Peru is also the land of chocolate and cocoa...

Who doesn't love chocolate on this planet? Few... and it's fortunate that Peru is one of the countries offering the finest cocoa beans, an essential component for making quality chocolate!

Peru is also the country that recently won an award for the world's best chocolate in Paris and the country where the world's rarest variety of cocoa was discovered! That's quite something...

Chocolate and cocoa are part of Peru's heritage

In Peru, chocolate is taken seriously, as cocoa cultivation is deeply rooted in the culture and is a source of national pride. In fact, the Peruvian government declared cocoa cultivation a "national heritage" in 2012. Few people know it, but Peru is the world's leading exporter of organic cocoa, and the world's rarest cocoa variety is Peruvian! A true treasure, which Peru wishes to preserve just as much as Machu Picchu or other archaeological sites.

Entire regions depend on cocoa cultivation, through the development of fair trade and organic commerce programs, which have enabled farmers in certain areas of Peru to replace coca cultivation with cocoa! Today, Peru produces 20% of fine cocoa in the world, and market share continues to grow given the incredible quality of Peruvian agricultural products. Great news for chocolate lovers!

Peru: home of the world's rarest chocolate!

As we mentioned earlier, the world's rarest chocolate is acknowledged to come from a Peruvian variety that was thought to have disappeared over 100 years ago, but two people (Dan Pearson and Brian Horsley) stumbled upon it by chance during a walk in the Sacred Valley near Cusco. What led to this discovery was the presence of cocoa plants at twice the maximum known altitude for this plant. Intrigued, they had the variety analyzed and bingo! This cocoa became the rarest in the world...

The variety was named Fortunato Numero 4 and is found on land in Marañón. The cocoa is found in enormous pods the size of a soccer ball, which contain a truly unusual and rare mixture—40% white beans and 60% purple beans. The rest of Peru's culture is often underestimated due to an impressive historical heritage and spectacular landscapes that overshadow everything else, but beautiful gems are to be discovered in other domains. Cocoa is one of them. Why not visit cocoa plantations near Cusco, visit the Chocolate Museum in downtown Cusco, and create your own chocolate bars in an artisanal workshop?

We will soon try to offer you tours focused on chocolate and cocoa, and more information about this aspect of Peruvian gastronomy and the rest of the world!