Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51
Posted in: Opinion
I'm weighing in a bit late on this posting, because I stumbled across this site by accident while looking for info on molillo fungus.To some of the questions regarding cacao origin for chocolates, I can tell you that Caoni uses nacional processed by Tulicorp, which gets most of its beans from the south (Los Rios and Bolivar Provinces). Kallari gets its nacional beans from the northeast (Sucumbios). Pacari uses nacional beans as well, as does Dagoba. I do not know who processes the beans for Kallari and Pacari, but as far as I know, the only Ecuadorian outfit that turns out its own, labeled gourmet chocolate is Ecuatoriana de Chocolates, which does the Caoyere line of chocolates.As various commenters have noted here, "Arriba" is a much-abused adjective to the point where it's become almost meaningless. There was a time, I suspect when the terroir aspect gave the name a special significance as relates to origin in the reaches of the upper Guayas basin, but over time, those beans have just been mixed in with beans from everywhere else in the country. The big buyers, Kraft, Nestle, Berger are the lead culprits in this, and I shouldn't be surprised if they've thrown CCN51 stuff in with their containers of nacional, along the way.Still, amongst the Ecuadorian labels (I won't comment on non-Ecuadorian stuff), there's a trend toward regional appelation by Ecuadorian Province. Thus, you'll see Pacari, Caoni, and Caoyere products labled from Los Rios, Manabi, Esmeraldas, Bolivar, Pichincha, and Guayas Provinces, and then by percentage cacao mass.Some, but not all, of these same labels (including Plantations) use "Arriba" on their packaging, and to the extent that their beans legitimately come from Guayas, Bolivar or Los Rios Provinces (where the upper reaches of and tributaries to, the Guayas River extend), I suppose you could use the Arriba label. Still, in the most general sense, it's like the wild, wild west when it comes to use of adjectives like Arrible and Gran Cru, etc. on packaging; there's just no really generally accepted appelation protocol, so people say whatever they want on their wrappers.A couple of other observations while I'm passing through: As far as I know Plantations uses only CCN51 beans. Plantations is owned by the Crespo family out of Guayaquil, and to my knowledge, these folks grow only CCN51 and have done so since the 1980's. (CCN51 is a controversial variety, particularly from a flavor standpoint, and it's gotten almost political, in my view, so much so, in fact, that someone might consider writing an article on just why that is.)On fermentation and drying and post-harvest treatment in general, quality is erratic, to say the least. The smaller producers in particular have serious problems, but even larger outfits (that is, some cooperatives) have problems regarding humidity control, etc. Cacao and chocolate is tricky stuff, just like grapes and wine, and Ecuador's got a long way to go before it's a California or France in the chocolate sense...Anyway, you've a really nice site here, and I look forward to coming back and reading more here in the future!
Oh, and I think I'm actually on the flipside of the chocolate-wine debate -- $200 is a little out of my range for wine, but I didn't think twice about purchasing the Amedei Porcelana bar (in Italy.. when the dollar was weak!) 
But, more hopefully through more consumer awareness, those dishonest chocolatiers are forced to change their ways or put out of business.
