Roy (Technical & Quality Manager at CV) conducting a cut test.
Hello! Mike here, Supply Chain Manager at Uncommon Cacao. Guatemala is such a fascinating country, I am very fortunate to have recently visited and had the opportunity to learn more about Cacao Verapaz and how they operate. Cacao Verapaz is located about 4 hours north of Guatemala City in Coban, which is the capital of the Alta Verapaz department. It is centrally located near some of the top cacao producing regions in the country.
Cacao Verapaz is a dedicated team consisting of 6 full time employees, 2 interns, and part-time sorters. On the first level of CV there is a warehouse with designated conventional and organic storage, and an area where hand sorting, blending, and bagging happens. I met the women who were hand sorting cacao in the warehouse. They play a critical role in quality control in Cacao Verpaz’s value chain by sorting out flat and broken beans.
Cacao Verapaz warehouse, pictured: Roy Fraatz and Teddy Ruiz (CV), Diane Coy and Serapio Chun (MMC) women sorters in the background
Mike meeting the hand sorting team. Pictured left to right: Amilia in the red shirt has been sorting cacao with CV for 3 years, Olga in the pink shirt has been sorting at CV for 6 years, and Martha in the purple has been sorting with CV for 4 years
Roy (CV) and Diane (MMC) discussing Cacao Verapaz’s approach to physical analysis in the lab.
Roy (CV) and Serapio (MMC) evaluating a cut test.
Upstairs there is a meeting space, office, and quality lab. This is another critical point in Cacao Verapaz’s quality control. In the lab, we did cut tests on both Lachua and Cahabon beans, roasted, peeled, and started making liquors. It was really special to have members of Cacao Verapaz, Maya Mountain, and Uncommon Cacao calibrating on quality, from physical bean analysis, processing, and tasting. At the end of the day, we did sensory evaluations of Guatemala and Belize liquors to compare and contrast the flavor profiles, and discuss how fascinating it was that each unique location has its own story, flavor, and set of circumstances that make an origin special.
Left to right: Diane of MMC (not pictured), Teddy (CV), Mike (UC), and Serapio (MMC) ending the day with a cross-company sensory evaluation
The Takeaway:
Quality is a central driving force in the cacao value chain. Superior quality cacao doesn’t just happen, it comes from hard work, dedication, learning, and collaboration. Our focus as a business is on high quality cacao that pays higher prices to producers and enables better tasting chocolate, a win-win for everyone involved. Cacao Verapaz is leading the way for quality cacao from Guatemala through long term relationships with producers and investing in a team that is constantly learning, asking questions, sharing knowledge, and working hard. Everyone plays a critical role in the value chain, from the women hand-sorting beans, to the interns overseeing the liquor processing, to the team participating in sensory analysis. My first impression of Guatemala and the diversity of cacaos they have to offer is excellent! This collaborative approach of having the Cacao Verapaz, Maya Mountain, and Uncommon Cacao teams meet in the field and spend a week together in Guatemala really drives home how interconnected and dependent on each other we all are.
