Until now the Andean nations have been better known on European markets for their wild rather than their cultivated cacao beans. But cultivating a top quality cacao plant has now enabled the Kichwa Indians of the Amazon basin of Ecuador to successfully enter the high-end chocolate market. Swiss chocolate manufacturer Felchlin AG works closely with the Kallari Cooperative, which refines the cacao beans locally.

Oliver Hölcke
Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Quito, Ecuador
Oliver-andre.hoelcke@gtz.de