Maker meets Growers in Amazonas and Piura, Peru

The Value of Knowing Where Your Chocolate Comes From



June 02, 2025

In April 2025, we invited a group of our partners from Germany to join us on a trip to the heart and birthplace of cacao in Peru, where two of our most interesting chocolates come from. We wanted to connect our partners with the origin of the chocolate they work with on a daily basis.


The origin of our chocolate is at the core of everything we do. Therefore, we want our partners to be able to trace back all the steps of their value chain – completely open and transparent – to see the craft and passion that go into their product. We believe that this is essential to truly understanding the impact we have on the world.


Original Beans partners holding cacao pods and meeting our farmers in Piura and Amazonas, Peru
 
Where our Cocoa Beans Grow

Our journey took us to the Piura and Amazonas regions in Peru, where the legendary Piura Blanco (or Piura Porcelana) as well as the Cajamarca Amazonas beans thrive. 
The Piura Blanco cacao variety, once thought to be extinct before being rediscovered about 20 years ago by our team, is as vibrant as the wildlife and forests that shelter it. Due to its lively fruit flavours, it has become one of the top-awarded beans worldwide. These flavours come to live in our Piura 75% couverture.

Piura Blanco cacao pods in Peru

In Amazonas, we explored our Growers' Chocolate. This chocolate is made 100% in origin, grown in organic agroforestry systems, and climate positive from bean to finished chocolate. The Cajamarca Amazonas beans are identified as a rare and native cacao group by the latest genetic research. It received the Denomination of Origin status to preserve its genetic purity and heritage.

We safeguard the original Piura Blanco and Cajamarca Amazonas cacao varieties, which are genetically distinct, flavour-rich, and deeply rooted in local cultures. In both regions we grow and protect trees as part of our One4One Trees programme and we support local farming communities. Our reforestation work in Piura, for example, has led to over 2.7 million trees planted and protected since 2016. Our Growers’ Chocolate is also our very first couverture made entirely in origin, ensuring more income remains with farming communities. For more information check out our Foodprint 2024.

Original Beans partners meeting cacao farmers and cutting Cajamarca-Amazonas cacao for the Growers’ Chocolate in Amazonas, Peru
 
Connecting Our Partners

A trip like this is all about connection. We want to connect the chefs, patissiers and professionals who work with our chocolate to our partners who expertly grow and process our beans to foster understanding and make our sourcing as transparent as possible. 

Therefore, we visited our longtime partners Cooperativa Norandino and CEPROAA to see thriving cacao agroforestry systems, seedling nurseries run by local families, and drying and fermentation centres.
 
Staying True to Our Mission

This Amazonas and Piura Origin Trip brings our mission to life: To preserve the rare, to regenerate what we consume, and to make chocolate not just delicious, but meaningful.
We want to thank all of our valued partners for joining us on this unforgettable trip to the roots and birthplace of cacao.

Original Beans partner chefs and chocolatiers visiting cacao forests in Peru, where our Piura 75% and our Growers’ Chocolate come from


Thank you to Mandy & Eva-Marie (Lauenstein Confisserie), Maximilian (Café Ertl), Luise (Winner Compote Complot, Söl’ring-Hof Sylt), Michaela (Deutsche Meisterin der Konditoren), Michaela & Christian (Das Schokoladenhotel), Johannes & Tatjana (Storath Confiserie), Lukas (Patisserie Walter).


Together, 100% regenerative.


Flavours of red berries and pecan shine as bright as Peru’s coast and butterflies in this chocolate produced from the ultra rare Blanco cacao varietal.

Nearly extinct when our Bean Team discovered it, Piura’s white “Blanco” has become a celebrated cacao. Your purchase of the bright Piura 75% promises an even brighter future for Peru’s rare beans and butterflies.

  • Vegan

  • Climate +

  • Fair +

  • Zero Waste