1.- What is Yachana Gourmet? |
Yachana Gourmet is an ecologically conscious, socially progressive company created to purchase agricultural commodities grown in the rainforest, add value to these products in the jungle, and open international markets to small farmers. Yachana Gourmet produces a unique chocolate product, known as Yachana Jungle Chocolate, for export to the world. For more information on Yachana Gourmet, please refer to the About Us section of this website.
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2.- What is Yachana Jungle Chocolate? |
Yachana Jungle Chocolate is unlike any other chocolate on the market; it is chocolate in its purest form - 100% roasted cacao beans, sweetened with just a touch of sugarcane juice. Unlike traditionally processed chocolate that contains sugars, milk, cocoa powder, butters, lecithin, and other artificial ingredients, Jungle Chocolate is truly natural and dairy free. For more information on Yachana Jungle Chocolate, please refer to the Making Jungle Chocolate page of this web site.
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3.- How do you eat Yachana Jungle Chocolate? |
Yachana Jungle Chocolate comes in 57 gram (2 oz.) bags of tasty bits of pure chocolate mixed with either chunks of tangy dried pineapple, macadamia nuts, hearty Brazil nuts covered in coffee essence, or shredded coconut mixed with sweet raisins. Because Jungle Chocolate is dairy free it doesn't melt, making it a perfect choice at home or on the go. It's a great high-energy snack and is a delicious ingredient on ice cream, mixed in cereals, or eaten as a trail mix. Check out our Usage and Recipes page for more information.
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Cacao is the fruit from which chocolate is made. Cacao grows on cacao trees found mostly in the tropical regions of Africa and Latin America. The fruit, often referred to as the cacao pod, is about the size of a pineapple and contains dozens of large beans. It is these beans that are used in the production of chocolate products. For more information on Cacao, please refer to the About Chocolate section of this web site.
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5.- What is the difference between cacao and cocoa? |
Theobroma cacao , more commonly know as cacao, refers to the tree that produces cocoa beans. Cocoa is the general term used to refer to the product made from cocoa beans and to the chocolate drinks and flavorings made from cocoa powder.
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6.- Where do you buy your cacao? |
Yachana Gourmet buys all of its cacao beans from small family farmers living in the Ecuadorian Amazon. For more information on how Yachana Gourmet is working with small family farmers in the Ecuadorian Amazon, please refer to the Helping Farmers section of this web site.
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7.- Who benefits from the sale of Yachana Jungle Chocolate? |
Yachana Jungle Chocolate is a product of the people. By eliminating intermediaries and paying Fair Trade prices, Yachana Gourmet ensures that the people of the rainforest profit from their own enterprise.
Every year Yachana Gourmet buys tons of locally produced cacao at double or more what the middlemen pay. The prices Yachana Gourmet pays for cacao and the other products it uses in Jungle Chocolate reflect the real value of the work that the farmers do. Additionally, 100% of the profits from Yachana Gourmet are reinvested in the Foundation for Integrated Education and Development's ( FUNEDESIN ) community development projects such as healthcare , conservation , and education, available to the both the farmers and their families.
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FUNEDESIN (The Foundation for Integrated Education and Development) is a non-profit Ecuadorian foundation dedicated to finding workable solutions in the struggle between the ideals of rainforest preservation and the realities of life in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Please visit FUNEDESIN's website for more information about the foundation and its sustainable development work .
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| 9.- How are Yachana Gourmet and FUNEDESIN related? |
FUNEDESIN employs an innovative development model based on a non-profit/for-profit organizational structure to finance its fight against poverty and disease and the destruction of Ecuador's imperiled tropical forests. In 2001, FUNEDESIN started Yachana Gourmet to purchase local agricultural commodities and support the Foundation's work. One hundred percent of the profits from Yachana Gourmet are reinvested in FUNEDESIN's conservation, sustainable development, and community projects.
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| 10.- How is cacao helping to preserve the Amazon Rainforest? |
As real incomes remain stagnant or decline, farmers turn to environmentally and socially destructive practices such as cattle ranching, logging, and the cultivation of illicit drugs in order to make a living.
That is why cacao is rapidly becoming a way of saving the rainforest. Since it is a shade grown crop, there is no destruction of rainforest. The organic cultivation of shade grown cacao, interspersed among other crops and / or planted in secondary forests is actually helping to regenerate the forest as the tree canopy provides much needed shade for other plants.
Please refer to our Cocoa Conservation page for more information.
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| 11.- Why do you say that Yachana Gourmet is a 'green company'? |
Yachana Gourmet's practice of paying a Fair Trade price for cacao is vital to the conservation of the rainforest. Paying farmers a Fair Trade price dramatically increases the incomes of family farmers, thereby providing a viable alternative to environmentally destructive practices such as logging and cattle ranching. Moreover, Yachana Gourmet reinvests 100% of its profits in FUNEDESIN, a large portion of which are dedicated to buying rainforest and providing environmental education within the local communities.
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| 12.- What are the health benefits of cacao? |
Recent studies have shown that eating chocolate may actually be good for you. Researchers have found that raw and/or minimally processed cacao - the same kind found in Yachana Jungle Chocolate - contains antioxidants which have been shown to help decrease blood pressure, defend against free radicals which trigger cancer, heart disease and stroke, and provide other health benefits. Please refer to our Health Benefits page for more information.
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| 13.- How can I learn first hand about cacao? |
The annual cacao harvest in the Ecuadorian Amazon takes place from mid-March through July. Out partner, Yachana Lodge, offers especially designed " Chocolate Tours " during the cacao season. Guests are invited to visit one of the local small family farms to learn about the harvesting of cacao by local farmers. Next stop, the cacao collection center where cacao beans are carefully fermented to develop the cacao's rich chocolate flavor. On their return to Quito, guests are invited to tour our chocolate factory where the cacao beans are processed into Yachana Jungle Chocolate and packaged for export. And of course, the chocolate factory is where all of our final product sampling is conducted!
Please contact Yachana Lodge for more information.
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| 14.- How is Yachana Jungle Chocolate made? |
After small farmers harvest their cacao is harvested, the beans are fermented to bring out their rich flavor. The beans are then dried, husked, and roasted. Next, the cacao is baked with a touch of sugar cane juice and then mixed with other natural ingredients. See Making Jungle Chocolate page for a step by step description of the process.
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| 15.- How is Jungle Chocolate different from other chocolates? |
Most confectionery chocolate products are high in fat and calories and contain preservatives, milk, sugar, artificial ingredients, and a small amount of cacao. Yachana Jungle Chocolate is chocolate in its purest form - it's made from 100% roasted cacao beans and sweetened with just a touch of sugar cane juice. Jungle Chocolate contains no preservatives and is dairy-free. Accordingly, Yachana Jungle Chocolate is one of the healthiest chocolates available. For more information on the health benefits of eating Yachana Jungle Chocolate, please refer to the Health Benefits page of this web site.
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| 16.- What is Fair Trade? |
Fair Trade is an alternative approach to conventional international trade. It is a trading partnership which aims at sustainable development for marginalized and disadvantaged producers. Organizations that support Fair Trade pay a wage or price that reflects the true value of the work or product. Fair Trade organizations also recognize that workers have the right to organize, apply national health, safety, and wage laws, and use production processes that are environmentally sustainable and conserve natural resources. Check out our Fair Trade page for more information.
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| 17.- Is the quality of Fair Trade products the same non-Fair Trade products? |
In most cases quality is actually higher because fair traders factor in the environmental cost of production. For instance, Fair Trade cacao and coffee are usually organic and shade grown, a process which results in higher quality, healthier products.
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| 18.- How do I order Yachana Jungle Chocolate? |
We have many options available to purchase Yachana Jungle Chocolate. Please refer to our How to Order page.
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| 19.- How can I help? |
Simply purchasing Yachana Jungle Chocolate helps us to continue our rainforest conservation and community development projects.
However, if you're interested in directly helping FUNEDESIN change the socio-economic realities of the Ecuadorian Amazon, we have several ways you can help. By supporting and / or donating to FUNEDESIN you are helping to us to provide community-based medical care, establish sustainable agricultural practices, improve education, provide environmentally sustainable economic alternatives, and conserve the rain forest.
Please visit our Get Involved page.
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| 20.- Do you offer a fundraising program for schools, churches, community organizations, etc.? |
Yes we do. Raising much needed funds to support your organization or worthy causes of other organizations by selling Yachana Jungle Chocolate could not be easier. Simply purchase the chocolate from Yachana Gourmet and resell the product to family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. Promote it at community events such as PTA meetings, athletic events, cultural fairs, or church gatherings.
Please refer to our Fundraising section.
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