Two brothers who own a thriving chocolate company talk about life, business, and direct trade.
We're starting to get on a roll now with doing these podcasts weekly. On this episode, we take a trip through the city of Cajamarca, Peru. We both met our lovely wives in Cajamarca. Brian lived in Cajamarca with his family for 15 years, splitting time between there and the jungle for 10 of those years. I lived there for several years myself. It is an extremely charming and fascinating city, and almost nobody who travels to Peru ends up going to Cajamarca. Given that we are intimately familiar with the city and that most people won't have a chance to visit, we figured it would be fun and entertaining to take you on a tour through Cajamarca. In this episode we talk about how we ended up in Peru in the first place. We initially planned to sell air filter cleaners to the big gold mine outside of Cajamarca. When we learned that the mine didn't want what we were selling, we pivoted into selling hydraulic hoses and nuts and bolts to the mine's maintenance department. They went for that and as a result my dad, my brother, and I were Cajamarca bound. This is back in 2002. In the podcast, Brian talks about what it was like to fly in an 8-person prop plane through the northern Andes. I tell about how I was kicked out of college for excessive alcohol abuse and required to go through a rehab program right before visiting Peru for the first time. I talk about how going abroad completely changed my perspective and helped me turn my life around. We talk about food and people, the beauty of the countryside, the communal charm of Cajamarca at night, the road from Lima into the mountains, and much, much more. Not to brag, but I do think this is one of our best episodes yet.
Brian tells stories about life in campo buying and processing cacao.
An episode about buying cacao in Peru and all the hard work that entails.
In this episode we talked about the best way to do business in a completely foreign environment. The most important thing to realize is that it is the outsider who needs to adapt to the locals, not the other way around. There is no surer, faster way to alienate the community you want to win over than attempting to impose your beliefs on them. And in order to really understand local customs and culture, you need to watch and listen. You need to be a sponge, and you need to willingly participate in the traditional way of doing things. Only after a long period of time, once you are an accepted member of the neighborhood who has earned the trust and respect of your peers, can you think about offering up modifications. In order to make sure that our company never ended up in any controversies, Brian had 4 operating principles that he lived by while out in the jungle buying cacao and running our processing facility for more than a decade. They were: No debating religion. No debating politics. No getting drunk or partying. No non-business interaction with any women whatsoever. These rules served to keep our company out of any petty disputes and allowed us to always maintain a respectful and professional presence. The other big thing to take away is that if you are willing to embrace awkward situations and adapt to foreign ways of doing things, the world is yours. The world is a big place with so much to see. And believe me when I tell you, nobody will stop you from going where you want to go and seeing what you want to see. If a couple of gringos from San Diego, CA can end up doing business in northern Peru for more than twenty years, marrying Peruvian women, and starting a chocolate business with no prior chocolate experience, anybody can do pretty much anything they want. If it is in your heart to travel and see how other people live, get your passport ready, buy the tickets, and go! The biggest thing stopping most people are their own mental barriers. Lastly, Brian and I want to thank all of our wonderful customers and friends and supporters. Everything we do here at this company is to serve you. I assure you that this is the truth. Our job is to act as a conduit between our customers and our wonderful cacao farm partners. The vehicle that allows us to do that work is delicious chocolate. From the bottom of our hearts thank you.
Brian and Adam share some of their favorite memories from 15 years in the chocolate business.
It is deeply underappreciated how big a role logistics play in the life of each and every one of us. Just about everything that keeps us alive gets to us on a truck or on a boat. It comes from some of the world's 8 billion people and goes to some of the other 8 billion people, traveling from one place to another, along roads and across oceans, frequently traveling thousands upon thousands of miles. The are millions of products and millions of preferences. Given all the complexity, humans have done a remarkably good job at producing and distributing the fruits of labor. This is especially true given how rugged many of the places our favorite products come from. It takes extreme ingenuity and endurance to get these things from one place to another. Of course, for those folks born and living way off the beaten path in remote locations, managing logistics can be darn near impossible. After more than a year's hiatus, my brother Brian and I have recorded a new episode of our Chocolate Bros podcast. The topic is logistics. In particular, we discuss the 2023 cacao harvest and what it will take to get our latest container of cacao out of the jungle and to the port of Lima in Peru.
In our latest episode, we discuss how recent world events are dramatically aggravating supply chain issues. We also talk about bribes. It is a little hard for Americans to get our head around, but bribes are a normal part of doing business in Peru. Brian talks about several of his bribe negotiations and it is pretty funny. There is much more and I honestly think it is a funny and interesting episode and that you will enjoy it. Click here to give it a watch or listen.
Yesterday, I did something that I haven't done in more than 5 years. I rewatched the Peru episode of Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain. I bought the season on Amazon Prime, but it is available for free on Youtube as well. Back in 2013, Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert, and one other partner decided to buy chocolate from us and launch a chocolate bar. They wanted to do that because Eric Ripert, who is one of the most celebrated chefs in the world, said that our chocolate was the best he had ever tasted in his life. The bar was called the Good and Evil bar. But the project was short lived as the bar retailed for $18 for a 2 oz bar. The Peru episode of Parts Unknown was filmed in conjunction with the launch of the chocolate bar. It is a really good episode and gives an excellent little look at the culinary scene in Peru. You also get to see a lot of footage about what our operation is like in Peru. A few things stood out when I watched the episode again yesterday for the first time in a long time. The first thing is that occurred to me is that back in 2013, we had already been in business for 5 years. And the episode was filmed 9 years ago. We've been doing this a long time..... The second thing is that we are still selling the exact chocolate that was used in that bar 9 years ago. Our 68% dark chocolate is made with the exact same cacao and using the exact same recipe. It is literally the exact same chocolate. Along those lines, the third thing that I noticed is that we are still buying cacao from the exact same cacao farmers who are featured in that show. Our business has grown some, but the underlying fundamentals of our production have been the same this whole time. The last thing I noticed, and this is the biggest thing, is that my brother Brian didn't get enough credit. In fact, he didn't get any credit. The name of our company isn't even mentioned. We signed off on it at the time, because our business needed the boost, but in retrospect we should have insisted that Brian be featured on the show. Because what happened is that the stars of the show told Brian's story as if it was their own. But he had lived it and paid his dues for more than 5 years in the jungle. And it would have been good to have that show as a tribute to Brian that could live on through the ages. So here is what I want to encourage you to do if you have the time and interest. Give that Peru episode of Parts Unknown a watch and just keep in mind that everything the three main characters say about themselves, is actually true about Brian, not the people in the show. Everything else is accurate and a great look about the operation that we continue to run to this day. Oh yeah, we just recorded a full 50 minute podcast about this topic as well. In the podcast, we also calculate how many cacao pods it takes to make on bar of our chocolate, per a request from a wonderful friend and customer named Greg.
On this episode we meet with Luka and Daniel Church. Luka is our new 5 year old chocolate taster! And Daniel is his dad, a friend, and customer...not as exciting as being the official chocolate taster, but still good. Tune in and enjoy!
In this episode, we discuss what it is like getting ready for a new cacao harvest!
Visit www.fortunatochocolate.com to learn more.
Hello and good day! On our latest episode of the Chocolate Bros podcast we discuss supply chain issues and the new products we'll be making available in 2022. Regarding the supply chain, it is precisely due to supply chain issues that we ran out of 68% dark chocolate recently. In short, we had a container of cacao arrive at the port of Rotterdam on September 4th. Normally, it would clear customs and be en route to Switzerland within in one week. But in this case, our container was lost inside the port facility for 6 weeks! That had never happened before during our 13+ years in business. As a result, we are getting a new shipment in the middle of January instead of early December. It was those exact 6 weeks that caused us to run out of our most popular product during a very busy time of year. The stuff you are reading about in the news about supply chain problems are TRUE. Now on to happier news. We are going to have at least 4 new products online in the early part of 2022. We just have to figure out how to produce enough and that is our project for the next few weeks. Here are the products we'll be putting online: 68% Dark Chocolate Covered Salted Almonds 68% Dark Chocolate Covered Dates 68% Dark Chocolate Dipped Smores Javier's Hot Chocolate Mix Here is one thing that you will know for certain when buying those products -- they will have been freshly made within that last few days. We aren't big enough to make and hold a bunch of inventory. All of these are delicious and we talk about them in detail on the podcast. Lastly, we came up with a great idea for a Fortunato No. 4 summer product. Fortunato No. 4 Fudgsicle Mix! This will come in a variety of flavors and come with molds and popsicle sticks. Since it needs to be melted down and mixed with water anyhow, we can ship that in the heat! Lots of good and fun stuff going on. And as always, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your kind words, support, and business.
We go deep on lessons learned from running a chocolate company for more than a decade.
The Entire Chocolate Making Process Part 4
The Entire Chocolate Making Process Part 3
Hello and good day! Here is part 2 of our series going through the entire chocolate making process in extreme detail. If you are interested in knowing pretty much everything there is to know about how chocolate is made from beginning to end, these podcasts are for you. As an added bonus, we discuss our favorite ways to use cacao nibs. Brian loves to coat them in agave or maple syrup and roast them in the oven. I love to put them in a food processor and grind them into a powder and then mix them with a sweetener like monk fruit or coconut sugar. I usually do a 80/20 cacao/sweetener mixture. That powder goes great on fruit salad, in baked goods and smoothies, and you can also eat a spoonful of it straight. Enjoy!
If you want to geek out on chocolate and food, this is the episode for you. We go deep on the entire chocolate making process. We go so deep that we only get through the first step on this episode. Although, in fairness to us, we did spend the first half of the episode discussing the humanitarian crisis in Peru caused by millions of refugees flooding in from Venezuela. On the whole, this is probably our best and most interesting podcast to date. One of the conclusion that we come to is that great chocolate, and great food in general, is truly a great bargain when you consider how much knowledge and expertise is required to make it. Enjoy!
What We Like In Food And Life - With Special Guest David Anijo
Over the last 13 years, we have been through a lot of ups and downs in the chocolate business. My brother had to say goodbye to his family and go work in the jungle hundreds of times. My wife got food poisoning and broke out in terrible hives with no access to medical care. We've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in to cacao harvest only to have customers tell us it was a bad harvest. And that is just scratching the surface. But two thoughts keep us going. 1) Fortunato No. 4 Chocolate is such a good product that it deserves to remain in existence. 2) Hundreds of cacao farm families depend on us for income and we can't let them down. This episode is filled with stories about times we had to ask ourselves why we should keep going and we share the answers that kept us from giving up.
In our latest episode, we discuss the preparations we're making to open up our first retail chocolate shop....in the middle of a pandemic. Enjoy!
Hello and good day! On our latest episode of the Chocolate Bros podcast, we go deep on the entire chocolate supply chain. If geeking out on the origins of chocolate and everything that has to happen for chocolate to become a reality is of interest to you, this episode is for you! We also indulge in quite a bit of silly brother humor. Give it a listen and enjoy!
Hello and good day! On our latest episode of the Chocolate Bros podcast, we go deep on the entire chocolate supply chain. We go so deep that a one hour show didn't even get us half way through the process. We will finish describing the process on our next installment. If geeking out on the origins of chocolate and everything that has to happen for chocolate to become a reality is of interest to you, this episode is for you! I went ahead and set up a Youtube account for these podcasts as well, in case you want to see me and Brian. Brian, to my mind, resembles Lord Maximus Farquaad from the movie Shrek, small but powerful. And Brian frequently describes me as a big lunkhead. This is how brothers show each other love.... Give it a listen and enjoy!
On today's episode, we have a special guest, our friend, customer, and business partner David Anijo. After 9/11, David joined the army as a 40 year old man to serve Iraq. He put up with the 18 and 19 year old "young gazelles" calling him pops and Shrek and he even powered through a broken ankle to complete basic training. Unfortunately, while on tour in Iraq, David suffered a life altering injury which we talk about in this podcast episode. About 9 months ago David responded to one of our emails telling us how much he loved our chocolate and our story and what we stand for. A couple months ago David wrote us to offer his services if our company ever needed help managing our growing business. Well, we took him up on that offer and he is going to be partnering with us to open up our first retail store in about 3 weeks. In this episode, we discuss the lessons we've all learned from traveling overseas and we especially focus on what we've learned during extensive time spent in Peru and Iraq. You won't want to miss this episode. Give it a listen!
On this episode of the chocolate bros podcast, we go deep on why we love chocolate and we remember some special chocolate experiences from over a decade in the business. As always, we look at this topic from a non-fancy, everyman's point of view. And as always, we focus on deliciousness. Enjoy!
In our latest episode of the chocolate bros podcast, we discuss 6 things we like and dislike about Peru and the good old US of A. This episode is funny, thought provoking and scintillating as always! Enjoy!
In this episode, we talk about the future of our business and discuss an audacious plan to connect our customers more directly with the cacao farmers who make our chocolate possible. Enjoy!
On our latest episode of the Chocolate Bros podcast, we get into what Peruvian cacao farmers do for fun. It is a very interesting look at a different culture. While there are differences between what a typical American and a Peruvian cacao farmer do for fun, I think you will find that people in different parts of the world are more alike than different. In fact, that has been one of our major takeaways after almost a decade and a half in the chocolate business. Environments are different and lead to cultural differences, but people are fundamentally the same everywhere. We discuss soccer, sugar cane liquor, drinking beer, public chicken cook outs, volleyball, and much more. Enjoy!
Back in the day we got an email from a well known chocolatier in SF who we had sent a sample too. He wrote something like this: "Your chocolate is near perfection. It is flavor profile is divine. The texture is second to none. The formulation makes it easy to work with. Your commitment to direct trade is heroic. In short, your chocolate is the embodiment of everything fine chocolate should be. I rate your chocolate as flawless, best in class." I wrote him back and said "That's amazing! Thank you! How much would you like for your first order?" He wrote back "I'm sorry. We're under an exclusive contract with Valrhona and we aren't allowed to use any other chocolate in the store. I'd love to use your chocolate but, I can't." We ran into that a lot in the early days of our business trying to sell chocolate to restaurants and chocolatiers. Well, just a few days ago, we got this review on our website: "5 Stars. Household staple. We are a household of chocoholics and have finally found a favorite…. Move aside Valhrona!" We've come a long way. No disrespect to Valhrona at all by the way. A good reminder that under certain circumstances, when the stars align, little companies can still prevail over big companies and heart can still triumph over capital. That is the what the latest episode of the Chocolate Bros podcast is all about. Enjoy!
On this episode, we continue our discussion of what it is like to break bread with cacao farmers in their family houses. We go into detail about the experience of shooting an episode of Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain. Lastly, Brian comes up with an idea to have our customers send gifts for cacao farmers with him on his next trip to Peru. Enjoy!
In this episode of The Chocolate Bros podcast we discuss working on the Good & Evil chocolate bar with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert. We talk about making chancaca from boiled sugar cane. And we have a thrilling discussion about what its like to get sick in the Peruvian jungle. Enjoy!
In this episode of The Chocolate Bros podcast, we continue discussing what it is like to take visitors from the US and Europe out to the Peruvian jungle to meet cacao farmers. We talk about about the our experiences with the national dish of Peru, Guinea pig. Brian also proudly announces that he is the most humble man in the world. Lastly, we delve into what there is no such thing as "noble poverty" out in the jungle where cacao grows. Enjoy!
Take a trip to Peru without getting on a plane. In this episode we describe the trip from the airport in Lima all the way out to the Peruvian jungle. This is the first episode in a series of episodes talking about taking travelers from all over the world to meet cacao farmers. Enjoy! Adam
After many years of struggling in the chocolate business, we finally found something that worked. Over the course of several years, we ended up selling chocolate in 30 countries! In this episode my brother Brian also gives me the business, referring to me as a meathead, a fancy pants, and also critiquing my pronunciation of several words. Thankfully I am not easily offended by such pettiness. Give it a listen! I think you will enjoy it!
In our latest episode of The Chocolate Bros podcast, me and Brian talk about facing ice cold rejection from the chocolate world when we first launched our business. This is something that keeps most new business from making it. Give it a listen!
In this episode we talk about a huge rice husk fire. We explain why chocolate is so much harder to bring into existence than coffee. And for all of you fermentation enthusiasts out there, we go deep on fermenting cacao. Also, we talk about opening the mail with a machete. Enjoy!
On this episode we talk about the creepy and crawly critters that live out in the Peruvian jungle. We talk about what its like visiting 60 cacao farms in a day. And finally we get into discussing the 50 foot tall rice husking mountain that caught fire behind our 3rd facility. Enjoy!
On this episode we talk about the difference between American dogs and Peruvian dogs...spoiler alert, Peruvian dogs are way more wild and aggressive. We also do a deep dive on cacao fermentation and processing. As per usual, we discuss how much hard work is required to bring chocolate into the world. This is a funny and interesting episode. Give it a listen!
In this episode of the Chocolate Bros podcast, we get into why we decided to move our to a whole different city in the jungle for our third processing facility. We hear about Brian's run in with local hoodlums, the local mafia, and how he went into the heart of gangland to stop the assaults. Our third facility was built in the city of Huarango, in the district of Haurango, in the province of San Ignacio, in northern Peru. As always, you will hear about risk taking and adventure and entrepreneurship. Enjoy!
Back in the day when my brother built our first cacao processing facility in Peru, we had no idea what we were doing. And I mean no idea whatsoever. It was so long that I had forgotten about some pretty interesting stories from those times. Our first facility was built on the site of a government germplasm bank. Our second facility was built in an abandoned parking lot. Next to the abandoned parking lot was an all concrete building that my brother Brian and my brother in law Miguel rented and lived in together. These two grown men stayed in bunk beds, cooked their meals outdoors over a propane camping stove, and used a bathroom that had about 20 frogs living in it. They did all of this on faith that they would figure out how to process cacao correctly and that there would be a market for it. Thankfully it paid off! To hear a bunch of interesting stories about those times, check out our latest episode of the Chocolate Bros Podcast.
On this episode we explain why being environmentalists is important to our business and why it also fits in well with a capitalist point of view. We also talk about a long running beef that Brian had with a turkey who belonged to an upstairs neighbor. Adam talks about the time he refused to pee on his wife's arm even though a man in the jungle said he should. Finally, we work on a new company jingle. Enjoy! Adam
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