Meet the entrepreneurs of Elemento, a Peruvian company that seeks to empower the Wajún farmer from our Amazon forest, through chocolates of unique flavors.
When Lorenzo Llosa and Jose Visconti decided to start with «Element»They were looking for a reason and a reason to raise them every morning to make chocolate and feel like they're doing something good, something your kids might be proud of.
So after investigating and going through various regions of Peru, they reached an Wajún community, quite far from civilization, located in the low basin of the Marañón River (Amazonas)where they found three unique varieties of cocoa, which have been naturally mixed and which, in addition, do not need pesticides for their survival, is therefore an organic fruit.
«We say that there were the perfect elements like: temperature, air, humidity, earth, etc. Everything necessary for cocoa to be born in a wild and wild way», says Lorenzo, founding partner of Element.
A unique chocolate with a good cause
While they found the best ingredient to make chocolate, they also met a very sad reality.
"We found small farmers with a great desire to learn and to work, but they had also been the most beaten and deceived, because being quite far from the port were the ones who earned the least for their cocoa».
Thus the founders of Element decided to add value to the Wajun farmer, working directly and fairly with them. To this end, they began by training them in post-harvest techniques and grain fermentation process to have an export quality for which they are paid up to three times more than the market price.
In sheets and with an eco-friendly container
Lorenzo and Jose wanted to make a chocolate that honors nature and native cocoa that is unique and that breaks the mold in the way of making and eating chocolate.
"Every time we tried chocolate, we realized that the intensity of the flavors was better used when you ate it in sheets. In addition, we create a different packaging with recycled paper on the outside."
Element is made of 70% cocoa with herbal notes, floral notes, nuts, red fruits and also with milk flavour.
The fruits of the effort and constancy of the owners of “Element” have allowed them to obtain the "International Chocolate Awards" a prize for its taste and another award from the Ministry of Production for its social, ecological and innovative work.
Source: Tv America