Cooperativa Norandino

In the heart of the Rio Bigote valley

Cooperativa Norandino's cocoa-farming communities are based in the valley of the Rio Bigote - a river with its source in the Bosque de Niebla on the slopes of the Alto Sierra.

This forest of mist captures the water droplets formed when warm, humid air from the Amazon Rainforest meets cold air from the Pacific Ocean over the Andes mountain range. Moisture from these clouds condenses on the leaves of the trees, feeding into the Bigote river throughout the dry season.

The Rio Bigote irrigates a verdant valley that winds between hills covered by the Bosque Seco. This fragile ecosystem forms a forest made up of many endemic plant and animal species, adapted to long arid periods interspersed with rainy seasons.

A COMMITTED COOPERATIVE

Founded in 2005, Cooperativa Norandino brings together more than 7,000 cocoa, coffee and panela families from northern Peru. Its mission is to improve the living conditions of its member families by providing access to local and international markets. Norandino is driven by fundamental values of transparency, fairness, respect, accountability, democracy and quality of service. Today, all its producers are Fairtrade certified and organic. 

EXCLUSIVITY ON CACAO GRAN BLANCO

All these producers' plots are mapped, providing cocoa beans that can be traced back to the plot where they were grown. In line with agroforestry techniques, cacao trees are grown alongside other fruit trees and forest varieties.

Our relationship with Norandino began in the early 2010s thanks to our shared interest in quality and sustainability. In 2013, we signed a partnership that would enable us to work together to protect the native Gran Blanco cocoa variety. Since then, we have had exclusive rights to the Gran Blanco cocoa harvested in La Quemazon, Valle Singucate and Los Ranchos. These three communities located at the edge of the Piura desert, in the Andean foothills, have joined forces to centralize all the work that goes into fermenting and drying their endemic cocoa.

We have also expanded our partnership with Norandino to encompass cocoa supplies from the verdant Selva de San Martin forest, produced by the communities of San Juan de Shitari, San José de Sisa and Huicongo. We renewed the partnership for 10 years in 2021.