Brian:
I responded because I have seen and tasted product from Naranjillo. While I would not buy the chocolate they make for domestic consumption, the liquor, powder, and butter are of good quality.
They can make chocolate to spec but the minimums are at least 5 tonnes, as I recall, based on my last conversations with them.
They mean well, but I fear it's the nature of co-operative management in Peru, Bolivia, and elsewhere.
what clay says is correct, doing pretty much any business in peru requires speaking spanish, spending time in peru, and having a top notch customs person. customer service is generally poor to non-existent here. working with a peruvian supplier only over the phone from the us is dubious.
i haven't worked with naranjillo, just been to the factory and know them, so take what he says well in mind todd. i know they make the product you're looking for, and can make an introduction if you want.
bh
From personal experience, I can tell you that working from the US with Naranjillo is extremely difficult. Customer service did not exist as a concept in their English vocabulary.
Plus, Naranjillo didn't have (as of about six months ago) any export capability for finished and semi-finished products to the US.
Maybe things have gotten better in the last six months or so. In any event, I would not want to work with them unless I had a representative in Peru, fluent in Spanish and in business customs, handling the Peruvian end of the business for me. I can't recommend doing it remotely.
hi from peru todd, i just replied to sacred steve about a similar query. i was in a factory today that produces literally tons of organic FT cocoa powder, and there are other options here in peru as well. the production quality is very good. the beans are mostly ccn51, conventional, notat the high end of fine and flavor, but not like african bulk stuff. I know everybody down here, if you want a connection let me know.
saludos
brian
Hi,
I'm looking to find a chocolate company where I can purchase both bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder. I want it to be certified by a third party organization such as transfair, Rainforest Alliance, etc, or if not know that the company sources it's chocolate in an ethical and socially responsible manner. That being said I do not want to sacrifice quality to achieve the above. I'm also somewhat price sensitive as I'm using the chocolate and cocoa as a raw ingredient in my company's product(brownies) that we sell to retail stores, but hopefully my volume will allow for possible lower pricing. I'm open to any and all possible solutions so that I can get high quality, FT chocolate & cocoa powder into my product. We are a socially responsible and have been searching high and low for a product that fits our needs and budget. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Todd
I love following the chocolate!
Display photo from the launch at the Sheraton Mirage Resort at Port Douglas earlier this month. Looks amazing I think you will agree
Sure is. First orders have just been received by the customers and tasting feedback is starting to filter through. 
Looks like the online store is up and running!
Oh, you got that right! Dark milk chocolate is a seriously under-represented catagory in Australia and the funny thing is it would probably be the most popular (my experience over many years of giving samples to people). I love it, you can still taste the origin but it has the lovely milk to mellow just slightly the bitterness. There are a few bars out there but they don't really say DARK MILK CHOCOLATE like the Lindt 50% which is what my wife and daughter go for when they have eaten everything I have made......which happens a lot, have a safe box with a very stern note in it, which some how doesn't seem to make one ounce of difference!!?#$%#@. Well, if I was serious I would get a small safe!
Oh, I finally got my Daintree Vanilla and wow! You weren't kidding just the smell alone is sodelicious and potent, not as harsh and 'green' (if that can be used as an aroma descriptor) as the Tahitian stuff you can buy in supermarkets now. I need to get some of the Queen planifolia for comparison, but wow, if that is how it smells I can't wait to put it in some chocolate this weekend. Mmmm mmmm!
Just waiting on a few more things to be packaged and we'll soon have sales via the website. Only weeks away now. Sneek previews attached. Shhh...
Looks like the Daintree bars are packaged, this pic is off the website
I think I was talking to the right person in the right place at the right time.
The dark milk that I make with the Aussie beans is a 55% but that is 40% beans, I like my cacao content quite high in a dark milk, this formulation I found best to my liking, just the right amount of milk to balance with the fruit. The Daintree Estates formulation I am not sure of but suspect it is more like a 45% like you have guessed (when I see the nutritional info on the bigger bars I will be able to work it out). This bean works well at a number of different formulations below the 55% I settled on, the flavour of the bean still comes through even down to a 25% cacao bean content. I found it more challenging to formulate it at this level because I wanted to maintain the origin flavour but at that level of milk you face a lot more challengeswith the physical properties of the chocolate rather than getting the flavour you want. I got it pretty damn right in the end for the milk chocolate though, I was really quite proud of that one (with nibs in it it was killer!!!).
It's very different , you will not be dissapointed.
I was hoping you were producing powder. I've seen pretty simple setups for that i.e. basically a massive hydralic ram and somewhere for the butter to go.
Don't know if you have tried, it but Daintree Vanilla & Spice is maybe worth trying to up the local Ozzie appeal.
Best milk chocolate I've tasted in 10+years maybe 20.I love milk chocolate.
One thing is intriguing me from the ingredients list on both the 70% and 45% mini bar labels is the inclusion separately of both Cocao Nibs & Cocao Butter. Is the butter from Daintree too? Is there then consequently left over Cacao powder? Are the nibs produced by a separate company? If your in control of the entire processing (bean-to-bar) "Cacao Beans" would be the obvious ingredient?
I also hate the "Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients." statement knowing the way juice manufactures abuse such labelling. i.e. the only "local ingredient" being water in some juices ...
We had the fortune to try both the 70% and 45% milk chocolate today. Must say I'm *very* impressed with both. The balance of sugar and mouth feel are excellent. Did you do the roasting profiles and formulation Tom?
I have a cold today so taste is impaired but from what I could taste I liked. From what understand the price point will be $8-$10 / 80g bar?
Actually Daintree Estates is not just a bean to bar chocolate maker, but the only pod to plate chocolate maker in Australia. ;^)
Our full size blocks are not far away now. Product launch is expected in September or early October.
Very exciting news! Australia now has four bean to bar chocolate makers (I think I am counting correctly). Haigh's, Nui, Zokoko and now Daintree Estates ( www.daintreeestates.com ). Check out their comprehensive website for more info, the shop is not up and running yet but soon I am told.
I have had the good fortune to have worked with some of the cocoa from Mango Park run by Don and the chocolate I have made from itis amazing! The flavour notes are very unusual, I get liquorice and pineapple very strongly in this chocolate.
Well done guys!!
Kathryn,
I've been working long hours lately and have not done much chocolate making lately, or anything else for that matter! Thank you for the recipe, I look foward to making it and will let you know how it turns out...
DM
Cool, so the raspberry reduction, as of yesterday at least, consists of an entire bag of frozen raspberries, which is a little over 3 cups according to the package, dumped directly into a saucepan from frozen. I let it cook down until it loses that "wet" look, about an hour to an hour and a half. After that, let it cool enough to throw in the food processor or blender, and finally strain to get most of the seeds out.
The ganache recipe is:
1/2c heavy cream
1T unsalted soft butter
20 oz white chocolate
1/4c of the raspberry reduction
1 oz (by weight) freeze dried raspberries
I tend to go heavy on the chocolate with white chocolate ganaches, cause I like the firmness.
yes I would most definately be interested! I have since learned how to make a raspberry cream center which I cant wait to try with the huckleberries but I'd love to try your recipes as well. Thank you!
I know it's been a long time since you posted this, and It's about 2:30 am here, so if I see a response later today when I'm fully awakethat you're still interested, I'll give you more details. For now, let me say I've been making a really good raspberry ganache in white chocolate and I do it primarily by making a pureed raspberry reduction, reducing down to 1/4 the original volume of the puree. I typically start this with frozen raspberries. The consistency I end up with is something of a sticky paste. I also, because I'm able to get it, add some freeze dried powdered raspberries to the puree before I reduce and also to the ganache itself. Let me know if you want recipes.
