arriba Nacional) that chocolate enthusiasts have sought after for years ever since it was discovered by the first European chocolate makers that found Arriba's flavor profile to be top in the world.
Our trees are essentially wild, and are *certified organic* and we source our cacao to reach our high standards *by the pod* to ensure we truly have Arriba Nacional. NO aggregate sourcing chucking CCN-51 in our mix and passing it under another name. We have true Arriba Nacional, and that is 100% guaranteed by only accepting pods, and not beans which are difficult to truly judge by looks alone, whereas the pods are clean indicators of the variety.
Our warehouse is in Oakland, CA so if your in North America it is very easy to connect you. If in other areas of the world, we can likely ship it directly from Ecuador with special arrangements.
Contact Ordering Info:
Nathaniel-direct: 925-395-4933 or email at: thechocolateyogi@gmail.com
To receive more information regarding the products I am offering. I am capable of doing all types of quantities from 100lbs of beans, paste, butter, or powder to orders exceeding 1-ton at a time or more. Let me know what your needs are and I will take care of you. 
updated by @nathaniel-sol-finkelstein: 04/20/15 23:13:36
