Juan Laura and his family have grown and maintained heirloom cacao for more than 40 years in the community of Pichari, which is located in the Upper Amazon Rainforest, in the Apurimac River Basin – Peru.
The Laura family offers craft, Single-Plantation, and Tree-To-Bar aromatic dark chocolates. They are master artisans of cacao fermentation, allowing the cacao beans of each variety to express unique sensory profiles in Single-Selection chocolate bars.
Floral, citrus, peach, red fruits, figs, raisins, walnut, malt, spices and herbal are some of the notes you will sense in their different chocolates, immersing into the rich biodiversity of their ecological farm which merges with the wild forest.
Expressing the true value of each cacao variety, Mr. Laura wants to bring to chocolate what has been done traditionally in wine culture, as a way to conserve cacao genetic diversity and the rainforest where it is grown natively. He also works with other cacao farmers helping them thrive in this valley which is historically struck with violence and drug trafficking.