Italy’s Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group (MZBG) has acquired Ecuadorian cocoa and coffee producer Hoja Verde Gourmet Hovgo.
Hoja Verde Gourmet sources cocoa from the provinces of Esmeraldas and Zamora, in north-western and southern Ecuador.
It is produced by small local producers who implement organic and sustainable farming methods.
In recent years, Hoja Verde Gourmet has won many awards and certifications for its chocolate, such as the Academy of Chocolate, the Ecuador Chocolate Awards, and the International Chocolate Awards Americas.
The coffee produced by Hoja Verde Gourmet, Café Vélez, is sourced from producers in the provinces of Loja, Zamora, Intag and Pichincha – home to Ecuador's capital, Quito.
Its production plant in Cayambe, 70 km from Quito, produces coffee and chocolate.
The company also focuses on sustainable packaging, and most of its products use EarthPact, a 100% biodegradable packaging material made with 100% sugar cane fibre.
Finest Arabica Coffee
Ecuador is a major producer of Arabica coffee and Fino de Aroma cocoa.
The country's coffee plantations, located at an altitude of over 1,600 metres in the Loja region on the slopes of the southern highlands of the Andes, offer the best climatic conditions for growing and drying Arabica coffee in the sun.
The particularly favourable climate in the Galapagos archipelago allows coffee to grow at low altitudes, which receive the hot equatorial sun and the cold Humboldt currents alongside the warm waters of Panama.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
