I used my background as a mechanical engineer to design and build the first machines we used to process cocoa beans. In addition, perfect cocoa pods were separated from overripe, unripe, or diseased pods the fermentation was carried out in a homogeneous and controlled way and the beans were only sun-dried, never using the problematic coal heat. In his plantation cocoa varieties rich in flavours and aroma were grown – Trinitario varieties and Scavina cocoa, the latter a close relative of the famous Ecuatorian Arriba cocoa. We first met João in 2005, and to this day our partnership remains strong. One of these cacao farmers was João Tavares, fifth generation of a family of cocoa farmers.
Some of these farmers began looking for ways to compensate for the drop in production with a quality gain, thus obtaining better prices for cocoa – after all, the so-called fine flavour cocoa is sold with price premiums, often more than twice the stock price of bulk cocoa.
Other cocoa farmers, not wanting to abandon what had been the livelihood of their families for many generations, insisted on seeking alternative means to keep cocoa cultivation viable. Many cocoa farmers gave up cocoa growing, and large areas where cocoa was forest farmed were cleared for livestock, causing vast areas of Atlantic rainforest to be cut down.
The arrival of this cocoa disease to Bahia dropped the annual production from 400,000 tonnes to less than 90,000 in just few years, devastating the region’s economy. Until the 1980s, almost all Brazilian cocoa was planted in Bahia, and its production made Brazil the largest producer and cocoa exporter in the world. Bahia, hitherto Brazil’s largest cocoa producer, experienced the drama of witch´s broom, a fungus that continues to plague the region. In the following months, we visited many cocoa-producing areas in Brazil, such as Bahia and Pará.
#Made in brazil magazine issue 2 full#
The so-called ‘bean-to-bar’ process was unheard of for small businesses in Brazil, but we realised that this is the only way to ensure full control over the quality of all the ingredients. Initially we manufactured our chocolate from cocoa liquor – cocoa beans already roasted and ground – but our desire was to master the whole process, from the cocoa beans to the finished product. As a result, a niche of avid consumers wanting better products was left deprived.įrom the outset the Nugali portfolio included 70% cocoa chocolate in fact, we were the first company in Brazil to produce it. We evaluated the chocolate market in Brazil, and concluded not only that most domestic chocolates were of lesser quality, but also that relevant trends that were changing the chocolate industry in the world, such as chocolates with higher cocoa contents, single-origin cocoa chocolates, less artificial ingredients, among others, were not being followed by Brazilian manufacturers. Nugali was founded in April 2004, in response to recognising a gap in the market for high quality Brazilian chocolate products. We wanted to produce the first Brazilian single-origin chocolate, and try to prove that gourmet chocolate could also be made in Brazil. They attempted to compensate by adding larger amounts of sugar and, as a result, Brazilian chocolates were regarded as inferior to European chocolates. To disguise these problems Brazilian chocolate manufacturers resorted to a very intense bean roasting, which resulted in a cocoa with high bitterness. For this reason, Brazilian cocoa received unflattering adjectives in international literature, such as ‘hammy’ or ‘with notes of bacon’. Traditionally, the cocoa varieties grown in Brazil – Forastero cocoa – are considered lower quality in terms of aroma and flavour, unlike the praised Criollos and Trinitarios that are grown in the northern countries of South America and in Central America.ĭue to the rainfall in the Brazilian regions where cocoa is mainly cultivated, burning wood to dry the cocoa beans was very common – which usually resulted in imparting cocoa beans with an unpleasant smell of smoke. Historically, Brazilian cocoa and chocolates have been seen as bulk or commodity products, focused on quantity and price, rather than quality.