Claudio Corallo has 40 years of experience in producing coffee and chocolate, working mainly in Africa and for shorter periods also in Latin America (Bolivia).
In 1974, at the age of 23, he moved to Zaire and after several years of working in the coffee trade, he acquired his own plantations in the center of the country. In his top years the production was around 880 tons of coffee of the highest quality, which was exported and enjoyed around the world. When the political situation in Zaire turned grimmer and grimmer in the 1990’s, Claudio started to work in Sao Tome and Principe. Initially his objective was to use his extensive knowledge of coffee production for the production of cacao. The greatest challenge was the bitterness of the cacao bean. Claudio did not accept this; he saw it as a defect of the bean. To discover the origins of the bitterness and develop a cacao without this defect, he started a laboratory.
Only by experimenting with making chocolate himself he succeeded in really understanding cacao and chocolate and in making a bean that is not bitter. The final result is the chocolate you can buy now: unique in the world, not only because it is the only real bean-to-bar, but also because it is the purest chocolate available.
Where are we
In Sao Tome and Principe the work is done on two plantations. One Plantation (Terreiro Velho) is on the island of Principe. Here we produce cacao, liberica coffee and pepper.
The other plantation is on the island of Sao Tome (Nova Moca), here the different types and varieties of coffee are grown.
Our philosophy
Claudio has always believed that the only way you can make great products is to do this in harmony with the environment, nature and the people living there.
His work in Zaire and Sao Tome and Principe is exemplary in this respect both on his own plantations and also with the farmers he works with. Originally trained by Claudio, they work in teams and also teach each other to work in this way.
They have pride in the quality of their work. Then there is the attention for the product itself. He works with the best ingredients and a careful production process, which is done entirely by hand.
This way of working ensures that the cultivation of the bean and the production of the chocolate always go hand in hand whereby we aim for the highest possible quality.
