HB Ingredients and Choc Affair Visit to Casa Luker in Colombia In

HB Ingredients and Choc Affair Visit to Casa Luker in Colombia
In February 2014, Linda Barrie from Choc Affair and I made a trip to Colombia to visit Casa Luker.
The purpose of the visit was to see the Luker chocolate factory in Bogota and also visit Luker’s
impressive cocoa research and training centre in Manizales, including the huge cocoa project in
Necocli.
We started at the chocolate factory in Bogota, where the finest quality cocoa beans arrive from all
over Colombia to be transformed into great chocolate using state of the art 5-roll refiners and
conches. Colombia has been designated as a source of ‘Fino De Aroma’ or ‘Fine Flavoured Cocoa’
by the International Cocoa Organisation.
After tasting some amazing single origin chocolates, we travelled to Manizales which is situated to
the west of Bogota to visit Granja Luker and we were met by Mauricio Salazar who is the
manager of Granja Luker. Here, Luker study and develop different strains of cocoa plants using
natural grafting methods to naturally increase pod yield.
Granja Luker near
Manizales
They also invite hundreds of cocoa farmers to teach them how to get the best possible yields from
their cocoa trees. This can have much more impact for the farmer and his family than, for example,
Fair Trade because with the correct methods, it is possible to increase pod yields by 2 or 3 times,
which can massively increase the farmer’s income and is very important for sustainability.
Mauricio Salazar
Manager of Granja Luker
Healthy tree with plenty of fruit
Linda learning about plant
grafting
Cocoa beans drying in the sun
All visitors to Granja Luker are asked to plant their own cocoa tree
After visiting Granja Luker we travelled to the north west of Colombia to the beautiful coastal region
of Necocli. Here, Casa Luker has embarked on a huge agroforestry system which is having a
fantastic social effect on the local community. Under the supervision of Jesus David, Luker have so
far planted around 450,000 cocoa trees with another 50,000 planned in the near future, thereby
creating secure and sustainable employment for the local cocoa farmers.
Cocoa trees as far as the eye can see
The idyllic farmhouse at the Necocli plantation
The knowledge that Luker brings to the region has dramatically transformed the lives of the local
cocoa farmers and their families. Before the arrival of Luker, the farmers were struggling to
generate enough income from their small cocoa plantations to support their families and the 3 local
schools were struggling to find money for basic educational tools such as books, pens and desks
etc. As a result, Luker actively fund the schools, providing better school buildings, desks and toilets
as well as books, pens and backpacks. Linda and I were lucky enough to visit the schools and help
to hand out new backpacks.
Handing out backpacks to the children
Linda practising her Spanish!
Children proudly showing us their new toilets
Sweets or books, which
to take first?
Playing games with the girls
Linda and I were both quite overwhelmed by the greeting we received at all the schools and it was
wonderful to see how happy the children are. It is clear that Luker is a company with a strong
social conscience, but the social projects are not just limited to areas such as Necocli. Luker also
have a programme to fund the education of all their employees. We met older workers who had not
completed high school when they were younger, but have now proudly graduated because Luker
encouraged them and allowed them time off work to go back to school to complete their education.
If you are looking for a chocolate with a fantastic range of flavour profiles, including origins that
also have a strong social message that would appeal to your customers, then I would encourage
you to take a closer look at Casa Luker. Please feel free to contact us at HB Ingredients for more
information.
Kind regards,
Steve Calver