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COFINA: Beyond chocolate

Dec 13, 2019


Cofina Founder and CEO Julio Zambrano (left) demonstrates how to extract cocoa beans from the pod. Cofina exports its products to 56 countries around the world.

Lauded as one of the worlds’ most sought after fruit crops, the cacao bean has found a natural home in Ecuador. With an abundance of fertile land, the country is an optimal place for planting cacao.

Cofina, a family-owned cacao company established in 1993, is on a mission to show that there is more to cacao than just chocolate. In fact, the company prides itself on the quality cacao byproducts they manufacture such as cacao nibs, cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa powder.

Cofina Founder and CEO Julio Zambrano is committed to produce and–– maintain the quality of their products, while practicing corporate social responsibility, sustainable operations and environmentally friendly agriculture.

After more than 20 years in the business and succeeding in how ordinary consumers view cacao, Zambrano and Cofina felt confident in venturing into personal care products. As the company continues to innovate and expand, Cofina considers Japan its top overseas market and hopes to form even more partnerships with the Japanese.

“It is always an amazing experience working with the Japanese. They are very friendly and very professional. It would be a pleasure to create more partnerships with them,” Zambrano said.

Ecuador 2019 was prepared for and originally printed in The Japan Times Newspaper.

PDF of the printed report

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