Cacao that stands out. First in the field, then in chocolate.
About us
Coacao was founded in June 2015 as a structured business model. Three years of weekend training before shipping a single bean. Producers who once sold below cost to middlemen now run their own organizations and negotiate with dignity.
Today ten organizations operate in Ecuador, three ethnic communities — Afro-Ecuadorian, Chachi, Montubios — and a post-harvest process that takes the time it needs. Not because it's easy, but because fine flavor cacao demands it.
"Collaboration and support are not passive forms — they trace new ways of conceiving life, in full respect of others."
Gaetano Servidio, founder
Before quality, before export — people. Coacao invests in skills, associative methods and productivity because without identity there is no sustainable development.
Every batch has a name, origin, face. From plantation to chocolatier's workshop: nothing is anonymous.
Recovery of old plantations, improvement of post-harvest techniques, careful selection of varieties. Progress without abandoning roots.
We don't sell to everyone. We choose partners who understand what's behind each bean and build a stable long-term relationship.
Why Coacao
Selection of fine varieties, each with its own aromatic profile. The result depends on variety and process, not on a marketing promise.
Dieci organizzazioni sotto un ombrello strutturato. Continuità, volume e coerenza della filiera.
Coacao chooses who to work with. The relationship is stable because it's chosen in both directions.
For more than ten years we have remained the same in our values, choices and way of operating. The market changes, but not our identity.
Gaetano Servidio — FounderCoacao is not an intermediary that buys and resells. It's a structure that acts as an umbrella for ten producer organizations in Esmeraldas province. The organizations maintain their autonomy but share the commercial phase, logistics, post-harvest processes and relationships with international clients. Producers no longer deal with the market alone: they deal together, with more strength and a shared method.
For chocolatiers, importers and distributors
You can request a sample with complete technical sheet. Write to us by email: we'll respond with all the information to evaluate the product.
Write to request a sample →Press
Ottenove · 2020
Gaetano Servidio: the best sustainable cacao from Ecuador
Dall'ONG all'impresa: la storia di un calabrese e cinque associazioni ecuadoriane di produttori di cacao fino de aroma.
Read articleGazzetta del Sud · 2022
Da Bonifati all'Ecuador per il nettare degli dei
Otto associazioni ecuadoriane di produttori di cacao fino operano oggi in forma organizzata. Non trattano più in ginocchio con gli intermediari.
Read articleCompagnia del Cioccolato
Viaggio nei cacao dell'Ecuador
Un esperto cioccolatiere visita Gaetano Servidio a Esmeraldas. Tre ore in canoa per raggiungere le comunità Chachi e scoprire le varietà Nacional e Criollo.
Read articleBullone · 2022
Passione e forza di volontà: così un uomo ha aiutato chi ne aveva bisogno
La storia di Gaetano Servidio raccontata da Bullone: come la determinazione di una persona può cambiare le condizioni di vita di un'intera comunità.
Read articleA long-term partnership
Since 2018, Cioccolato Maglio from Lecce — one of Italy's historic artisan chocolate houses — has worked with Coacao. Their chocolate with our cacao has won an international award. We mention this not as a showcase, but as proof of what a stable and honest relationship between producer and chocolatier can generate over time. This is the type of collaboration Coacao seeks with all its clients.
Contact
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