Customer Spotlight – Cepicafe Peru

Posted by Kirsteen

January 27, 2010

Cepicafe, one of Shared Interest’s most established Peruvian Coffee and Cocoa customers has recently been visited by the famous choclatier – Pierre Marcolini.

Marcolini came in search of Peru´s white gold: the Porcelana variety of cacao, so named for its white-coloured cocoa pod from which the beans are extracted. This delicate strain of cocoa, it is prized for its unique and unmistakable aroma and taste.

As Cepicafe has a strategy of quality, not price – a dedication to producing high quality cacao instead of high volumes of low quality cacao; this visit is a positive step in confirming the success of such a strategy and the dedication the farmers have shown in cultivating such rare strain of cacao in the hope of improving their quality of life.

For his visit, Marcolini was accompanied by French TV channel, Canal 3, who are producing a documentary on the production of chocolate from bean to the edible jewels created by Marcolini. This will be aired in France in the near future.

On a wider scale, Marcolini’s visit will most certainly benefit the entire Peruvian cacao sector as it becomes known worldwide as a quality cacao producer. According to Santiago Paz, Cepicafe’s representative, “this opens the door for other cacao importers who are looking, not for the lowest priced cacao available, but to form economically and socially viable business relations with cacao producers based in equality, transparency and respect”.

Will this chocolate be sold as Fairtrade? We don’t know, however, as one of the aims of the Fairtrade standards is to “facilitate long-term trading partnerships and enable greater producer control over the trading process” (FLO), this visit and interest from Marcolini can certainly be considered a success for all involved.