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Peru
Peru is the cacao source for our Milagros single origin. It presents a round and velvety mouthfeel enveloping notes of banana, orchid and warm spice. Long, intense and complex ending with increased sweetness and nuances of pineapple.
This cacao comes from a Fair Trade co-op in Tingo Maria, near the Bay of Miracles (Los Milagros), at the edge of the threatened Peruvian Amazon. In this place, the Monzon and Huallaga Rivers unite to bring water from the rainforest to nourish tropical fruits, flowers, cacao and medicinal plants like Una de Gato.
When you enjoy Milagros, you become part of the miracle of Full Circle Sustainabilty that supports the production of high quality chocolate, producer communities and sustainable farming. The co-op reinvests 30% of cacao sales in to an Education Committee, a Women & Family Development Program and Organic Production.
Our producer partners have these thoughts to share:
"Before I started working under Fair Trade conditions and selling cacao to Dagoba, my future was uncertain. My income depended only on the amount of cacao I sold. If world price went down, my prices had to go down, even though my costs were the same. I was always worried about demand going up or down. Now it doesn't really matter if the current world price of cacao increases or decreases, with Fair Trade I am always paid the same stable price. I can give my family the stability we had been looking for and that we thought we were not going to be able to find in an agricultural industry."
"Since I became part of a Fair Trade agreement and started selling cacao to companies like Dagoba, things have improved for me in a significant way. I am paid a fixed "wage" ,reflecting the cost of production, apart from what I sell. That way, even if prices decrease, we still make the same amount of money. We really get what we deserve, and we don't have to worry on working hard for nothing, in the end it is all paid back."
"Thanks
to Fair Trade and sales to Dagoba, I wasn't only able to stay in the
cacao industry but I also started to work on growing bananas and nuts.
Fair Trade is making sure our cacao is pure and organic so we can take
better care of our land by using the money we are paid. This keeps me
and my land healthier which encourages me to grow a few more things"