Chocolate commemorates its day this Sunday, September 13

This September 13, International Chocolate Day is remembered, a product that has been and is the protagonist of multiple national and international events.

Chocolate commemorates its day this Sunday, September 13

The raw material, cocoa, has its genetic bank in Jama, Manabí, as Jerry Toth (Chicago) and Carl Schweizer (Austria) told this newspaper in a previous report, who laid their roots by founding -the first of them- the Jama-Coaque ecological reserve, a little over a decade ago.

There, after several investigations and sampling, nine pure national cacao trees certified with their DNA were discovered, and from there the To’ak brand was born. The secret of this product is its taste, smell and, above all, its history. It is manufactured by limited editions; there is one that is aged.

Schweizer grew up with the idea that the chocolate came from Switzerland and Belgium. “But the true origin, the origin of the history of chocolate and its first domestic and social use, is here in Ecuador.”

“Chocolate is the result of the work that Nestlé has been doing for more than 10 years with its Plan Cacao initiative, a project in which more than 3,500 farmers benefit by developing their skills in sowing, harvesting and post-harvesting each in the country” , mentions a statement from the aforementioned company.

The commemoration of chocolate dates back 90 years, when France wanted to honor Roald Dahl, on the day of his birth. His name may not be well known, but he was the author of such well-known titles as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that strange character that Johnny Depp played in the cinema.

International Chocolate Day began in July, coinciding with World Cocoa Day, and in some countries that date is still maintained today.

According to the official page of Anecacao, the official price of cocoa in the international market is $ 2,595 per ton.

At the beginning of August 2020, the “Chocolate of Excellence Ecuador” campaign was officially presented, with the exhibition of recipes in salt and sweet with chocolate as the main ingredient.

There, the Minister of Production, Iván Ontaneda, stressed that “the raw material of the best chocolates in the world is the fine aroma cocoa that is produced in our land”.

Courtesy: Ministry of Agriculture

During the pandemic, logistical routes made it possible to guarantee the proper functioning of the cocoa export chain. This was stated last May, the manager of the Coffee and Cacao Project (PRCC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), Patricio Rubio, during his speech at the Online Cacao and Chocolate Summit event.

“We have established logistical routes throughout the country, which has guaranteed the correct operation of the export chain, as well as the supply of products for citizens,” said Rubio, referring to the fact that the export chain is not has been limited despite the emergency.

Regarding cocoa production in Ecuador, he mentioned that “our cocoa production has production differentials such as social responsibility, the inclusion of women in agricultural work, traceability systems, zero child labor and zero slavery, these are characteristics that stand out and that we should take advantage of ”. (I)