Costa Esmeraldas is a single estate cacao farm owned by the Salazar family on the NW coast of Ecuador. The steep 100-hectare site is planted with Nacional-Venezolano Amarillo cacao. The pods are transported daily during harvest, beans meticulously fermented and sun-dried at their brand new post-harvest facility close to the farm.
Oranges, limes, lemons, plantain, bananas, guayaba, and papaya are grown interspersed with the cacao to reduce erosion on the steep terrain. Last time we met, Fredy Enrique Salazar passionately explained, “We also grow fruit because it feeds everyone on the farm”. Their land is beautiful—lush namesake emerald green hills layered in every direction.
Tasting notes: lemon, bread, cherries, balsamic vinegar, brownies, green bananas
Ingredients: cacao nibs, organic cane sugar, cacao butter
Allergen Information: May contain traces of nuts, tree nuts, peanuts, dairy, flour, and soy.
Manufactured in a facility which also processes dairy"
Trace Dairy
Manufactured in a facility which also processes peanuts
Trace Peanuts
Manufactured in a facility which also processes soy
Trace Soy
Manufactured in a facility which also processes treenuts
Trace Treenut
Organic refined sugar or alternative sweetener, and no animal products (ie defacto vegan)
Vegan+
Manufactured in a facility which also processes wheat
Trace Gluten
Maker
SOMA ChocolatemakerCountry
CanadaCacao Origin
EcuadorFree Shipping for US orders over $100.
Reasons to Love:
Bean to Bar
Bean to Bar
Direct-Source Cacao
Direct Sourced
Woman Owned
Woman Owned
Costa Esmeraldas is a single estate cacao farm owned by the Salazar family on the NW coast of Ecuador. The steep 100-hectare site is planted with Nacional-Venezolano Amarillo cacao. The pods are transported daily during harvest, beans meticulously fermented and sun-dried at their brand new post-harvest facility close to the farm.
Oranges, limes, lemons, plantain, bananas, guayaba, and papaya are grown interspersed with the cacao to reduce erosion on the steep terrain. Last time we met, Fredy Enrique Salazar passionately explained, “We also grow fruit because it feeds everyone on the farm”. Their land is beautiful—lush namesake emerald green hills layered in every direction.
Tasting notes: lemon, bread, cherries, balsamic vinegar, brownies, green bananas
Ingredients: cacao nibs, organic cane sugar, cacao butter
Allergen Information: May contain traces of nuts, tree nuts, peanuts, dairy, flour, and soy.
Manufactured in a facility which also processes dairy"
Trace Dairy
Manufactured in a facility which also processes peanuts
Trace Peanuts
Manufactured in a facility which also processes soy
Trace Soy
Manufactured in a facility which also processes treenuts
Trace Treenut
Organic refined sugar or alternative sweetener, and no animal products (ie defacto vegan)
Vegan+
Manufactured in a facility which also processes wheat
Trace Gluten
Maker
SOMA ChocolatemakerCountry
CanadaCacao Origin
EcuadorAdd a Gift Note (Free) Add a Gift Box ($6) Need Help? Find the perfect gift.
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Maker
SOMA ChocolatemakerSoma was founded by David Castellan and Cynthia Leung in 2003. A rarity in the industry, Soma are adept at both chocolate making, and also a fantastic chocolatier. At the time, ‘bean to bar’ chocolate wasn’t necessarily even a term! Anybody who knew how to make chocolate were those who worked for big chocolate companies. Soma was one of the first to tackle the micro batch chocolate bar production. Besides their wonderful line of chocolate bars, Soma also uses their chocolate to make ganache for truffles, and other chocolate treats. Soma's high quality chocolate bars have been awarded multiple times over the years. First starting off in a 400 square foot tiny corner of an old whiskey distillery, Soma now has two chocolate factories in Toronto, Canada.
Collection title: All Chocolate Bars
Collection description:
Collection title: Cacao Origin: Ecuador
Collection description:
Collection title: Canada Chocolate Makers
Collection description:
Collection title: Costa Esmeraldas
Collection description: Located in the coastal Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas, this family-run estate has experienced a complete turnaround in recent years. After nearly a decade of their farm just scraping by through selling produce into the commodity market, in 2015 the Salazar family took on the project of completely revamping the 100-hectare farm. This included adding a complete post-harvest processing facility on-site, which is now managed by Freddy Salazar, the youngest sibling in the family. Management of the cacao orchards create over 40 full-time jobs within the local community in rural Esmeraldas, while the fine flavor neo-nacional beans they grow are now used by over a dozen chocolate companies around the world. Makers favor it for its strong base notes of cocoa, roasted nuts, and light fruitiness, with almost no astringency or bitterness.
Collection title: Dark Chocolate
Collection description:
Collection title: Esmeraldas, Ecuador
Collection description: Esmeraldas is the northernmost province of Ecuador, bordering both the Pacific Ocean and western Colombia. The province is notable for its strong Afro-Ecuadorian culture & seafood-based cuisine, as well as the beautiful beaches. Much of Esmeraldas’ population relies upon agriculture to make a living, with the most important crops being banana, tobacco, coffee, and cacao.
Collection title: Homepage Collection
Collection description:
Collection title: Nacional
Collection description: Nacional is one of those ten evolutionarily unique types identified in 2008, using samples collected throughout the Americas over the previous century. Samples proven to be of the nacional cluster were taken from Ecuador and northern Peru, where it’s considered one of the traditional cacao cultivars; it was domesticated by indigenous Ecuadorians over 5000 years ago, reaching far beyond its small native growing region. Many years ago, however, the cultivar neared extinction as more productive clones replaced the region’s native trees. Nacional is known to be fruity & floral, with some astringency and almost no bitterness.
Collection title: New Arrivals
Collection description:
Collection title: Nut Free Chocolate
Collection description:
Collection title: Plain Chocolate
Collection description:
Collection title: Shop Bar & Cocoa
Collection description:
Collection title: SOMA Chocolatemaker
Collection description: Soma was founded by David Castellan and Cynthia Leung in 2003. A rarity in the industry, Soma are adept at both chocolate making, and also a fantastic chocolatier. At the time, ‘bean to bar’ chocolate wasn’t necessarily even a term! Anybody who knew how to make chocolate were those who worked for big chocolate companies. Soma was one of the first to tackle the micro batch chocolate bar production. Besides their wonderful line of chocolate bars, Soma also uses their chocolate to make ganache for truffles, and other chocolate treats. Soma's high quality chocolate bars have been awarded multiple times over the years. First starting off in a 400 square foot tiny corner of an old whiskey distillery, Soma now has two chocolate factories in Toronto, Canada.
Collection title: Soy Free Chocolate
Collection description: These chocolates do not list soy products as a main ingredient. Some of the chocolates say: "may contain traces of soy" where perhaps a very small amount may have come in contact with the food due to shared equipment or facility usage. Each product has icons that indicate whether a product is completely soy free or may contain traces.
Collection title: Vegan Chocolate
Collection description:
Collection title: Women In Chocolate
Collection description: This collection highlights craft chocolate bars from women chocolate makers or women owned chocolate companies.
cacaonum-70
dairy2
Dark
estate-Costa Esmeraldas
farm1
farm2
Gluten Free
marginlow
mcountry-Canada
mstate-Ontario
organic1
peanuts2
Plain
region-Esmeraldas
source-Ecuador
Soy Free
soy2
strain-Nacional
treenuts2
variety-Nacional
Vegan
vegan2
wheat2
wown